Subject: RE: Newby Bike Training - Cadence vs. speed Contrary to what most people say, cadence is more important than what gear you are in and/or how fast you are going, especially early in the season.
It has to do with efficiency of your pedal stroke and aibility to accelerate easier. A higher cadence will provide both of those things. There is nothing worse on your joints and muscles than grinding away at 65 rpm in a monster gear whne you are 10 times more efficient (and relaxed ) spinning three gears less at 95 - 100 rpms.
I've always been a high cadence rider (yes, even before Armstrong made it popular ) and people tend to say that I am one of the most efficient riders they know and can acclerate quickly to get onto wheels or up hills.
Other than a few stints of standing to stretch out I will not even put my bike into the big chainring until some time in March. From December to then I will be in the small chainring spinning happily away to build my base and keep my leg speeds up. You will notice a much larger improvement through the year if you take this approach than if you only do a few weeks of it and then start mashing the big ring doing Spin classes or intervals.
My old training self-imposed rule was not to go into the big ring until I had over a 1,000 miles on the odometer. And even when I did get into it, I STILL maintain over 90+ cadence.
But what the heck do I know ....... |