In the cycling world, we have the term \”negative split\”.

But a town square? What\’s that got to do with it? I found this pic via a search for \”split\” in a free art web site (actually, I was hoping to find a pic of a banana split!), and I suppose it\’s Split, in Croatia.

Back to the \”negative split\” business. That means riding the second half of a long event, such as a century, faster than the first half. That\’s not the easiest thing when you\’re rarin\’ to go; and your legs like to move fast, anyway. Eating that banana split would be easier, don\’t you think; and more fun, too.

The idea is to conserve energy early in the ride, so that you don\’t burn yourself out too soon. In a race it might be necessary to \”start with a bang\”; but not for a long recreational event. Going as hard as you can from the start could have you totally spent by the halfway mark. Then making it to the finish line is going to be a slow, miserable business; if, in fact, you can finish at all.

My experience: a few years ago I took part in a local cycling club\’s annual century ride. The ride unfortunately wasn\’t right here in town; it was about 30 miles away in a hilly area. I tried to do a negative split; but unfortunately that had me going too slowly, even before adding in the difficulty of all that climbing. Ultimately I had to abandon the ride😞

If I try it again, I hope I can find a way to simulate the climbing I\’ll face on event day. I know I\’ll need plenty of it!