Originally Posted by billridesbikes

I plugged some numbers into bike calculator for some different splits. I assumed a 180lb rider riding at 300watts steady and then some different splits.

At 300w for both sections
Flat / Hill = Total
8:35 / 18:04 = 26:39

At 295w flat and 305w hill (10w difference)
8:38/ 17:49 = 26:27

At 270w flat and 330w hill (60w diff or .9/1.1)
8:56/ 16:42 = 25:38

So for these type of events with the hill is more than ~2/3 of the time a bigger split in power is better for the best time.