Bbmoozer

Hello:
I'm new to 'more serious riding than just weekend 10-15 mile jaunts'. I've signed up to do a century this june and YIKES! I rode 30 miles on Saturday and just about died. I have been doing spin classes 3-4 times and 2-3 days of lifting a week so am in OK shape. But I came in nearly last riding. It was windy 15-20 miles per hour winds, but into the wind on a slow upgrade peddling my heart out I only could go 6-8 mph and others were passing me.

I have a hybrid Silk Path Cannondale.... how can I go faster ? Can I get new gears (the big ones on racing bikes) and drop down handle bars ? Or should I just get a whole new bike? (I would rather try to save some money on this too). Or is it just a matter of building up my legs more????

HELP!

Sarah

Oscar

Build up your legs more. I've seen people pull centuries on 40lb Schwinn Varsities, so it ain't necessarily the bike.

Only change the fit on your bike to make you more comfortable. Discomfort on a century sounds like torture.

Play with the gear combinations to find a favorite. Generally set yourself up for a situation where you can spin in an easier gear for the flat miles, and use the big gear for when the wind is at your back or you are going downhill.

You'll be amazed with yourself how quickly you can progress with your biking. These are fun times.

Bbmoozer

Thanks Oscar... I was afraid you'd say that... oooh, that BURN in my quads! OUCH
Sarah

mike

Ya, no matter what bike you are on, you have to be able to pull of more than 8~9 mph for a 30 mile ride or a century will kill you. Shoot for a sustained speed of about 12.5 mph for an hour. When you can do that without dying, then you are on your way toward centurian success. Of course, that is just the beginning milestone, but let it be your first goal.

The engine of the bicycle is your body. You will have to focus on that. I am confident that you can be ready for a century this summer if you start now.

Do you smoke? If yes, stop. That will help immensly. It always amazes me how fast people can improve physically when they quit smoking.

Do you ride your bicycle every day? If not, try that out. Try to get at least 10 miles EVERY day. Use you bicycle instead of a car. This is a pretty easy and enjoyable way to get into shape.

If find that time in the gym doesn't really help me get in shape or stay in shape for bicycling. The basic excersise for bicycling is bicycling - on the road (or on the trail) rather than spinning in a gym. Gym time helps you break a plateau once you hit it, but it doesn't seem to get a person into basic bicycling condition.

Hey, you CAN do the century. Just get more time in the saddle. You'll get there.

Rich Clark

As you've already learned, it's the engine, not the bike. Training will make by far the biggest difference. But a couple of other things...

It sucks to ride with people who keep dropping you. If you're going to ride with a group, make it a group whose pace matches your own.

It is true that drop bars are an advantage when riding into headwinds or going fast on descents. When I used to have a hybrid I added bar ends to the handlebars so I could stretch out a little and present a somewhat more aerodynamic profile in such circumstances. You might want to consider that. Putting drop bars onto a hybrid is not likely to work out; you'll need to change too many other expensive drivetrain parts, and the bike might not fit right any more.

The narrowest, highest-pressure slick tires that your rims can mount should be on your bike. For riding on pavement there's no need for wide, soft tires, or for any tread pattern at all.

Changing the gearing will not accomplish anything. But keeping your pedaling cadence high -- if you're a spinner, this should come easily -- might. Especially when climbing. Climbing into a headwind, I find, works best when I get as aero as possible and keep my cadence up (80-90 rpm). Not that I don't still suck as a climber.

Baggy clothes that act like sails don't help, either.

RichC

MichaelW

On a hybrid bike you can fit some of the wider 28mm/narrow 32mm tyres. Try something like a 32mm Panaracer pasela, pumped up to its max pressure, this will cut down on rolling resistance.
Rolling resistance is constant at all speeds, it limits your effiency at low speeds, but above 12-15mph, air resistance becomes the big one. This increases with velocity squared. ie double your speed and the drag increses 4x. On a hybrid bike, small aerobars are probably easier and cheaper to fit then drops. Your frame probably lacks the correct cable mounts for drop bar gear leves. The frame geomety/length may also not be comfortable for use with drops, if it good with your current flats.

Pedal at high cadence, and if you spin out, consider fitting bigger gears. Use toe clips or clipless pedals and stiff cycling shoes.

If you are serious about going fast on the road, then a road bike may be what you are looking for. Some light-touring bikes combine the efficiency of a road bike with the practicality of a touring/hybrid bike, and make excellent all-round bikes.

Bbmoozer

Thanks Mike, Fred and Mike... OK...so I'll first try to get my 'machine' going---then if that doesn't do it, bike enhancements.
Actually, on the flat with little wind, I averaged about 12 miles per hour... 20-28 down hill which was fun!! wooo woo! Big winds are humbling!
Sarah

Oscar

I had to chuckle when Mike mentioned smoking. I quit smoking something like five years ago. Once, I rode an organized century with my brother. At a rest stop, I grabbed a Gatorade and a Marlboro. My brother was embarassed because I caught a few laughs from the other riders.

