I usually just try to keep power steady when training…but today I “time trialed” a common route I take.
I noticed on some faster descents there was basically no point to pedal so I just tucked down as low as I could.
but coming out of the descents I noticed as soon as I started to pedal my km/hour dropped instantly. like I was going 50-60km/hour on the descent then when it flattened out and I started pedaling I’d drop from say 43 to 41 km / hour basically instantly.
should you be coasting even after the decent to a certain speed? was my slowdown due to untucking myself or the aero loss from my legs? or was I gonna slow down anyway? bike computer lag?
I understand the gradient after the descent matters a lot, but is there a speed where you wouldn’t pedal and just stay tucked?
When you’re on a bike aerodynamics is the primary force you’re overcoming so sitting up or staying tucked will definitely make a difference of a couple km/h at those speeds. As to when it’s beneficial to start pedaling vs. just staying tucked includes a lot of factors that make it difficult to say there’s a specific km/h threshold. It’s just one of those things that over time and with experience you get better at gauging when you’ll be able to power yourself to a higher speed than you would by maintaining a more aerodynamic position than you can pedal in.
If you can maintain the same tuck pedaling, it will add a little bit of speed, but power required goes as the cube of speed when resistance is dominated by air drag, so it’ll only add a very small amount of speed. It might better to use that short time for a little recovery that will enable going harder when the speed drops. Of course if you don’t maintain the tuck when you start pedaling the increase in air drag can be significantly larger than the power you’re applying.
yeah totally could have been a computer lag. I dunno if i am sensitive enough to feel 43 to 41 km.hour.
I almost never have speed on my computer. I actually for the most part just leave the map on and don’t look at stats nowadays. I just kinda was curious how fast I was going in certain stretches.
yeah that’s what I was thinking. I tucked down so much my chest was on my thigh…so I don’t think I could have even pedaled…def not enough to produce any significant power.
and I was thinking I mean if i’m going 45km/hour just tucked, why not keep right there and not pedal and rest up
i’ll play around with it. I’ve never really looked into the proper execution of this
like I said I normally try to pedal to maintain power regardless…but today I was just trying to get through my route as fast as I could just for the hell of it.