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Just for fun/curiosity.
https://www.strava.com/segments/5188280?filter=overall
This is a brilliant stretch of road and depending on the ride I'll either struggle along it at the end of something longer and lumpier, or for shorter rides use it as a sort of threshold effort. It's great fun chasing a time on it as lots of little rollers and tight bends, plus just generally beautiful surroundings.
So overall, it's downhill/slightly rolling for the first half, but what I always forget/hadn't really realised was that it's generally uphill for the second half (I've always just treated it as a series of rollers).
Is this where a 'negative split' comes in? Basically back off slightly until the start of the gradual climb* and THEN dig in? To date I've always got to that point and been hanging on so I suspect if I got there fresher I would more than make up for the time lost backing off along the first half. The final few hundred metres are brilliant, slightly downhill and decent tarmac so I feel THAT's the point I should just be hanging on in my best aero tuck.
*I use the term loosely, 60m elevation gain but it comes in a series of small ramps that definitely feel like climbs
Arm chair opinion. I’m rubbish at riding a a bike fast
I use to believe that all these things are about consistent effort.
But that’s not true. There are certain moments when upping your power out put makes more difference. Adding 50w downhill makes little difference to your speed. As you speed up the force of the wind against you rises rapidly. Adding 50W up a steep hill makes more difference as mostly you are working against the constant force of your weight.
There also be something about accelerating out of corners to being within the extra effort.
I generally use the following chart to calculate my Strava efforts on this kind of segment. 🙂
how would you pace this segment?
Without any care in the world. Looks a nice bit of road on google, just enjoy it. Unless you are a semi pro amateur or professionalist, life is too short to worry about these things. Realising this when I was younger actually helped me enjoy my riding more and get faster.
Martinhutch exactly has it. Unless you all go out on the same day with the same conditions Strava segment times are rubbish. I have got top 10 on some Strava segments because I just happened to be out on the right day with the right wind behind me.
😂
Yeah without a doubt, the prevailing wind is a south westerly happily. The KOM is crazy fast so I did some sleuthing, there were a couple of comments about the wind so I'm assuming it was a particularly blowy day!
Adding 50W up a steep hill makes more difference as mostly you are working against the constant force of your weight.
There also be something about accelerating out of corners to being within the extra effort.
Good point, there are a good number of tight corners that definitely slow you down, or at least require that you back off a wee bit. So back off slightly at the start, nail the corners, save the legs for the three punchy wee ramps at the end.
Without any care in the world. Looks a nice bit of road on google, just enjoy it. Unless you are a semi pro amateur or professionalist, life is too short to worry about these things.
I sort of expected this sort of reply and you're not wrong, but I actually do enjoy the wannabe semi pro nonsense (me, and I suspect a significant proportion of everyone else who owns a nice road bike).
The point about the wind doesn't nullify the fun, it's just part of the game.
Best bit of advice I ever heard about riding a tt (other than don’t they are horrible) is that it’s not a power contest, it’s a speed contest. So maximise your effort when you are going slowest (climb or headwind) and conserve as much energy as you can on a downhill
Try this. Pick an average speed you want to do it in. If you fall below go full power, if you go above spin faster.
Try this. Pick an average speed you want to do it in. If you fall below go full power, if you go above spin faster.
I can imagine that would mean coasting the first couple of very short downhills and sprinting quite a few of the punchy wee rises in the middle before an all out death or glory sprint up the final set of three rises. Could be a giggle I suppose 😂🤢
Thinking about this in terms of how I pace a 5k run (similar time, this segment is a bit shorter), my plan would be:
Balls out from the start
Hang on going up the rise, going way into the red
Try, and likely fail, to accelerate off the top
Vomit at the end.
I would say that unless you're over 32/33mph just go full gas. It doesn't look like any of it is steep enough to warrant too much more power. The rollers are too long to sprint by the looks of things - 1 minute-ish? And the downhills are not really steep/long enough to recover much on.
If anything, I would possibly be going hardest over the rollers to carry speed in the first half (with a slight recovery on the backsides), and then just settle into a threshold effort for the second half. You can't even really ease up over the top because the final downhill is not steep/ fast enough.
Balls out from the start
Hang on going up the rise, going way into the red
Try, and likely fail, to accelerate off the top
Vomit at the end.
Are you me?? 😎
Recent efforts have been my fastest despite carrying at least 5kg of beer and crisp weight and achieving zero consistency in my riding. I put it down to a new bike and lots of coffee stops on recent rides. My legs tend to get wobbly just at the start of the gradual rise as shown on the elevation, although it actually feels like one more punch before a gradual effort.
Jamz's suggestion sounds good actually, if I treat the rollers at the start as a series of short max efforts, then the key to unlocking it all is getting over the last wee roller intact (currently I have to grab a handful of gears as the legs start to go). I can then 'recover' on the very gradual climb to the last set of ramps and put in the last dig to get me onto the flat bit.
I do enjoy the last flat out effort, tongue out, breath rasping, putting all the Gleneagles golfers off their strokes 😂
Take a look at your more detailed stats for the segment with the elevate add-in on Chrome. That might give you some pointers where you can gain some seconds/add effort.
But aren't you really just needing to boost your 10m threshold FTP, which is what those balls out efforts are doing...
So maximise your effort when you are going slowest (climb or headwind) and conserve as much energy as you can on a downhill
That's got me some good results in hilly TTs.
Being caught by a seeded minute man on a descent, then proceeding to re-catch, take back the minute, then another ~90 seconds all on the first lap is a nice feeling. Only thing i *didn't* win that day was the overall.
Being caught by a seeded minute man on a descent, then proceeding to re-catch
My best result on this segment until I bought my new bike was managing to drop my buddy on the first 100m (later learned he'd buggered up a shift just as we started) then going all out to hold him at about 50m behind me for the rest of the segment because I know he can outsprint me. Friendly bantz 😁
Too short a distance to be thinking of -ve splits imho. You'll go faster by conserving your momentum through the bends and rollers. This comes with knowing the road and getting good at laying down power evenly. ie you don't spike 400W just because the road pitches up, and you don't chill at 200W going down.