Originally Posted by
pstock
oh I opted for the hillier route
I was close to the end of my day and knew that I could make it.
I was /am just curious about the Science (I'd there is any) of route planning
and as has been noted, the hillier route was uber-Scenic . along side a massive cliff wall most of the way.
now this was over a week ago now. I've just completed the entire ride Barcelona to Chamonix 1083kms 10750m climbing in 12 days.
the final day - from Albertville France to Chamonix - almost did me in hills-wise. only 78kms but 1873m climbing.
I thought it would be the morning that was worst. and it was tough
But the last .... 10kms was up a 362m high set of switch backs up and over Vaudagne that seemed interminable.
But it was the ONLY way to get from Passy to Chamonix by bike.
Thanks pstock, must be a beautiful trip, even if hard.
Really though, with climbing the issue is does one have sufficiently low gearing for your bike weight, this makes a huge difference in how your leg muscles and knees handle a lot of climbing.
And then if course how fit you are overall and we always get stronger as a trip goes along, so our climbing ability goes up the more the ride
I still think that in general, it's probably easier on our bodies with less climbing and longer flat
I don't recall the worst distance/climbing ratios days I've done, but at least now we can usually have an idea of how much climbing awaits us in a day, really easily with Google maps etc etc etc, so we can be prepared mentally with what awaits us--so starting early and pacing ourselves etc.