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Bike question

When going downhill on my bike should I take advantage of the descent and pedal hard to increase my downhill speed? Or do I rest my legs for the duration of the descent? Joe

 

Comments

  • When racing, I typically pedal down hill at my target NP until I reach about 28 - 30 mph, then I coast/soft pedal.....I try to do the same during my Race Rehearsals........Once you go faster than those aforementioned speeds I believe there is more ROI in total for resting the legs vs. trying to overcome the exponentially higher drag factor from wind resistance......
  • Check out the guidance in the Wiki on Race Execution; you pedal at target power/softpedal...until you hit around 30mph...when you get stupidly aero and coast....

  • I just pedal until I start to spin out of gears and then coast the rest of the way.
  • When I see an EN athlete...they are climbing under control..patiently waiting for the crest. As they pass over the top, the pressure stays on the pedals as the speed picks up....as the road starts to drop, they shift-shift-shift to keep the effort constant and gain critical speed. As they run out of gears, they settle into be super aero and eat / drink if needed.

    This momentum is carried into the flats...or the next hill...etc...
  • I'm no expert, but I use the -when speed < 13mph going uphill, then aero is less inportant "rule" as a time to eat/drink while sitting up and stretching etc. I try and keep cadence high and power low-ish during this time. On the down hills ...as above. Sitting up to eat/drink at 30mph will have a huge drag cost -a few seconds @ 30mph will take away any savings from being supper strick aero at 18mph. Only sit up when breaking out of high speed. Also remember that torking head to side to drink with aero helm has a huge drag effect as well at higher speeds.  Sitting up usually provides a few more watts and is useful on climbs and is nice break over 56-112 miles w/o any downside when <~13 mph.(13-15mph is kinda "grey area"...ie use minimal breaks in aero form)</p>

     

  • In IM AZ there was a short rise of about 3-4% after long 2% where the turn around for the 3 loops- not much but enough to feel.  I used this last bit of climb as my stand and stretch (not power stroking) and sit up and eat/drink comfortably. I dropped way down in gears to get RPMs >95 (I usually do 82-85) and felt nicely "un-kinked" in shoulders/back/legs before the turn. After the turn I enjoyed flying back down and holding a tight aero for 12+ miles of gradual decent. Of note was a huge # of riders powering out of saddle that last climb only to sit up and recover down the steepest decline or coast down that and then sit up at bottom which was still a (-)2% grade to eat/drink etc....where I just zoomed by (dozens) taking full advantage of the "free speed" and was well fueled/watered for a prolonged steady tuck-TT effort ..(Power was rarely above my steady average goal for race despite significant speed). In hinesite I pushed to big a gear w/ cadence drooping to 65-70....got caught up in the constant fun of yelling "On your left!"  :)..... which probably hurt my run legs some and I will need to watch my cadence better next time......     very few later re-took me.
  • @David, to each their own. I personally can't climb and eat...but I can coast and eat. image At the end of the day it's where it "works" for you...for me, on the descent, when I am out of gears, I am basically out of things to do...so my mind turns to food, fuel and body scan, etc.

    Note, I use a Speedfil A2 bottle and eat gels from a bento, so I am not sitting up to eat.
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