I got a time of about 68 minutes this year. At next year's challenge, I want that "under an hour" shirt. In your opinion, does it make sense to try to recover on the shortish flat and downhill sections, or push the same watts I do on the inclines? Thanks!
For any competitive Strava segment, you can look at the KOM or some of the fastest times to see nearly ideal pacing strategies. Basically, the faster you are moving, the less it pays off to do more power. When you're riding slower up a steeper grade or into a headwind, then it saves more time to push harder... Here is the Strava analysis of one of my best rides on Diablo: www.strava.com/activities/13304301/analysis/6099/8572 You can see that the power is pretty steady but varies by up to 5-10% throughout the ride when it's a little steeper or shallower. But, you'll see my power and HR drops by about 20% for about 80 seconds going past the gate and by Rock City. You can get some rest there and let your HR drop, but it's limited just how much you can let off. Most of the time, you should stay pretty steady.
@@englishendurance Thanks, I was bombing the declines each time pushing about 40 watts more than what I was putting into the climb, I have no idea why I thought this was a good strategy at the time
@@macklevine8369 It can be good to accelerate into the faster sections. Any time you can accelerate is a good time to put down power, whether you are accelerating against gravity (i.e. going uphill) or you're accelerating over the top of a roller. But, once you've picked up some speed, then it doesn't pay off much at all to keep pushing hard. Past that initial acceleration up to 20 or 25 mph you don't gain much speed to push harder, but your effort goes up a lot. Save it for once the road goes up again and you start to lose speed. No matter what the circumstances, the slower you're going, the harder you should be pushing. The faster you're going, the more you should ease up so that you have more to give on the slower/steeper portions. :)
Thanks for the tips Nate!
Definitely!
You still ride mount diablo? I’ll be in San Ramon next week for work. Any chance you’ll want to ride in afternoons/ evenings?
I got a time of about 68 minutes this year. At next year's challenge, I want that "under an hour" shirt. In your opinion, does it make sense to try to recover on the shortish flat and downhill sections, or push the same watts I do on the inclines? Thanks!
For any competitive Strava segment, you can look at the KOM or some of the fastest times to see nearly ideal pacing strategies. Basically, the faster you are moving, the less it pays off to do more power. When you're riding slower up a steeper grade or into a headwind, then it saves more time to push harder... Here is the Strava analysis of one of my best rides on Diablo: www.strava.com/activities/13304301/analysis/6099/8572 You can see that the power is pretty steady but varies by up to 5-10% throughout the ride when it's a little steeper or shallower. But, you'll see my power and HR drops by about 20% for about 80 seconds going past the gate and by Rock City. You can get some rest there and let your HR drop, but it's limited just how much you can let off. Most of the time, you should stay pretty steady.
@@englishendurance Thanks, I was bombing the declines each time pushing about 40 watts more than what I was putting into the climb, I have no idea why I thought this was a good strategy at the time
@@macklevine8369 It can be good to accelerate into the faster sections. Any time you can accelerate is a good time to put down power, whether you are accelerating against gravity (i.e. going uphill) or you're accelerating over the top of a roller. But, once you've picked up some speed, then it doesn't pay off much at all to keep pushing hard. Past that initial acceleration up to 20 or 25 mph you don't gain much speed to push harder, but your effort goes up a lot. Save it for once the road goes up again and you start to lose speed. No matter what the circumstances, the slower you're going, the harder you should be pushing. The faster you're going, the more you should ease up so that you have more to give on the slower/steeper portions. :)
What downhill sections? 😂