Is it normal to have trouble maintaining steady power on descents? Context: Location - I live in the Appalachian foothills; everything is 100 feet per mile in elevation, any direction. Maybe I’m condtioned to work harder on the climbs than the descents? Equipment - Both road bikes have one-sided …

I’ve read/heard of people just riding brakes while on descents to maintain power or simply finding better routes with longer duration of power and then using descent as your recovery period between intervals.

Riding your brakes while pedaling seems like an expensive tactic to increase power. :grimacing: I think the bigger question is… does it really matter? I know we like pretty graphs but if you race outside, ride outside. If you can find a better route that would be the optimal thing to do. But if you…

As the saying goes if the wheels are turning you’re training…

Rotors and pads arent that expensive. What you’re talking about sounds more like simulating race conditions more than training. If the goal is to get 2 hours in z2 but you spend 30% in active recovery(z1) because of the descents, you’re not achieving the stimulus you set out to achieve and as a res…

[image] jamesdrichey: If the goal is to get 2 hours in z2 but you spend 30% in active recovery(z1) because of the descents, you’re not achieving the stimulus you set out to achieve and as a result, fail the training session. This is an interesting take. To me training is preparing you to race…

I do almost all of my training outdoors and nearly all of my riding is 100 feet of elevation per mile. I also find that maintaining power is easier for me on climbs than on flats or descents. I think it’s because I’m used to using more muscle strength versus cardio strength to hit power numbers. Bu…

[image] Jolyzara: Riding your brakes while pedaling seems like an expensive tactic… I ride my brakes when needing to maintain power targets during descents. True, you’ll cause some wear, but in my experience it isn’t that much. They’re consumable items and I use them to benefit my riding/tra…

[image] jamesdrichey: If the goal is to get 2 hours in z2 but you spend 30% in active recovery(z1) because of the descents, you’re not achieving the stimulus you set out to achieve and as a result, fail the training session. I think we need to get rid of these binary takes on a training sessi…

I’m usually in a higher(est) gear going down. That’ll make it feel a little harder.

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Maintaining Power on Outdoor Workout Descents

Training

KevinKlaes January 9, 2025, 4:57pm 3

Is your cadence much different than when you are climbing? Are you stabilizing in a different way because you are moving so quickly?

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Maintaining Power on Outdoor Workout Descents

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