At the moment I’m averaging 16mph for a 38mile loop in just over 2 hours but i don’t know what cadence I’m doing. Most of my training guides suggest sticking between a cadence.

Am I doing it right or should I invest in a cadence sensor for my GPS?
I have a 100k to do in a month and a half. Been training all winter. hopefully will be up to 50miles in the next week or so. Not done much hill prep so hoping the turbo has helped there.

if you have garmin 305/405 or similar I have a brand new cadence unit (I had to buy a complete new kit as I lost the old head unit 🙁 )

I used to use my other one on my road bike and it’s fairly useful (even if it’s just as a reminder when you start turnign too big a gear).

email in profile if you’re interested.

I really wouldn’t worry too much about measuring and sticking to a cadence – just keep you leg speed reasonably high without going mad. You could always count pedal strokes over 10 seconds or so and work it out quite quickly yourself.

I wouldn’t worry abou cadence either, if you’re comfortable then do what you are doing.

You can just count how many revs you do in 6 seconds.

I’m not convinced there’s a “right” answer. I was out riding with dirtygirlonabike yesterday – she was spinning along at almost twice my cadence. Her “other” sport is running, mine is hill-walking. I suspect we’ve just developed different muscles.

I have a theory that your ideal cadence is related to how big your build is. It’s better to spin faster in theory but the energy expended in moving your legs up and down becomes significant over a certain speed. That point would depend on how much mass is in your legs.

PS base training rides should be longer than 2 hours ideally.

Base training rides can be as long or short as you like.

IMO there’s definitely an optimum cadence that helps stamina on longer rides.

I have a cadence monitor on my road bike, and got fixated for a long time about keeping the rate up above 95rpm on every ride (this was training for Triathlon where you get off the bike and start running).

One day I forgot to take my computer to a race, so rode it ‘natural’. Funnily enough my speed improved substantially, showing that I was concentrating on doing the wrong thing!

I now maintain my rate at between 82 and 90rpm and at this level I find my stamina is not an issue even on long audax-style rides. I keep the computer displaying cadence (as the secondary figure to speed) as I find it quite difficult to judge what rpm I’m working at.

Ben

I’ve been adding time and distance weekly, want to do 50miles then concentrate on some hill work before the event in April.
I’ve read that you should do up to 90% of the event distance in training?

I use one and find it really useful. I don’t use it on the flat so much as I have a natural cadence of around 90-100 but I’ve started using it on hills and found that by spinning at a cadence of around 80 I can get into a good steady rhythm which has improved my hill climbing massively.
HRM’s are useful for Base Training too.

I have used it on the road bike but TBH I did not find it that useful. Am I tired do i need to change gear etc worked just as well for me. trying to maintain a heart rate and/or mph are easier IMHO.
Re cadence some folk spin , some tick over a higher gear so finding your own style is at least as important as sticking to some sort of 90-100 ideal.
If you can do 16 mph for 38 then you will easily do 12 mph for 60 miles. You do need to think about fdoing further say commit to a 4 hur ride and se what distance you get – should do over 50 miles easily.

wwaswas – how much do you want for it?

£22 posted?

BlobOnAStick – Member
IMO there’s definitely an optimum cadence that helps stamina on longer rides.

Probably right, I don’t want to seem arrogant but why can’t you just ride at a cadence that feels right?

Base training rides can be as long or short as you like.

+1

Mine are around an hour at a time at the moment (this is my level 2 HR zone) and this is enough for the body to build a better ‘base’

Finding something that is natural for you is maybe a better option as it’ll depend if you like to push a big gear or spin. Unless there’s a specific reason for wanting to up/decrease your rate – have seen some training plans that suggest training in x gear at x cadence, but i don’t see the point in messing with what comes naturally. Mine has changed over almost 4 years of road riding from 60 to 85 ish. I hate pushing big gears and when my cadence drops to below 50 its on a silly steep hill or into a strong headwind and i hate it.

molgrips, i’m intrigued by your theory – care to explain more?

Greater mass of legs means more energy expended in rotating them & more energy wasted at higher cadences I guess?

Not sure if it adds up, but it’s close to beer o’clock and I have more important matters upon which to focus mmy limited attention.

Seriously. Just ride your bike as much as you can.

At your level you don’t need to get bogged down with training guides, Garmins, HR, cadence sensors, GPSs or hill reps.

Just ride your bike lots.

🙂

If you know the gear you spend most time in you should be able to calculate the cadence at 16mph.

16 mph for 38 miles off road ,where do u live holland?

50miles is not far… If your only doing 100k Sportive you should be riding longer rides than that now if you can..

if it were me i’d slow down a bit a go longer/further on 1 ride per week, e.g at weekend and then in the week do a shorter but faster ride and forget all that cadence stuff

Base training rides can be as long or short as you like.

Well yeah but 30 mins at z2 isn’t going to do you much good. Because base training isn’t very intensive you need to do more of it.

molgrips, i’m intrigued by your theory – care to explain more?

Well think about it.. if you take your chain off you can pedal slowly, but pedalling at a million rpm is pretty tiring. It’s because simply moving your legs up and down takes energy. Now, put the chain back on and ride at a given speed. If you choose a lower gear you’ll be pedalling faster for the same speed, but pushing less hard each stroke. I think (not too sure about the biomechanics) that if you are pressing less hard then you’re straining your muscle fibres less, however if you are pedalling faster you are wasting more energy overall. Sot here’s an optimum medium, which would depend on how chunky your legs are.

It’s just a theory. However I believe that Matt Hart of Torq did his degree dissertation on the subject of optimum cadence for an individual.

I wouldn’t bother with all that gubbins.
I’ve been taking out some guys newish to riding, at first they set off like S off a shovel and were slaves to the junk strapped to their chests, wrists and bars. And though I do believe it all has it’s place, I don’t think it’s suitable for beginers. These guys were burning out trying to do what the computers said they should be doing.

Anyway I convinced them to relax, use the gears as opposed to seeing them as some sort of slight on their manhood, stay together and just tap out a nice tempo. Then as the ride neared it’s end I’d add a bit more.
Three weeks ago they did their first 100k with me and last Sunday we did 75 miles together.

All very simple really. Think – if you were just starting running you would only listen to your own body and self to judge how to train.

And sportives are not races they’re personal challenges so just do one, then do the next one better 😕
There is no benchmark for someones first sportive.

Proper old school me

I agree oldgit. I only talked about cadence cos I was asked 🙂 an academic idea I had.

I do however think that many beginners could benefit from a faster cadence. I used to grind out big gears as a youngster then I read that I should be pedalling faster, and now I really appreciate it.

I find that about 80 is most efficient for me, which is what I’d gravitated to anway – but I did have to be pointed in the right direction.

You’re fit enough and will be fine.

Getting decent power at a high cadence takes a long time to build up to, for now ride at a cadence that is comfortable and enjoy it.

It is too easy to take the pleasure out of riding a road bike by worrying about cadence, HR zones, VAM and all that stuff. You don’t need to worry about that until you are racing hard or looking to do some decent TT times or do a sportive like the Marmotte…