Originally Posted by Cypress

Short segments have variables that can make a "big" difference to the time. I went for a 3.5-min climb segment last night and pulled the ripcord a little over halfway through because of a slight headwind that I thought was going to abate but didn't.. At those speeds the difference between a 5 mph headwind and calm conditions would be 45W (for me), and that's worth about half a minute. The entire leaderboard is separated by 39 seconds, so why bother. When you get into 1-minute stuff a small change in the wind can be the difference between a crown and not even making the leader board. I've abandoned attempts on sprints because there were three cars coming in the opposite direction and I knew I'd be eating their wind for ~5 seconds.

That being said, I adore 1-min segs. There's just something about tapping into primal energy and "crossing the line" breathing through your vocal chords unable to think about anything but getting MORE AIR.