[QUOTE=bobthib;10786352]To all the posters, I really appreciate the ideas and feedback. I'm excited about some cadence exercises and look forward to starting a weekly regiment tomorrow! I'm also going to make it a point to stay on the small ring for anything below 25. It will be tough because I've been a big ring rider since I started last year.[/QUOTE]

I like this statment a lot better than..." At my age I'm at the end of the age/performance curve, and I suspect that curve has a rather sharp downward curve to it as the years progress. I just want to try to get as good as I can."

A couple of other points...try one leg pedaling drills. I spin each leg at 70 rpm for one minute and do my weak leg an extra minute. This gives me the muscle memory of perfect pedal stroke and uses hip flexors, hamstrings, glutes and quads.

I started working on cadence 2 1/2 years ago and in the last few months, I have been able to do the cadence ladder.

All the coaches I know in our area coach high cadence. It seems we cannot spin fast enough to please them. I pay no attention to UCI pro riders or Lance or quite frankly what is published on internet websites or what has been determined in laboratories. The ability to spin high cadence and understand when it is an advantage goes to OP's goal of being the best he can be.

I am coached to understand what it means to load up your legs with slow cadence and high power and the effect on endurance and fatigue. Sometimes it is an advantage.

The ability to spin at will and sustain high cadence is hard to do but IMO is a significant advantage in competition and performance events. One can always choose to spin slower but one must train and practice to spin faster.

In my criterium race on Saturday my average cadence was 88 rpm and my max 120. That is a mixture of out of the saddle large accelerations at lower cadence, high cadence recovery, high cadence sprinting and low cadence seated accelerations. I used them all and I needed them all.