Monday, September 24, 2012

Cadence

I held a clinic last night on how to ride the individual time trial. One of the topics that we spend some time on is cadence. I don't recommend a certain cadence that would work for everyone but I do recommend finding a cadence that works (i.e., you can sustain and generate the most power from) and be sure that you don;t vary much from that during the event. Many riders will admit to not shifting as often as they should even though they have bar end shifters which allow them to maintain their aero position while shifting. many also admit to hammer up the hills (i.e., spiking power and HR) and then not riding as hard downhill. My recommendation is to always shoot for steady power and a steady cadence whether on the flats, going up or going down hill. Its hard to do going down since you really have to push that gear to get the power up but it can be done. Its easier to do going up but the key is to not go too high on the power and have the right gears that allow you to maintain the cadence. Trust me, you will go faster if you do this. I've also seen this issue with casual riders. They have a triple and yet they suffer on climbs in the big or middle chain ring. Spinning up a hill in a high cadence is just as fast if not faster than trying to push a high gear. Plus it leave plenty of power for the rest of the ride. My typical cadence in a time trial is about 100 to 107. My field tests are usually in that range also. It just seems to the range that allows me to hold the best power. I didn't pick that pace as much as find it from training and racing and looking at the data where my results were optimal. You should do the same. Feel free to comment on any of these posts. I'm getting about 10-15 views per day.

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