steingang2

I've been biking for about 5 years, but can't seem to get any faster. I ride about 1,500 miles per year, 20-40 at a time. My endurance improves as the summer goes on but I can't get any faster. What's the secret? I can maintain a 80-85 rpm comfortably but don't seem to have the leg strength to push harder without wearing out sooner. Any tips? I'm 46 years old.

ks1g

Doing interval sessions a couple of times a week can help develop speed. There are a bunch of training plans to help you do this on line and in books. 2 places I'd look are Friel's Cycling Past 50 and the "Fast Century" training plan Bicycling published a couple of years ago. You can work on cadence by concentrating on doing the intervals at a faster pedal speed. You can also concentrate on getting comfortable at a faster cadence by going to a much lower gear and spinning like mad - a couple of minutes at >100 rpm during your warm up, or during a non-intervals ride.

Machka 

First of all ... 1500 miles a year (2400 km) is not very much. That's only 200 km a month ... <50 km a week.

Perhaps you should focus on building up some distance, a base, first. Start by riding 60 km next week, 70 km the following week, 80 km the one after, etc. Once you get to 100 km a week stay there a while and start incorporating intervals one or two days a week.