Road Cycling - Cadence - Guide Lines?

I am a newbie both to the forum and to riding. If this has already be hashed and rehashed I apologize.

I have read and heard in several places that the most efficient riding is done at rather high cadence. That most new riders pedal at approx. 60 RPM's and that they should be at 80 or better.

After two months of riding I checked my cadence and sure 'nuf, it's between 60 and 65 RPM's.

So for the last week my goal on my six mile rides has been to increase my spin. 70-75 RPM's is killing me. Is it reasonable to believe that a new rider (that is 65 years old) can attain these generally accepted rates. Or is it age contingent?

Bill, I'm 57 and usually ride at 75-85. Doing 90-100 for any length of time isn't easy for me.

When I started riding a few years ago I was riding at 55-65 and thought this was a very "comfortable" cadence.

It takes time in the saddle and practice to get your muscles used to riding at a higher cadence.

Riding at a lower cadence is hard on the knees.

Just keep plugging away and you'll get there. :beer:

Do you have a cyclocomputer on your bike?

Rember that increasing your cadance does not mean increasing your speed.

I have started increasing my cadance this year a little at a time week by week, it is helping.

RonH,
Thanks for the encouragement. This old plug will keep plugging.

1oldRoadie,
I just installed a cyclocomputer two weeks ago and was sure I got one with a cadence function. Too difficult to ride and count at the same time.

I think I intuitively realized that increasing RPM'S didn't have to mean going faster. I just kept dropping gears until I could do it without undue effort. I think it is the speed (that's a laugh using the word speed when talking about myself, but all things are relative) of my legs rather than muscle effort that's kicking my tail.

The reason I started riding is that they found that I have 100% blockage of the femural artery in my right thigh. The hope is that I can develop sufficient capillaries going around the blockage so that I don't have to have bypass surgery or worse.

I can't help but believe that higher cadences will be better aerobically. I want to set my goals high but I don't want to be totally unrealistic. Or worse, be counterproductive.

I thank you guys for the time you have taken to help.

TxBill1,

Welcome to the Forums, hope you will stick around
for a while.
It takes some time to build up cadence, a major factor
is how much your cardiovascular system can support.
Just like any other muscle heart/lungs need time to
develop. If you can raise cadence to say 70 rpm and
sustain it thats a start, then raise it again, until you
can sustain it without undue stress/effort. repeat until
you get to where you can comfortably spin 85 -90 RPM
Then we will see you next year at the Ride for The Roses
(can't help it, had to get a plug in there!).

Marty

You have to train yourself to spin in very low gears. Pick a gear that feels almost ridiculously easy. That is what higher cadence is about, easing the load on your leg muscles and transferring it to your cardiovascular system. As you get stronger you will be able to spin the same cadence in progressively higher gears. 90 or higher is a good target, but you can't just jump up there. Try to get comfortable at 70 then 75 then 80, etc. As one level gets comfortable, move up, keeping the gear the same. The first time I tried 80 I thought I would die after a mile or so. The next day it was much better. It's just a matter of training your muscles and conditioning your CV.

1) A high cadence is good, for many reasons.
2) You can easily compute your cadence from your gear ratio and your ground speed. (For example, in a 100-inch gear, you advance 314 inches per crank revolution. In a (quite stiff) 10-meter gear, however, you advance only 10 meters per crank revolution, because metric gear charts usually have the PI factor built in. Convert your speed into inches or meters per minute, then divide by your gear or gear times PI to obtain your cadence in RPM.

Example: (30km/hr) / ((60min/hr) * (10m/rev)) = 50 RPM
(Use a lower gear at this speed!!)

This is a good question.

The natural thing is to go at the lower cadence, or so it was for me. It felt very wrong to spin faster. When I began to spin faster I would instinctively seek a higher gear, thus maintaining a comfortable cadence.

Strangely, I found that the higher cadence, once mastered, can be maintained more easily. It's quite amazing, really, once you get the hang of it. And when the ride is over, my legs bounce back more quickly!

On the other hand, once you master the higher cadence, try climbing into higher gears, gradually. This will stress your muscles more, with more need to recouperate between rides, but
you will also get stronger. (Re: RainmanP's post.)

:thumbup:

96-108

ps check out www.bikemojo.com their a local San Antonio (and austin) group of riders. Good peeps.

