Subscribe now and choose from over 30 free gifts worth up to £49 - Plus get £25 to spend in our shop
Spin, that's what all the books say. But is that appropriate for lower cat UK road racing?
Of course I can see the value of spinning or high cadence in big pro or Euro 4 hour plus races, but for 2 1/2 hour blasts?
I only raced Crits last year and that was basically a mass time trial with everyone mashing big gears, and my limited experience of modern road racing shows that to be the same on open roads.
What are peoples opinions on this.
Armstrong is/was a spinner and he seemed to do ok
mashing big gears doesn't necessary mean more speed
A World Champion friend of mine suggests spinning for endurance rides, as you burn more fat compared to carbs, for when it all hots up towards the end you'll have an edge. I used to spin, lots, but now push whatever's comfortable. Rob
Btw, I'd class 2 1/2 hours as endurance. I wish I could "blast" for over 2 hours :¬)
I agree with all of those points, but for UK lower cat racing?
I've ridden with this guy and his brother Mike Olheiser 2006 Masters TT champ, he championed spinning and passed on a lot of good [img]advice. http://www.woburncrankers.com/Photo.aspx?iPhotoID=268&bPreview=True [/img]
[img. http://www.woburncrankers.com/Photo.aspx?iPhotoID=268&bPreview=True [/img]
br />
Try again
[i]my limited experience of modern road racing shows that to be the same on open roads.[/i]
Maybe a lot of big gears are mashed because they are lower cat races. Try watching a more experienced race and judging it from them. As I say over 2 hours is a long time, and I'd ride at whatever was comfortable to me, maybe verging on spinning. Lower cat races can have a wide range of abilities though, meaning that someone's always attacking, so most of the time you can't really avoid fluctuating cadences, due to the "erratic?" nature of the races. Rob