I'm a Randonneur; I ride long distances and do so entirely by feel rather than with power or heart data. My sense is I benefit from going a little deep on climbs, but not too far. There's a strong tendency to go too hard, and pay the price later on the ride.
Early it's tempting to jump on a faster group, benefit from the draft, and bury myself to stay with them on the climbs. Following that strategy will leave me dropped, faced with hours of being passed one by one by riders who started more wisely. I avoid that trap as best i can. Too much effort on climbs hurts in the long run, not even offset by having drafting partners.
On the downhill side, clearly the speed benefit from pedaling downhill diminishes with grade; however, there are other reasons to pedal and other reasons to coast.
Spinning up after a long coast can be painful. Muscles and knees get stiff; maybe even inflammation starts ramping up. I'm not talking about little rollers, I'm talking long climbs and descents. Soft pedaling keeps things limber. OTOH, coasting provides the opportunity to unload weight off your saddle, put your body in another position for a while. At some point, comfortable is faster than the alternative. Nobody ever DNF'd from being comfortable.
Last edited by downtube42; 05-28-22 at 11:49 PM.