So for the last week my goal on my six mile rides has been to increase my spin. 70-75 RPM's is killing me. Is it reasonable to believe that a new rider (that is 65 years old) can attain these generally accepted rates. Or is it age contingent?

Hi!!

I am 63 yo, and now have a cadence of between 90-100. BUT, it took a LONG time (Istarted riding seriously about 4.5 years ago) before I reached any kind of cadence. Like you, I liked about 60. I can assure you that once you get your cadence higher, you will wonder just why you ever used a lower cadence. There is considerably "more bounce to the ounce" with a higher cadence.

Just keep trying to pedal faster and you will get there.

Part of higher cadence is technique. Think of rotating your feet in a small circle and you will automaticly pick up your cadence. When your legs start to tire go back to a comfortable cadence for a while. Also if your seat is to high or low it is harder to get a smooth cadence. Karl

Sometimes, because I ride with a guy who is very strong but uses a low cadence, I find that I'm doing likewise and really struggle.

I've found the best way is to make a conscious decision on a ride not to use my big chainring, which means my cadence will almost always be higher, especially when pedalling on downhills.

Are you using toe-clips or clipless pedal system.
Cadence above 70rpm is almost impossible to achieve without a pedal retension system. They help you apply force over more of the pedalling arc.
There is an old cycling adage "Dont stretch the cranks". Turn your feet in circles, not up and down. Pushing down on pedals at 6:00 wont get you very far, but with pedal retension system, you can pull the pedal around to the rear to about 7:00, and pick up force near the top at about 11:00

A lot of folks have already said most of the things that I would want to say.

But, I could add that changing to a new cadence--to the point where it feels natural--does take a long time. So, be patient with yourself. But, you'll surely see health benefits from a higher cadence (since it works the cardiovascular system more).

Like others have already stressed, force yourself to use a lower gear. Set yourself a cadence goal, and try to maintain that. If you get winded too quickly, then go slower, using an even lower gear. If you run out of gears, then consider getting lower gears (i.e. with a triple crankset, etc.), especially if you are doing this for health reasons.

In order to raise your cadence, you could try "cadence intervals". For these, you spin higher than your goal for just 10 seconds. So, if your goal is 85, then try spinning at 95-100 for just 8-10 seconds. Then recover at a lower cadence for 10-20 seconds or more. Repeat for a total of 3-4 intervals. Do this routine 2-3 times per ride. But, don't try to go faster--just spin faster in a lower gear. If you are still well below your final goal, you may want to work upward in stages.

But, persevere and be patient with yourself. The long-term health goals of a higher cadence are well worth it.

Best of luck,
Jamie

Thank all of you for your responses. You guys are great. You gave me just what I was looking for.

1. Confirmation that I'm on the right track in setting proper goals.

2. Encouragement that through patience and stick-to-itiveness, the goals are reasonable and doable.

3. And some super advice on how to go about it.

Thanks again. I'm pumped.

That's what we're here for. All the best. And keep us posted on your progress.

Cheers,
Jamie

A cyclocomputer is helpful, but not essential. If you have one (even a basic one without cadence), set it so it shows the time (with seconds).

In places where the road is easy : for example, on the flats, far from street corners, etc., count the number of downstrokes with the right foot during, say 30 seconds, multiply by 2 and you get your cadence.

You could do that with your watch, but the advantage of the cyclocomputer is that, not only you will know how many RPM you are doing, but you'll realise that you go faster when you spin. This makes it a powerful incentive to improve your cadence.

When I worked on cadence, I found it quite easy to improve it for the first 20-30 minutes of a ride. What was hard was to continue spinning all day. Pacing myself once per hour is a good way to make sure I continue spinning. I also find important to pace myself under adverse conditions (ex.: headwind) to make sure I use a low-enough gear.

I generally spin at 80-85 rpm (and I have long legs -- 35" inseam -- and 175 mm cranks), and tend to slow cadence at 70 rpm when I am tired. But it hasn't always been that way.

Regards,

One trick that I've learned in terms of getting that smooth pedal stroke is to only use one leg. Pop one of your shoes out of the pedal and spin with the other leg/foot. Do each foot/leg several times for a few minutes each.

