Why does my riding not improve....

Hi all,

I am a 45 yo guy, I returned to cycling about
1 year ago and since have cycled 3K kilometers.

Most recreationaly and other commuting.

Whilst commuting particularly - I have noticed that I get 'dropped' by other cyclists at traffic
lights and overtaken othewise. NOT ALL CYCLISTS of course .. but some surprising and unexpected
cyclists -- older guys in lycra and even sometimes ladies [also] in lycra. Even guys in mountain bikes - sometimes.

I dont mind this happening (credit to power/performance of other cyclist) , but I am wondering
what I can do to go up an extra notch in performance?

I find that I dont have the legs -- I cant turn them faster - however my heart/breathing is by no means
laboured or at its limits. I just cannot persuade my legs to turn just a bit faster.

I ride a hybrid Trek 7.2fx with panniers - so I am an [often] loaded cyclist, but still
I get a nagging feeling that even without a load I would get dropped.
I dont use SPD's. I dont have slicks.

What is it? how do I juice up my legs -- and which muscles need juicing up?

the bike? the tires? the load? me? pedals? no lycra? How can I go up a notch in performance?

Yours
fed up staring at lycra-clad bottoms.

Ride lots.

After that, slick tires will make a world of difference. Clipless pedals don't make you alot faster, but they help with endurance by enabling a better spin with more muscles involved

Yes, change the tires. Knobbies are good for off-road but they make you do more work than necessary on flat roads.

Are you utilizing higher gears?

Usually, problems like this are not with the bike, but with the engine. But that doesn't mean your "out of shape" it simply means the others passing you are in better shape, perhaps been cycling longer. Or simply have naturally better legs for cycling, so you have to work harder than they do.

If you want to improve speed, make sure you're keeping hydrated, make sure you're taking in protein right after the ride.

You have a relatively short amount of time post work out to make use of protien, in a perfect world, you'd hop off the bike and plow down a protein shake and then go cool off and relax for a while.

Secondly, give yourself recovery time. I've noticed that when I've been really hammering it all week, riding a lot, and doing all the other things I do, I slow down the longer i go without a day of rest. When you're stronger, you'll need a lot more of a work out to effect this, but starting out, you'll want to give your body rest. and Nutrition.

A lot of things can effect your speed, Aerodynamics, quality of moving parts (drivetrain, wheels), Rider fitness, weather, hydration/nutrition.

Rider fitness and hydration nutrition are the best to focus on because it will effect you in all aspects of life, and it won't matter what cycle your on.

If it's important for you to go faster and/or longer, you have to practice (or "train") going faster and/or longer. There will always be somebody passing you no matter what, but you can optimize the performance you get from the effort you put in by good, efficient positioning on the bike. There is no substitute for having the saddle in the right place (high enough and not too extreme fore-and-aft), and your upper body leaning forward enough (this dramatically improves performance because it uses all of the muscles you have available for pedalling).

There's no doubt that having to accelerate and push big tires with heavy tread is going to slow you down compared to those who aren't.

Oh lol, from the title, i thought this was going to be yet another troll attempt, it's a legitimate thread.
Bike fit can be a factor, especially if your seat is too low. Load is going to slow you down, but it's not a huge factor on the flats. You might have to consider training like intervals and such, i'm not too knowledgeable in this area so i'll leave that to others to comment on. One thing that i have read over and over that the only way to improve bike performance is to ride ie weight training may in fact be counter-productive.

Something else to remember is that if you're using your bicycle for utility purposes and not racing purposes, there really isn't a need to compete with...well, anyone but yourself. You don't know where they're going, or how long they've ridden, or how many steroids they took before the morning ride. :O) Ride at your own pace, and you'll get where you're going eventually.

This is another aspect of our cycling culture that hasn't evolved as much as that in other countries, due to the fewer number of cyclists on our roads. In places where 20 or 30 percent of the population commutes to work, almost no one wears lycra, and almost no one cares how fast or slow anyone else is going. Sort of like driving; most people going to work don't particularly care if many cars pass them or not besides the speed demons, and they're just a stressed lot anyway.

Once you learn to view your bicycle as a form of transportation and nothing more, such things will bother you less. You're not in the TDF; you're just riding to work. Put on some music and enjoy the view...

To ride better... ride more. It's inevitable, you'll get better.

