Originally Posted by
ahsposo
I must be missing something. I got to about 119 RPM this morning and my stroke started to cause me to start bouncing around in the saddle saddle a bit. I could hold 115 no problem. If I was sprinting I would have been dropping the RD but I was trying for that high cadence. I'm not sure I could get it much over 120. I'm not sure there would be much usable power for me there. I'm thinking like a 2 stroke motorcycle I've got a power band - 85 to 105 in my case - and over it I'm not creating efficiencies and under it extra effort with no speed.
I did notice as I warm up my cadence increases. I've known that but really paid no attention to it because I know I'm warming up. When I'm going I hold 90 to 95. I can move it up to 110 but I'll start to tire if I hold it even in a lower gear. I'll deliberately do that (move my cadence up) before a climb to have some leg "inertia" for the early part of the climb.
Interesting you mention that. I've noticed that, and as I think about it I'm wondering if it is slower reflexes as we age, or higher cadence requires a slightly different pedaling technique.
If it's just slower reflexes, I'm not sure there is much that can be done. Perhaps there is some training that might improve things a bit, but at 62 I wonder just how much improvement can be gained, and if the physical deterioration curve isn't overcoming the improvement curve. At some point it's inevitable.
As I sit here at the computer thinking about a high spin rate and bouncing, I wonder if it might not be minimized by thinking about pedaling while concentrating on the push forward, pull back phases of the pedaling stroke. That might decrease the bounce caused by trying to quickly push down. I'll have to give that a try next week. I'm going to start doing some cadence intervals a la Hermes' coach's formula. I've already plugged it into my 305 as a custom workout.
I'm also going to plug in A-Jet's cadence pyramid formula, but I'm not sure were to start. Once I get a feel for how I do with Hermes' interval, I'll modify Jet's Pyramid. Then on my Tuesday training session I'll alternate.
Today I did concentrate on keeping in the small ring except when over 25mph. That kept my cadence up, and I averaged 88 for 42 mi. That's unheard of for me.