Originally Posted by
rodar y rodar
So, you figure that a rider`s energy is better spent on flats than on climbs? That statement brings two point to my mind. First, don`t "they" say that raising your minimum speed has a much bigger affect on overall time than raising your max speed does? Granted, flats aren`t where my own max speed shows up, but the climbing sections are certainly where I`m the slowest. The second thing is that I keep thinking the extra energy I put into climbing will translate into more speed (moving slowly, not pushing as much air), whereas a little extra energy on the flats seems to get sucked up by extra drag, so doesn`t really net me much more speed. But since nobody disagreed with your original statement, I`m inclined to think it`s pretty sound. Am I looking at something wrong?
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I don't think you're wrong, I'm just looking at it from another angle...you normally on a brevet spend only a small amount of time actually climbing grades above say, 5-7%. Maybe an hour on a 200? If you increase your speed during those climbs from (for example) 15km/h to 18km/h you're requiring a noticeable amount more power, for a modest 3km/h increase in speed for a relatively short duration. If you have the fitness to spare it, by all means! And honestly, on a 200 it's fine to go hard, even if you blow yourself up you can always spin home with time to burn.
On longer rides though, well there's no free lunch right? The power you spend for that 3km/h has to come from somewhere, and I just don't think it's the most efficient use of it. I could be wrong, I am not a rando expert!