I just wanted to tell some of the commuters about whats been going on with me as of late..

For one, I have started to use the drops more than ever on my road bike, and I've been forcing myself to use the big ring with the hopes of developing more power...

It has been 3 weeks since I started doing this, and I started on the 2nd biggest cog, worked my way down one cog every week, now I am down to the 4th cog and I feel stronger every day... So far I can spin the 4th (and this week 5th) cog very easily, specially from a standing start where I can get up and push it more aggressively...

WTF ?

I am expecting to burn out at some point, but so far I just keep getting stronger every week... My legs have felt a little soreness, but nothing like when I spin mad rpms for many miles...

So these 2 things seem to help me go faster ... 1. using the drops, and 2, switching to the big ring and pushing a bigger gear.

Anybody else have any idea why this is working for me?

Do you know what cadence you are running at?

As an example: Spinning the wheels at 60 RPM is not as efficient as spinning at 90PRM. This is due to the fact that at a slower spinning rate the muscle has more time to contract and does not give you the most performance. Typically 90RPM +/-5 is the sweet spot for spinning the wheels with maximum efficiency (this is unles you are racing or Lance @ 120RPM).

I would recommengd using the smaller gerars but spinning faster every once in a while.

I used to be all into spinning big gears @ 65RPM but I've slowly realized the power of higher cadence.

It feels like i'm in the 80's when I'm moving it.

If I start to spin, I know I am up in the 90's -1xx's...

I would say keep doing what you're doing...Your legs are getting stronger and you are able to push higher gears at a very nice cadence pace...When you go through all the cogs and can do 80-90RPM in all of them then I would say try the same process all over again but try to do your base at 90-95 and your spin at 110-115...

I would say get also get a computer with cadence. Getting one has helped me stay in the cadence zone and not slack (before I had a Vetta computer with no cadence).
I got a Cateye Astrale 8 for $34 and it is really worth the money.

My problem is lower cadence ~65 rpm is the pain in my knees. Just like G105 said, when my cadence is 90 +/-5 rpm, the power level feels right, stamina maintains longer, and best of all- no pain in the knees. Heartrate monitor also tells me that I'm more efficient at the upper cadence levels.

But without a cyclocomputer with cadence I would have never figured this out.

Good work, man - that's impressive stuff - keep it up.

I've been on the top chainring since I got the roadie, only VERY rarely do I ever get down to the 2nd (double on my roadie) and I use the spectrum (barring 6 & 7 unless I'm *flying* down a hill) on the rear (7-speed cassette), always start in 1st and work up. Depending on whether my legs are warmed up, I can hoove it or not (I try not to push myself too much in the first 10/15 minutes of riding). I still don't stand up much when riding, so all my power is from sitting - I might have to upgrade my cyclocomputer to get cadence, as I'd really like to tune my pedalling technique more, when I start to feel some burn in my legs or knee pain coming on, I slow it down and change down to spin up more - but without going to the gym and trying to compare my cadence, I've no way of knowing how fast I'm actually pedalling.

I've noticed that during my warm-up phase, using a light gear brings on a sharp pain in my knee... as soon as I flip down to a higher gear and the load increases- the pain goes away almost instantly.....

Once I'm warmed up its another story, I just want to push it as much as possible......

Ohh well.

I am using a 9spd rear and a double front with a 52 or 53 big ring.

Each week, gnomes come and replace your big ring with an incrementally smaller one. :-P

I would say:This a commuter list.

I think once you are where the OP is you have to challange yourself.

You can: 1)Increase cadence 2)Increase weight.

They use the same principals with Spinervals and a lot of the people who race have had very nice increases from Spinervals.

Then again I'm no PRO

I'll say this...I was under the impression I was doing OK with my riding 20-21mph avg for 15 minutes....once I got my computer with cadence it was a different story...it changed my riding style a lot.

WTF was the point of that post? If you find it boring, you don't have to come into the thread.

Anyway, you can also use Sheldon Brown's gear calculator and determine target speeds for your optimal cadence in each gear - no cadence function needed on your cyclocomputer.

lol

Does ILTB ride a recumbent ?

Honestly, I'm using either 1-1 (target speed of about 10 MPH) or 2-1 (target speed of about 15 MPH.) I find that about 100 RPM is now where I'm most efficient (I used to be a lot slower, but my cadence has sped up a lot over the last few days...)

Well, you're mixing your variables: handlebar position and cadence. Could be either or both.

Regarding hand position, I hate riding on the hoods because I don't feel I get as good of leverage when really hitting it. To be honest, when I first got my road bike, I had absolutely no idea that the hoods were intended to be used as a handhold. I started by riding only in the drops, and even now I very rarely use the hoods, only as a break if my hands are getting numb.

As for cadence: I know this is a huge decades-long involved flamewar, but if you *dropped* to about 80-100 RPM, then maybe you weren't in your most efficient cadence previously if you were averaging 120 RPM or something?

Also riding in the drops is a more efficent breathing position.I'd say too its the cadence that counts.Also you're in a very flat state. Chris

Improvement comes in rapid gains and plateaus. Sooner or later you'll reach a point where you're seeing no improvement at all. Train through that, and you'll see another gain, followed by another plateau, etc. You'll also see more and better improvement if you mix up your training, i.e. intervals, easy, spins, hammer, easy, hills, etc. Throw some upper body in there too.

As for myself, I have seen my performance fall and I get progressively slower if I try to hammer all the time. Which is one reason why I llike to mix up riding different types of bikes and different bike/trailer combinations.

This sounds like good advice 2 me.

=)

Thanks !