On a century last year, I grabbed a Gatorade and a bananna, and looked at a grizzled old guy lighting up a cig. I just waved to him and silently blessed the day I quit.

green lion

As Mike says, get as much as possible time in the saddle. That the main issue! The body needs to adapt to the riding time. Speed, flexibility and muscle will come automatically. Just keep adding a couple off miles each time you go for a ride and ride as fast as you feel comfortable, not faster.
If the bike is comfortable, leave it. You will get there sooner than you ever expected. Enjoy.

blwyn

I rode in that same wind on Saturday. For the first good ride of the year it was tough. I'll contradict the above advise and say that when training intensity is more important than duration. With limited time to train go out and go hard when you can. Throw in a longer ride in every once in a while.
Good luck on your century. Are you doing the Trek 100?

Bbmoozer

[On a century last year, I grabbed a Gatorade and a bananna, and looked at a grizzled old guy lighting up a cig. I just waved to him and silently blessed the day I quit. [/B][/QUOTE]

Oscar...I quit about 6-7 years ago. I could not imagine doing a century as a smoker. Sure, I exercised but coughed alot too. I had NO wind capacity. Sure is a blessing to BREATHE!!!! Quitting was the best and hardest thing I've ever done.
Sarah

Bbmoozer

I'm riding a Team in Training ride at Lake Tahoe-June 2nd. It's a fund raiser for leukemia and lymphoma. I've known 2 people in my life touched by these cancers so they are motivation. But also, I just want to do it for me...to know that I can do this before I hit 40... then once I hit 40, who knows maybe a triathalon? ha ha!
Sarah

mike

Sarah, last year I went on the Leukemia and Lymphoma ride. I raised more money than I had ever hoped. From the experience of raising money, I learned how many people are affected by leukemia and lymphoma. It is startling.

I was supposed to have a riding partner, but she cancelled at the last minute. Ironically, the friend who had promised to ride the Luekemia and Lymphoma 150 with me last year (but cancelled) just learned that she has lymphoma. What a trajedy. I am glad that some of the money I raise will be used to help her.

If your century is as good as well organized as the Leukemia and Lymphoma 150 I did in Wisconsin last year, you should have a wonderful time. It has a very diverse group of riders. You will not be alone in the front, middle, or rear. It isn't all Type A gonzo bikers. There are even some very overweight middle-agers on clunkers just riding along till they get pooped, then they jump in the SAG wagon. I did it on an old 1970's vintage 10-speed and finished before more than half the other riders - but it isn't a race and that is the point.

You picked a good cause and a great group for your first century.

Bbmoozer

Hi Mike... yeah, it's a great cause. I look forward to raising the rest of the money. Still have a way to go.
I see you are in the snowy midwest too... can you believe this? I was hoping it was an April Fools prank ...but here we are in a Winter wonderland in April!
Makes training outdoors a bit rough... but I think it's due to warm up again soon.
sarah

D*Alex

....sigh, I just gotta do it.....

If you want to go faster, you have to:


(drumroll, please)


Pedal Harder!!!

Sorry, I couldn't help myself

Seriously, if you are looking to:

a) Go fast, and

b) Ride centuries

Then, you have the wrong bike. A hybrid is basically an excursion/sunday ride/commuter/shopping/campus bike. If you want to go fast, you need a road bike. If you want to do touring, you need a touring bike. You can do a tour or a road ride with a hybrid, but you will be bog-slow.

mike

Couple of comments on D*Alex's informative post:

First, we sure know what D*Alex means about pedaling harder. Try this method, though. Don't concentrate on how HARD you pedal. Concentrate on lifting your knees - and work on lifting them faster. You will be surprised at how well that works and how much easier bicycling will be when you stop fighting your own muscles.

Of course, D*Alex is correct that a road bike is most efficient and (I believe) most comfortable. However, I have seen all kinds of bikes do centuries from road bikes to comfort bikes to mountain bikes, and recumbents, and all kinds of weird machines. If it isn't a race, you can do a century on almost any bike - as long as you are in shape for it.

Bbmoozer

yeah.... i hear y'all loud and clear. Peddle peddle peddle...
I'll take the burn.
If my knees aches...I think I'm supposed to ease back to an easier gear, n'est pas?
Sarah

willic

Hi Sarah!

