It’s interesting. Cold weather changes our attitude toward hills. Suddenly it’s good to climb. Really good. It means we’re moving slower, but making more heat. We warm up on climbs.
Conversely, descents start to become a thing to be dreaded. We aren’t making any power, so we start to cool down. Add in wind chill and it gets wicked. The best strategy for cold weather descending? Intuitively, we reach for the brakes to reduce speed and decrease the chill. Wrong! Tuck into a tight aero position and go for it! This gets the descent over with faster, and even though the speed is greater, the time of chilling is reduced. You lose less heat by descending more quickly.
This is a time to devote more effort to hill work. It’s doubly rewarding. The hill repeats make us stronger, and the hills warm us. Nice.
I might at, this is a great time to ride a fixed gear bike. Fixie riders have to work going down hill, often harder than on the climb.
Remember, open vents before climbing. Don’t let the increase in body temp make you sweat. Then close them before you crest the hill, so that you retain heat on the descent.
It’s an odd thing. On the flats, we could just pick the pace up and get warmer, but not as much as climbing. The conclusion is inescapable, Winter riding will make you a better climber.
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