I have been a "masher" for as long as I've been riding. I'm not a "slow twitch" kind of athlete and never have been. In my younger days, I was a 400m runner... the odd ball who couldn't sprint fast enough to win a 100m and didn't have the stamina to run 1600m plus. But... I could sprint hard for 400m and very few people could keep up.

I started cycling in 2002 or so and immediately found myself racing local tt, yet I was unable to ride with a fast group for any distance greater than 25 miles. My technique for tt was to shift till it burned and push till I couldn't get my legs over the top tube when I finished.

I've gotten back into cycling this year after a long break (had two kids and a busy job). I've clocked a lot of rides this summer, but mostly while riding with my boys who want to race next year (lots of miles, but slow paced). My oldest (11) raced his first tt this season.

I never bought into a fast cadence. I didn't feel like I was doing enough work and felt I was pedaling too fast for the speed I was going. I have been reading up on this board lately, as I have started a junior team that will be racing next year and I feel like even though we will be hiring coaches, I have a lot to learn before we start.

Anyhow, lately I have kept a close eye on my cadence, with a goal of making 100rpm my average. Yesterday, while my boys were at football practice, I joined a 25mi group ride. I rode at 100rpm for most of the ride. Almost everyone in the group mentioned my "fast" cadence which made me feel like I should slow it down. Instead of giving in to the urge to go back to 60rpm or so like normal, I kept spinning.

As we finished the ride, a couple of us took off on a hard, fast sprint. I was amazed by how hard I could go and how fresh my legs felt. Typically, after a hard ride, I would be gassed and sore (quads especially) but this time was way different. My heart rate average for the ride was 170, which is a lot higher than normal, but at the end, I felt like I could go again. I didn't feel taxed at all.

Moral of this long story is, if you are like me and keep your speed by mashing fast gears... Give 100rpm a try and you will be amazed how different (and better IMO) it is to ride this way. I only write this because out of the group I rode with (very experienced guys) most were mashing gears which surprised me.

I like mid 80s. Give a happy medium a try, you might like it.

If my legs get tired I increase cadence, lungs get tired I reduce cadence. I guess ideally I'd find a perfect cadence that both can handle, but I don't like a steady cadence/speed.

spin to win.

i also started out with having a cadence around 70-80... recently i've gone up to 90-95 and really focused on pulling over the top. it was uncomfortable at first but now it feels natural in all conditions.

I'm sticking with 100.

The extra cardio work alone makes it worth it to me, the fresh legs are just a (big) bonus.

My goal now is to keep working the cardio hard, and slowly work my way to harder gears to keep building my legs.

I also need to ride more paceline at my new cadence so I can dial in better.

Since I haven't been riding like this long, I wasn't comfortable riding mid pack, so I either pulled or rode the back.

The awkward uncomfortableness is why I avoided it for so long.

I felt like I wasn't going fast enough for the effort required to spin so fast.

What I didn't notice was how I was going the same speed without straining my legs.

That's sort of how I've always ridden, but probably at the extreme low end.

I never paid much attention but my guess is that I'd go between 60-80. As soon as the legs stopped burning, I was quick to drop back to 60.

100 was a huge increase for me and I didn't expect to see the benefit right away, but I did. I guess that's why I am excited about it enough to write a post about it.

However, I do know that if I would have read this exact post a month ago, I would have ignored it. I think we all have our own way of doing things and are resistant to change.

OP- your average HR for this ride was 170? Geez. I'm not even 30 and If I kill myself I can average maybe 168-170 for a 40 minute crit which obliterates my legs. I ride with a high cadence too (no cadence sensor, but probably 90-95 at all times), but dang. How old are you? I guess you must have a higher max heart rate than the average bear.

I'm 50 and I can come close to 190 without puking, have not tried the puking thing YET, but we have some warm weather left :-). Puking sounds no fun at 16F hehe.



If you like 100 give 251 a try :-). LOL I dunno where that spike came from. Dismal power and speed, but today was totally a fasted ride, and about 100 carbs total Monday through today(18-22 per day) . Working on Ketogenic fat fuel adaptation :-). Goal today was HR 125-130, popped over some.

