However, if the hills are close enough together, particularly if they are convex hills (steepest near the bottom), then part of the power (and sometimes most of the power) used to climb one can be transferred to the other.
This is sometimes called roller-coastering when this transfer is so successful that the rider may fly over the second hill.
After crossing the first hill, accelerate to speed, then put your hands on the drop portion of the bar and tuck your head in, and allow gravity to increase your speed.
At the bottom, as your speed falls low enough to pedal again — about 25 to 35 mph — start pedaling again, giving it all you got, and continue upward, gradually shifting downward as necessary, but keep the gear low and the legs spinning fast.
Of course, it’s important not to overdo this effort, or one can run out of steam before reaching the top. But if done correctly, the energy applied to climbing the first hill is applied to climbing the second, and one is much less tired than one would be from climbing at a slower rate.
If the hills in the series are far enough apart or are concave (steepest at the top), then the gain is not as good.
However, one should accelerate at the top and then use the drops or pedal on the lower and flatter part of the slope going down to preserve as much speed as possible.
You may find that a fairly high speed can be maintained going downhill on a shallow slope without much effort once it has been achieved on the steeper slope.
This higher downhill speed will improve the day’s average speed and maybe helpful getting up the next climb as well. As all speed will be lost before the steep part commences, one can only gear down and trudge up.
