Road Cycling - approach to increasing MPH

i always thought that if i am trying to increase my MPH then i'd have to work on my shortcoming (on the times when my MPH slowed, or my climbing) --> but found that if i go faster during flats and downhills (pedaling instead of coasting) i can improve my overall MPH.

so instead of being satisfied with 21 mph late in the ride, i push to exceed that. there are always times when i need to take it down a notch, but i find that the more fit i am the quicker i can recover from that lactate rush that hits you without warning. so i now slow instead of killing myself to come back from that lactate rush and lay low till it fades.

my rides are peaks and valleys like life. i'm learning to enjoy the peaks and wait out the valleys.

after all these years i am still learning the fine art of when to gear up and when to spin.

anyone have any specific things that they work on when 'training' (besides not getting run over by a car)

well for me, it is never stop pedaling, I did not intend to do this when I first started riding, but then I noticed that you can really gain a lot more efficency if you keep your cadence and spin. Basically it goes back to the basic rule of cadence, you want to have a certain amount of resistance that is not very high, but consistance enough thoughout the ride, whether you are in a climb or on a desent. Also I have found that if you increase your cadence with a lower gear (higher resistance) you will go faster, (around 23-25 mph range) but I have yet to build up the endurance to keep this pace for more then 30-45 min at a time. I will basically have to drop back to 18-20 mph range for a while then pick it up. Needless to say keep spinning, and the faster you go (average speed) the better conditioned your body will become.

Continuing to spin even while descending also helps to get rid of lactic acid in the muscles so they recover faster. Your legs will feel better than if you had just coasted.

While continuing to spin on the descent is a good way rid yourself of built up lactate acid, after a certain speed I spin out and will not build speed. I, like alot of people, can feel this point and will do an aero-tuck This in itself can be comical looking when done by old fat guys like me, but my speed often jumps ahead.
There is one hill on the run to Santa Barbara that my 52X11 spins out at about 32 mph. When I go aero, I jump to about 44-45 mph (fear the blow out). Not only thrilling, but proves that a cyclist doesn't have to spin to accelerate.

Try to hoard momentum as you begin a climb, if you don't already. Keep downshifting grudgingly, and by the time you hit your terminal climbing speed you might be a good ways up a short climb.

I am highly doubtful about the meaning of an overall average speed. A workout with lots of hills will yield a lower average speed, but be much harder than one with flats. Ditto for wind. So, I find average speed rather deceiving, except as a measure of my performance over months.

Yes, higher speed on the flats will increase your average, but keep in mind that much more time is lost on an uphill than can ever be regained on the corresponding downhill. (See http://www.sportsci.org/encyc/cyclingupdown/cyclingupdown.html)

But, of course, every second gained is a second gained. So one needs to work on all aspects.

At the moment, I am working on my endurance over long distances. I am doing 3 rides a week instead of my usual 4-5, and going further on each ride (since I can only give a certain amount of time to cycling). This means I do 2 rides of about 65-80 km, and 1 of at least 100 km (with a group). I will slowly increase that until winter hits.

In addition, I am working on my climbing, by choosing hillier routes and hammering the climbs with a mixture of strategies (sitting vs. standing). Effectively, I look at each climb as an interval--with allowances made for the length of the climb. On a long climb, I try to set a pace that allows me also to sprint short sections. But, my current goal is to keep up with the fastest climbers in my group. I only weigh 63kgs, and I used to be a great climber when I raced as a teenager. I'd like to have that ability back (I am returning from years away from the sport).

The other thing that I always try to do is keep my speed up all the way to the end of the ride. I suppose this is a bit like Riphraph's strategy. The hardest problem for me is pacing myself at the beginning.

Cheers,
Jamie

I have 2 main loops I ride as a TT to gauge my fitness (20 mi. and 30 mi). I've been riding these same loops for 4 years, so it's been interesting watching the improvement.

It used to be that if I road the hills hard I would set a personal best. No longer. Now I must hammer the flats, attack the hills, accelerate hard from stop signs and corner aggressively. To set personal bests I've had to become a more aggressive and well-rounded cyclist.

I enjoy pushing myself, but other people may think this sounds like work. The pleasure comes when you're improving. 4 years ago on my 20 mi. loop I averaged 14 mph my first time out, but got up to 15.9 mph by the end of the season. Year 2 I improved to 16. 5 mph, and 18.3 mph last year. This year I'm at 19.5 mph. My loop is rolling with very little flat, a 3 mi., 700 ft. climb and a .3 mi. 13% climb near the end.

The thing that helped me the most to improve
not just MPH but my riding in general was cadence
monitor. I was really surprized at how much cadence
could tail off either up a hill or into strong headwind.
Along with Mechbgon's hoard momentum when hitting
the hills I now shift to a higher gear and jump before
I start shifting down. The thing I really try to maintain
is above 80 RPM going uphill (sometimes impossible,
but I'm working on it!).

Marty

I generally don't have problems with hills or, rather, I don't actually train on hills but muscular endurance. Such as ALWAYS ride near my LTHR or above using 53 x 17 gear ratio. I want to spin on a bigger gear. My typical, everyday training course has a 4% to 5% grade climb, about a quarter of a mile long. I just fly up the hill with a 53 x 19 gear ratio and doing 20 mph. That generally shoots my HR above 180. In the beginning of the season, I used to a 53 x 18 gear ratio doing that climb. Now, I would rather spin a bit faster on a 53 x 19 gear ratio. When it comes to an actual hill (the nearest hill in where I live is about 20 miles away) on my long ride day, I don't have any problem at all. Recently, I am doing leg sqauts with no weight. Standing up on my toes, 2 repetitions per second and 5 minutes interval/5 minutes rest in between. It helps a lot. I am becoming more willing to pedal harder with a bigger gear. My goal? I just want to cruise at 24 mph or faster and not going over my LTHR.

Hear, Hear! to the cadence monitor. I got one too this summer and have found it immensely helpful--much better than the table I had pasted to my H-bar stem.

I now watch my cadence as much or more than my speed. Since my computer also shows altitude and incline, I can see what grades allow for what cadence. Currently, I drop below my cadence minimum of 80 for anything over 5%. My set-up doesn't allow for gearing lower than 42-24, so I have face reality: I just need to get stronger!

Cheers,
Jamie

In addition to the advice above, if you aren't already, sneak in some intervals... using your speed instead of HR (it's a more tangible target, to me, just more fun). Pick a high speed that is reachable, but hard to hold. Then go at it for 3 minutes. Slow and recover for a while and do it again. Do 2 or 3 once a week. After several weeks, the additional speed/power will start to trickle down into your "normal" riding, and your average speed will improve.

This is an informal approach, and you can get better results if you're more rigorous, like using an HR target, and doing more repetitions, but that can really screw up a good ride. ;) The above approach can be snuck into a normal, fun ride where you're really just getting into dieseling along at a high average speed.