Bill

It is much easier and able to keep yourself fresh. I don't spin at 100, my average over the summer is 88 because I'm not a hill spinner. I stand up and mash on any decent grade. Average heart rate for me is 158, 37 years old.

I'm 35. I have been somewhat active for the last 10 years, but nothing like cycling.

I never wore a HR monitor when I used to ride, so I don't know what my heart rate used to be.

When I "mash" It stays around 150, but I don't know if that is normal for other people or not.

I have started standing and mashing some short hills too :-), and a few other places where I want to take off like a ***** ape :-). It is fun too :-). One spot I make a right, then a quick sweeping right, then around a right then left turn and if I have a car behind me on the right turn at stop sign it is fun fun fun to get 20+ as quick as possible and leave them way back there :-)

It's brought my average solo speed up a lot. North Texas is all rolling hills. If I sit and spin I end up around the middle of the cassette and on the small chain ring. If I just suck it up, stand and mash and take the pain I'm usually 2 down from lowest gear on the cassette and stay on the big ring up front. Over 30 miles, a ride of spinning is a 16.xx mph ride, the exact same route mashed on the hills and spun on the flats and downhill is 17.5. I've never broke. 17mph over more than 20 miles any other way. I'm still old and slow but 17.5 is ok with me considering my knees are crap.

The idea is to have more than one tool in the toolbox. Not all situations call for loading most of the work on your heart and lungs. There are times to use your legs instead. I think that as you get more time using high cadence you'll learn what works best where, especially if you have hills to climb. The idea is to use your legs when you need them (which you noticed when you were more fresh for the sprint at the end).

I don't even bother worrying about speed where I live. We have so many long rolling hills, it's a crap shoot depending on the route.

Wind is a huge factor here too. And "they" say a wind usually slows you down some no matter which it blows because it is so rarely right at your back.

Bill

For sure.

I didn't hold 100 for the entire ride, just the majority.

The reason I feet like posting, is because I noticed that most guys in the group I was riding with never hit a high cadence.

Maybe someone else will read this and spin it up today. Like I said, they may like it.

Do you have compact crank? I found myself staying at around 75-80 rmp on flat with the big chain on my race crank.

I's a 50/34 compact. (If it's me you are asking) 11/32 10speed cassette.

I started out over a decade ago riding in the mid to upper 70s. Over time I worked my way up to averaging around 82-84. About 2 years ago, I started making a concerted effort during trainer rides and in spin class to work at a higher cadence. Now I typically average around 90-92 (faster when I am on the front, and slower when I am drafting in a line). It definitely has made a difference in how fresh my legs feel late in rides. 100 as an average would be too high for me. I definitely work and feel better in the low to mid 90s.

Same here for the most part. I just have specific 15, 25, 35, and 50 mile routes I repeat fairly often when I need t be back at a certain time and it's a good way to measure improvement over time to repeat them monthly or so.

I learned to spin at a high cadence years ago, and I am so used to it now that it just feels normal. My endurance is definitely better on long rides when I spin. Occasionally I do "big ring" rides where I mash it because it's a good workout, but my legs tire much more quickly. I suspect that many cyclists who are mashers never really tried to spin for any significant amount of time.

if you've never ridden with a cadence sensor, i bet you'll be surprised at what your cadence actually is when you first measure it. (likely a fair bit lower than what you expect)

It's funny, I feel like I could have made this post as well. I've been 80 or less cadence since I started riding in 2013, but just the last two weeks I've been trying to keep my cadence between 90 and 100 and I've been going a little faster and feeling more fresh at the end of rides. I'm going to keep working on it and try to make it more natural.

I've ridden with a cadence sensor, I just don't have one now. I know it's 90-95 most of the time. I also "recalibrate" my perceived cadence by riding next to someone that has one and matching theirs when I know they're at about that RPM.

Sure, it's easier just to get a sensor, but I've trained my legs to feel most comfortable at around that speed so I end up there by default.