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Old 02-06-20, 09:18 PM
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echappist
fuggitivo solitario
 
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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.
these comparisons aren't strictly apple to apple, as the average for the last one is higher than that of the first (and second). The average for the last one is 308W, and a good chunk of the speed increase is due to higher overall power output

A more apples to apples comparison would have the additional constraint of same overall average power.

Personally i'd get a good estimate of my 25 min power, shave a few percent off of that for fatigue. That's the average to shoot for the entirety of the climb.

For a climb where the shallow ramps last half as long as the steep ramps, 90% for shallow and 105% for steep. The spread should get narrower if the estimated duration is longer.

If I were doing this race, I'd shoot for 98% FTP for that 25 minutes. This may be on the conservative side of things (to account for fatigue due to the three hours leading into the climb), but it reduces risk of blowing up. After 3-4 minutes on the steeper ramp, I'd get a sense of how well i'm going and can always up the watts.
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