Originally Posted by
SoSmellyAir
joesch Pizza Port is yum! My office is in DMH (but on the wrong side of I-5) and I have been there many times pre-pandemic.
jonathanf2 and
CAT7RDR I agree that faster on flat ground is just due to watts rather than a 52/36 crankset. (I assume that
jonathanf2 is not sprinting at his highest 50:11 gear ratio?) I routinely pass others in the flats only to fall behind on longer climbs.
I'm actually not a fan of the flats, since I focus mainly on hill climbing. When road climbing with my buddies, I can put a good 5 plus minutes distance between us and I'll stay OOS the whole time. It's one area where I feel my strength training and lower weight-to-power ratio really kick in. Plus I think I've customized my bike fit to be optimized on the hills (short wheelbase, long stem, wider bars). Also on the downhills I can tuck and hit the corners low and fast, practically scraping my pedals, which I find to be the greatest reward for climbing!
My buddy who's a beast on the flats literally has 50 lbs. more weight on me and a few more inches in height. Though I've also seen a small female flat sprinter (Under 5'3" probably not more than 110 lbs.) just blast through the peloton of weekend riders, so my whole notion of size just goes out the door. Some people are just better in certain areas of cycling!