Originally Posted by
PeteHski
It's worth noting that this is the exact opposite of the fastest strategy to climb a hill. The fastest way is to go harder on the steeper sections and easier on the flatter sections. I'm talking about power rather than pace, which will still be faster on the flatter sections. Also don't fall into the trap of thinking that a lower gear automatically means less power. You will often find that you actually put out more power in a lower gear at a more efficient cadence. It often feels like less power just because the pedal force is lower, but Power = force x cadence.
But anyway, it sounds like your better overall pacing strategy made a big difference. There's nothing worse than going too hard at the foot of a climb only to get passed and dropped near the top. Another strategy is to power over the top of a climb and keep on sprinting into the first part of the descent when most people will back right off at the top and then coast over the summit. You can pull out large gaps instantly like this!
My road bike is actually setup for lower cadence climbing. I'm 5'7", but using 175mm crank arms with a 50:34t crankset and 11-32t rear cassette. I've been experimenting with different climbing techniques, but lately I've been wanting to stay in my big chainring while climbing, lowering the cadence and then climbing out of saddle to maximize my leg muscles built up from powerlifting on the sprints. One thing I notice is that I fatigue faster if I go hard early, but if I preserve energy I can make up the distance later on when other riders start feeling the burn. Oh yeah, I always imagine the top/summit/finish is about several yards/meters ahead. I never slow down until I go pass so I don't slow my pace while still on the climb.
Also I do train in high cadence low gear riding. I swap back-n-forth between my road and gravel bikes. My gravel bike is setup with short 165mm cranks and Shimano GRX 2x gearing. With this setup my cadence is 10-20rpm over my road bike with lower overall gearing.