Originally Posted by
ZippyThePinhead
An occasional poster on this forum added a chart to
a reply that I wrote elsewhere which speaks for itself. It's consistent with my experience, but I don't do many 9-10% climbs, so can only speak for the 2% to 6% stuff.
I agree with this in principal, that the largest benefit of weight loss is seen when climbing. This is true initially but one thing overlooked is the longer term impact of weight loss on training.
One is able to train better and adapt to the stresses of training faster without all the extra weight. Recovery time is shortened as well. The result is that given time and smart training, one can see significant and even similar improvement when riding on flat courses.
It just takes a while for performance on the flats to catch up, that's my point. Don't be discouraged because you don't see instantaneous increases in average speed. It will happen. Just be patient and keep training. Consistency is key. The benefits will come.
One day you will be grinning ear to ear, powering along at 22 MPH on a road where you used to do 16 MPH. Going to bed hungry all those nights will have been so worth it.
-Tim-