cooker

It is interesting how experiences differ. I certainly find my legs don't last as long in a higher gear, and I gear down and spin faster to give them a rest! Maybe it's a different mix of slow and fast fibres, or your training as a long-distance runner that explains it.

Ciufalon

cooker, you could well be right that due to my training for long distances my experiences might be different than others because of a different mix of slow and fast fibers. Others will certainly have different experiences and opinions and I was just offering mine, not trying to say others advice or experiences are wrong. One thing the OP might pay attention to is that I find each gear to have an optimal cadence (for me), and if I try to go faster than that cadence allows by spinning faster it just makes my legs feel like crap, very quickly. For me it is better to move up a gear if possible, or if that isn't good, to just stay in the gear I'm in and accept the speed I'm going until the incline or terrain changes. For me, part of riding a bike instead of driving is not always being in a hurry. I push myself when it feels good to, because I let my body tell me what to do, what to eat, etc. After cutting out sugar and processed foods, whatever is craves, it needs. But again, I am only relaying my experience.

the sci guy 

great info here - thanks everyone for it all!
I'm just starting commuting too and mine is a 6 mile each way, but it's far from flat. the hills are what kills my legs.

but I think i will take the advice of slowing down, especially in the morning - which is doable as there is little traffic.
that's harder for me in the afternoon though because my commute is on a busy road. it's 2 lanes so cars can easily go around me, but because it's a busy road they pile up behind me pretty quick.

Surly2698

Start doing body weight squats 15 to 20 times, body weight lunges 15 to 20 times and ham string curls 15 to 20 times.
increase the protein intake to help with recovery and get at least 8 hours of sleep.
"The pain really never goes away, you just go faster."

cooker

Thinking about it, it's probably also true that I both gear down and slow down, so the lower total effort rather than the change of cadence may be what I'm experiencing as relief.

jrickards

I bought and read a book last fall on weight training for biking and although cyclists use their legs as the primary driving force, the shoulders, arms and core all play a role so perhaps a more "inclusive" workout would benefit you.

jrickards

My approach, for distance riding (60km+)—since I ride to finish, not to race—is to keep my cadence at about 80-90rpm and I change the gears to match the speed. I find that if I'm going up a hill and I want to put in a greater effort, I'll change the gears so that this rpm is sustainable at a greater effort but when it starts to dip (I'm not actually counting it out or have an electronic readout), I'll want to save my knees and I'll change the gears. If I'm going up a hill and I want to take it easy up the hill, I'll keep the same cadence but I'll be in a much lower gear. I change gears frequently as a result (my routes have a lot of ups and downs, none of them really significant slopes) and I change them as soon as I find I'm pedalling out of that range and not wait, while going up a hill, until I can't even sustain 30rpm, I'll change step by step as needed.

I don't know what my cadence is when I'm standing, likely much slower, and I don't worry about cadence is then.