FatTony

Have had my Cannondale Synapse Carbon 5 for a week now, am loving it
Thanks for all the advice regarding bike choice I was a little leery of getting such an expensive bike when I am not very fit (just a keen recreational rider).

Have been on 5 rides on the bike and could not be happier, I live in whistler which unfortunately means we do not have a single section of flat asphalt in the town, more rolling hills, but the views are great.

Anyway, am up to doing 48 miles as my training run at the moment. It is to pemberton and back and leaves me finished at the end. Hopefully with time it will get easier. Apparently the return ride is 4650ft of climbing.

Question is, I am having trouble maintaining any kind of steady cadence throughout the ride. For that matter the ride is taking me over 2 hours 45 mins, which is pretty slow but it is early days yet and I am yet to do it without hitting the wall on the way back. Still like I said am keen and will keep it up until it is more manageable

I find myself working hard on the uphills (of which there are a lot) and end up coasting down the steeper hills until I don't feel faint anymore.
I am currently dropping down to first for a few of the hills (the steepest is 19%)

Is this normal? should I be trying to go quicker on the downhills and maintaining a 100 cadence?
I find that on the uphills in the lowest gear I cannot sustain more than 80 cadence and it cannot be a pleasant sight for passing cars at this speed.

I basically find that in some of the steepest undulating sections I work my bag off up the hills and then after getting the bike up to a good clip on the downhills I just tuck in and coast.

It seems every noobie posts on here regarding the difficulty of climbing, and the general answer is that it is supposed to be hard so just suck it up and keep practicing and you will get better.

Question I have is:- am I supposed to work so hard that I am bagged at the top of the hill? does anybody else find themselves riding like this? I do not have low enough gears to back off much on the steepest ones.

How many other people out there honestly coast on the downhills?

Anyway great forum, am lurking with interest and finally getting back into road biking after a 10 year hiatus

Fat Tony

sijray21

no pain, no gain - keep it up!

use the downhills as your recovery and you'll last through the hills longer. using and getting back your ideal pedal stroke will help you maintain a more consistent cadence as well (atleast this is what i'm finding out as a relatively new rider)

laxrider

That sounds like one heck of a training ride. Keep up the great work.

IMO, 48 miles in 2 hours, 45 minutes sounds like a great pace for the climbing you do as well as the fact you are just getting back into the swing of things on the bike.

cmschmie

I've had my bike for a week and have only been on 2 rides
Weather, out-of-town wedding and home improvement will have eaten into my ride time.

Hope to get back on it tomorrow

kneed2wrydemore

48 miles with lots of hills in 2:45 is far from slow....You're averaging over 16 mph after just getting back into cycling after 10 years. That's remarkable.

Only dropping down to the lowest gear for a "few" hills....incredible.

5 rides...Wow...Hats off.

19% grade....Damn.

estabro

Keep it up and you'll have to change your user name. Enjoy the new bike!

FatTony

Have to add here that I have been an avid mountain biker these last 10 years riding around 5 hrs min a week.

I work away from home as a geologist, so ride lots when I am home, and when I am away (about 40% of the time) I ride an old brodie hardtail on a mag trainer for 1 hour a night.

Not that it is showing at the moment, I thought I was in reasonable shape but am getting destroyed on the hills. I basically reach the top red faced and panting and easy spin / coast down the other side.

The trouble is, where I live there are lots of short sharp hills, and I only get to ride properly at 100ish cadence at the base of these hills for a minute or so before I am panting up the next one.

I get the opportunity for 4 training rides a week when my kids are in day care in the mornings and so try to get out and go as hard as I can for 3 hrs.

Would really love to get fit enough to go for 5-6 hrs at a relaxed pace so that I can cover a good distance, but at the moment I am completely spent after 3 hrs

info

50 miles takes me 4 to 5 hrs. Been riding 3 yrs now (no rush , not in a race ).
You are doing great
Also do not over train . You will hurt yourself
https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycling/568289-did-i-overtrain-pushing-limits-hurting-self.html
Rick