When I started commuting to work years ago, I made it a goal of mine to span the entire Dexter Climb without dropping below 10mph. The special thing about this hill is that it creeps up on you. You start climbing. It becomes a bit of a bottleneck as you find yourself passing other cyclists just as more still are passing you. You make it past the bus stop and to the end of this , nice steady hill. And then. That's where the hill really starts. Suddenly, you realize it’s gotten steeper and longer. You look ahead, and you can’t see where the hill ends. If you pushed already, you don’t have enough push now to keep the pace. Finally, you can see ahead and it looks like the road levels out. But your eyes are lying to you. It’s still a hill and it doesn’t give up being a hill until you get all the way to the intersection. You know you’ve won when you cross the line of cars waiting for you faster than a snail, with a little breath and dignity left.
Today I pushed up the hill with everything I had. I thought it would be fun to compare Strava’s analysis with yesterday, when I strolled up the hill in a daze and no ambition.
Todays' aggressive Dexter Climb
Yesterday's chilled out Dexter Climb
Yesterday I didn’t purposefully go slowly up the hill, I just carried on normally. Today I really tried. I gave it all I got. Just as I crested that last bit of hill I could barely muster the energy to make it to the end. It was the sort of effort where my legs went numb and my peripheral vision went black. Still, I stood on the bike and gave it everything. The monstrous difference in perceived effort appeared to be just that- a different in perceived effort. My cadence and heart rate were the same. I finished the climb a whopping 1 second faster. This seems to fit, given that I can coast all the way into work versus pound it to work and the difference in time is negligible. My peak heart rate was 2 beats higher today, which is interesting given the vast difference in perception. Most notably was a spike in pace part way through today’s climb. I passed someone on a folding bike before a bus bump out and tried really hard to pass them with enough oomph that I wouldn’t slow them down when I went in front of them. Perhaps the results would have been more impressive had it not been for that obstacle. Other than that, I am surprised in how similar each climb appears when just looking at the data.
Today's aggressive Dexter Climb Analysis
Yesterday's chilled-out Dexter Climb Analysis