This will show you where you are weak and not so smooth in your stroke and help with a higher and more efficient pedal stroke. Well, that's been my experience anyway! :D

little bit easer

just count the amount of strokes in 5 seconds:

6 strokes in 5 seconds = 72 rpm
7 = 84
8 = 96
9 = 108
10 = 120
11= 132
12 = 144

Originally posted by LittleBigMan
This is a good question.

The natural thing is to go at the lower cadence, or so it was for me. It felt very wrong to spin faster. When I began to spin faster I would instinctively seek a higher gear, thus maintaining a comfortable cadence.

Strangely, I found that the higher cadence, once mastered, can be maintained more easily. It's quite amazing, really, once you get the hang of it. And when the ride is over, my legs bounce back more quickly!

On the other hand, once you master the higher cadence, try climbing into higher gears, gradually. This will stress your muscles more, with more need to recouperate between rides, but
you will also get stronger.

This pretty much summarizes my experience as well.

When starting out with cycling my instinct was to pedal as hard as I could in the toughest gear I could make move. Yet after a bit of reading, including this forum, I started working on the cadence thing. I always thought easy gear = slower speed. It was amazing to me when I looked at the speedometer on my favorite hill and saw that I was actually going faster up that hill while spinning in a lower gear than I'd been using on earlier rides!

Then I read somewhere that you should try putting the bike into a harder gear or bigger chain ring and stand and mash the peddals to go up hill. Sure seemed strage to me to use a harder gear to do something that was already harder. Sure enough though, after bumping it up a ring and standing for a bit, I eased back into the saddle and lowered my gear and continued spinning. Sure enough, the speedometer said I was setting new personal speed best on that little old hill.

There are a few suggestions regarding spinning that I found useful.

Try one legged pedaling for a bit and alternate legs.

Imagine you are trying to scrape something off the bottom of your shoe at the end of the downstroke.

Lift up on the ascending leg while pushing the other down. Even if you are using standard pedals this relieves the pushing leg of the need to raise the opposite leg.

I enjoyed the variety of practicing skills while riding and improved my technique and the results along the way. Ther are quite a few things we need to pay attention to in order to ride better. I'd practice my spinning for a mile or so, try one legged pedaling for a mile or so, stand for a bit, concentrate on my breathing for a mile or so. Eventually they become habits. I find now that I just need to run through a mental checklist every so often to make sure the technique is as good as I can make it.

I don't think we are ever so old that we can't do something a little better with practice. Perhaps we over 50 types will never get invited to race the Tour de France, but we sure could compete with folks our own age, and even younger folks if their technique is lacking.

I often get a bit discouraged that I am not as fast or can't last as long as I think or wish I could. When these thoughts hit me, I recall my first ride up hill 3.5 miles from my house to the bagel shop. I arrived in about 40 minutes. I had to look down to see if my rubbery legs were there and keeping my substantial fanny the normal distance from the floor. I was checking to see if my lungs really were hanging outside my body and resting on my substantial belly. I was sorely tempted to call my wife to bring the truck so I could get the bike home or just take me and leave the bike there.

Last night I had a meeting at church. Now we're talking a 5 mile up hill effort. It took about 20 minutes of casual easy riding and I arrived feeling as though I had driven a car and not even breathing hard. Lance would have probably reached the church before he was even clicked into his pedals, but I am generally pleased with my progress to this point. I'm pleased but not yet satisfied.

I'm looking at road bikes to replace my fat, knobby tired comfort hybrid. Maybe next time I have a meeting at church, I'll see if I can make it in 15 minutes:p

Carl

I dont go below 90 and on a good day{no wind** i stay around 105-110 but thats only for 15-20 mile rides.Its a workout.

Count your revs in six seconds and multiply by 10. Everyone knows their 10's times tables!

Remember, just for balance, high cadence is a matter of preference an not for everybody. Ask Jan Ulrich, no slouch.

If you are going for arobic conditioning, than you are going in the right direction.

Erm, from what I know, I was able to ride at high cadence without any problems. When I read 90 rpms, I went directly to spin at a higher cadence. No problems for me. Maybe it is my age of 16 or maybe a inborn ability.

However, I don't think there should be any problems with age. You should still be able to at least spin at 80 rpms. Good luck and hope to hear more from you. Enjoy your rides.

Originally posted by oxologic
Erm, Maybe it is my age of 16 or maybe a inborn ability.

I vote inate ability.

Spinning would be in the 90-110+ range I believe.