Got two questions about energy and its consumption:
1. Does it really matter if I ride in 5th position or 50th position in the peloton? Will I lose more energy in the fornt of the pack as opposed to the middle/back?
The AI yellow jersey always rides in the front of the pack so I guess it won't matter at all. But has anyone done some tests?
If I say in the pack I always get pushed out to the sides, so I guess if this really matter I'd constantly have to puck myself back into the middle of the pack. But I can't imagine the whole system being this precise...
2. In the mountains: Does using the dot use less energy than maintain position? So is it better to ride on dot on all mountains or only on the final climb to prepare for any attacks?
1. I haven`t tested it personally, but iirc it should matter whether you are up front catching the full brunt of the wind in your face and just staying in the middle of the pack. If you`re afraid of being pushed to the side, be smart and look which side of the road the wind comes from and make sure there are people shielding you from the wind.
The reason why the AI leader always rides up front has two reasons: He can anticipate and react fast if there is a breakaway with rivals. The other reason is that he`s probably shielded from the wind by one of his teammates, which should have enough impact to not hamper him when he`s up front.
In career mode, you can do that as well by shielding/protecting your leaders up front. In BaP mode you might need to consolidate, but I haven`t really noticed any drawbacks for riding up front. I generally try to stick around position 10-20 though, so you`re not catching the full brunt, but neither do you lose the front group when there`s a split.
2) Technically, the dot is the least energy consuming way of getting over the mountains. I also believe (prove me wrong if I`m wrong) that it helps if your rider is proficient in TT, that it helps in conserving your energy because you`re staying in a single pace, keeping your heartbeat steady, regardless of accelerations/decelerations in the pack.
Maintaining your position does mean that you need to accelerate whenever the pack accelerates after all, therefore raising your heartbeat and burning more energy. If the pack keeps their own pace without accelerating/decelerating and you maintain your position, it can prove to be worth it, though.
What I generally do is maintain my position (usually up front) with my heartbeat set to a max of, say, 60, so I don`t burn my yellow/red bars up. I might lose a few spots because of that, but unless we`re not heading towards a climax, I can take that risk. Once I drop below a particular position I either up my heartbeat so I can maintain my spot, or I start going on the dot to maintain my own pace - depending on how far in the race we are.
1. The first 5 to 10 riders in the peloton use more energy, just watch the heart rates to confirm. With a strong tailwind it will probably make no difference.
2. You don't have to go on the dot on every mountain, it only makes a tiny difference at low/medium speed, if even that. Usually I wait until the penultimate climb, that's when the attacks can start.
@Ripley: Here's the thing, I don't see any difference in my heart rate if I ride in the veryfront of the peloton or further down. Now, obviously I stay behind those guys who're on relay, so I guess thatcounts as being protected in the pack.
@Gentleman: Thanks for your input, it's what I did so far too, usually. But with my climber I like to stay in the very front, I can usaully do so by riding @50 effort, so I don't even lose any energy. Sometimes I also up the pace just to make the others suffer a bit more ;-) just for fun
Then don't worry, the heart rate doesn't lie. If enough riders relay you'll definitely be fine. But sometimes just one or two riders pull the whole peloton and your riders might be right behind them, in front of the race leader and you should see the heart rate go up. But either you have them drop back just a couple of positions or you limit their effort for the time being. Though even that probably makes little difference and can be ignored.
I did see that the riders who are on relay spend a lot of energy when riding up front (or at the back, when they can`t keep up, they waste all their energy trying to get to the front and failing miserably). I don`t see the same thing when a rider just maintains his position up front, at least they don`t waste as much energy as the one pulling the pack.