Cross train... your mussles work in opposition to one another (one mussle pushes, the opposing one pulls) and your pushing mussles are being worked by biking. You also need to work the pulling mussles with some other activity or you're never going to see the gains you want. Hiking is good... lifting the leg weight is the work. Weights will be even better.

How are you using your gears? Are you starting in a lower gear and quickly shifting up to higher ones as you go? I've seen plenty of people that don't shift down at lights, so it takes tons of effort for them to even get moving again.

Bike fit, geometry, riding position, seat height, gear ratio... all factors that make a difference in performance.
As well as your own physical ability.

+1 on hiking and +1 on weights. There are several exercises that cyclists have traditionally used to get stronger legs: squats, leg curls, leg extensions, dead lifts, etc., but don't over look your core muscles (abdominals, lower back, obliques, hamstrings). Also, stretch; that will help elongate the muscles and ligaments and give the muscles room to grow. I find yoga particularly good for this.

Oh, and +100 on taking time off, especially after a hard ride or workout. Give your body time to recover and rebuilt. Hard exercise creates micro-tears in the muscles that the body will rebuild (more muscles), making you stronger.

I don't know if I'd bother with weights. Commute a few times on a big knobbie full suspension bike. then your hybrid will be like a feather. You'll destroy those kids off the line! That's more or less what I did.... commuted last summer and this spring on my heavy @ss mtb. Switched to a road bike and even loaded, I'm 200% quicker off the get go and can finally drop peeps here and there. Still can't hang with some of those damn fixies, though.

Sprinting off from the lights is a bit over-rated, you'll find you wear components out really fast. Especially on this fashion for compact chain sets.

It sounds like you're slowing for the lights, and then others are dropping you just as the lights change? So guessing here: the lights sequence to make a 'green wave'? Find out what that timing is, work the numbers to find average speeds, and try to stick to one you can manage. You'll then find you're doing the one doing the dropping.

Alternately, do a trick the slow ones do in Copenhagen: as the lights change wobble off all the way and back across the cycle path, it'll slow them down behind you, ruin their cadence, maybe cause a pile-up. You can then cycle off oblivious to the carnage behind you, and no one will overtake for a good while, and they'll do it slowly, if they catch up.

in addition to what everyone else has said, I will throw in riding fixed if you have a chance. Makes you more efficient pedaling and you will gain a couple MPH easy after you get used to fixed. Plus it builds up leg strength and works on your spin. Before fixed I pushed about 85rpm. I'm now close to 100 consistantly. I'm no speed demon but I'm alot faster on geared bikes now...

There seems to be a common denominator to the people you say are passing you: lycra!

If you are not wearing lycra, well there you go.

Wear lycra = go faster.

Duh.

(I hear the bib shorts make you fastest of all!)

find a nice big hill and get out of your seat going up it. Do that lots. Your legs will improve in short order.

All of the above. I'm a lot faster on my road bike, but nothing whips you into shape better than participating in group rides a couple times per week with the except of being coached. I've noticed since stopping a lot of my recreational riding and just commuting that I have lost some speed despite the fact that I'm getting a lot of hours in on the bike. I guess part of it is that I just run myself into the ground commuting as often as possible which contributes to poor recovery.

I don't know about you, but I don't get tired of staring at the lycra-clad, well-shaped bottoms of the in-shape females that routinely drop me on the climb from work to home.

In fact, I enjoy it so much, I use it as motivation. They eventually drop me, but I do find myself trying to stay in visual range as long as possible.

So, thank you, lycra-clad avid cyclist ladies. You're making me a stronger climber!

Something is just not right about that comment.

If you can't elevate your heart, then you're simply not pushing hard enough.

1. Pick different parents. i failed o choose the correct parents and am doomed to never being really fast.
2. If you want to improve you gotta train. It will hurt. Intervals, then more of same.
3. +1 equipment. I commute on a mountain bike with big basket panniers (but thin tires). When I take my road bike in I'm 3-4 mph faster.
4. Or just say "Who cares? I'm on my bike and life is good." Someone will always be faster. Just tell yourself they are younger, on EPO, and overtraining.

You just made me (and quite possibly several other cyclists) jealous.

if your breathing is not laboured then you aren't working hard enough, pop a higher gear, get out of the saddle and sprint for a set number of seconds.... then turn it back down for a bit and then do it again...

Use a gear that makes your chest hurt just as much as your legs.

For you this means shifting down and spinning with a higher cadence.

+1

Efficient cycling is spinning, not pushing...and working both your legs and cardiovascular system at once.