As a cyclist for years only used to a hybrid bike, I prided myself on my ability to ride 50 milers on a regular basis, with the odd century thrown in.
My favorite circiut of a half century I usually managed to do about once every month in the better weather period.
Recently I took the plunge and purchased myself what i consider to be a really nice road bike.
So after only a few shorter rides , last week with the first signs of spring in the air I took my new machine for the first time on the mentioned 50 miler, and was chuffed to bits to take almost one hour off the best time i had ever managed with the hybrid, especially skipping up the many hills seemed so much easier, probably due to the much lighter weight of the new bike.
A little stiffness in the neck was the only ill effects I felt on my return , this i put down to not being accustemed to the drop bars.
So if you want to make life much better , get yourself a cycle appropriate to what it is designed for .
As one or two guys mentioned hybrids are exellent for bumming around , commuting , shopping,(with a rack) a little offroading etc

Good luck to you when you do the century for such an exellent cause.
Willi`c

Bbmoozer

thanks guys...i'll try that - concentrating on 'lifting my knees'. Sounds great!
willie... must have been sweet to speed by your old record on that new machine!
Sarah

MichaelW

If you are training for a century, then speed is less important than endurance. You need to get used to long periods in the saddle, and to improve your cardiovascular fitness , rather then your leg strength. If you are training for a time trial, then intense short training would be more appropriate, but a century is an 8-10hr ride for most people. Get used to riding at your own pace, one you can maintain, rather than blowing your legs to early in a long ride.

Divide your training rides into warm up (pedalling fast in a low gear), endurance ( steady riding for long periods of time), and finish off with some speed if you like, then a cool down for a mile or 2. Always start a loop riding into the wind, so you need a variety of routes to chose from.

Many people find that their upper body gives out before their legs. My upper arms always sag in the last few miles. Chose a position you can maintain comfortably, rather than the most aerodynamic one.

Drink lots of water and eat at least every hour. Doesnt have to be special energy bars , just food.
A quality hybrid bike is good enough to do the ride on, not ideal, but you will have plenty of company.

Bbmoozer

thanks Mike...yeah, long hours in the saddle makes my butt absolutely ache! I feel about 120 years old when I stand on the peddles to stretch - same way I feel if i sit on a hard chair all day too. Time is a commodity with a century. I wish I had more time to train and more time each day to ride. Today, I didn't get a ride in...worked til 5, then had an appt after work, got home at 7 or so. Plus it's snowing out. Will get to gym for weights and spin tomorrow. Warm weather due later this week so I can get out after work a bit.
sarah

Chris L

I managed a ride of 293km in a day on my MTB without too many problems a couple of months ago. A century can be done on just about anything if you can ride it.

MichaelW

you can increase your saddle time by using a bike for daily transportation. Ride to work if you can. use the bike for shopping trips, you can fit a luggage rack and panniers, and carry quite a load. Cycle to the gym or to friends.
I manage about 1hrs riding most days just from getting around.

RainmanP

Mike hinted at it, but no one has really gone into detail about spinning and cadence, so I will.

Bigger gears are not the way to go faster. You go faster by spinning the pedals faster in an easier gear with a smooth round pedal stroke. Pushing a big gear harder will quickly exhaust you your quads, regardless of your cardiovascular fitness. Think of your weight training. You could probably bench press 50 pounds all day long, but how many times can you press 200? Same principle. You have to reduce the resistance and move it faster.

You need to work on building your cadence to something in the 75-85 rpm range. 90 is better, but you may not have time. To do this for any length of time, you have to practice a smooth circular stroke. Mash, mash, mashing only on the downstroke in a big gear quickly exhausts your quads. A circular stroke brings more muscles into use. This is easier with toe clips on your pedals or with clipless pedals and real cycling shoes. Even without either, just think it a circle otherwise you are still pushing at the bottom of one pedal as you start to push down with the other side so you are working against yourself. Think about moving your feet in a circle rather than push, push, push. Envision not feeling any pressure either down or up, just raising and lowering your legs in a nice little circle.

To spin faster you have to get in an easier gear. Forget the big front ring at this stage. Get on the small or middle ring up front and a low enough gear in back for pedalling to feel almost too easy. Then turn the pedals faster. As you can comfortably spin 75-80 most of the time, move up a gear. Training your muscles to spin faster takes some time. I don't know how far you can get with it, but I guarantee you that trying to push, push, push a big gear will wear you out in no time. I started out a year or so ago in 39/21 because that's what it took for me to be able to sustain a cadence of 80 rpm for my whole ride. Over the year I gradually improved to where I can handle 52/19 at 90 rpm just about all the time.

Check out Bicycling Magazine's century training program at for more information:

https://www.bicycling.com/home/fitness/training/century/

MichaelW has a great point. I ride my bike to work every day so I get at least 22 miles. Works like a charm.

Hope this helps,
Raymond

Bbmoozer

thanks raymond. I'll check out that web site too. Yeah, you are right, big gears do wear me out faster. I am also lifting weights in hopes of gaining some endurance strength. But 50 lbs all day? I think I could easily bench maybe 30 all day!
Sarah