To start for those who might not know I am riding a stock Trek 3700. I am entering a short triathlon at the end of may and have been very happy with my swim and run improvements.
My cycling is perhaps the event I have placed the smallest emphasis on, largely because of the weather.
I have started up cycling now and have been riding a couple times a week plus one brick workout. around 10km per ride?
When I run my HR is anywhere 80%+, when I cycle it's maybe 70% and I am achieving average speeds of about 20kph.
Based on the HR I feel I should have alot more to give to the cycle cardio wise, but my legs just aren't up for it apparently.
Any advice on what I can do to increase my cycling speed? Do I just need more volume? More hills?
Any ideas would be of help.
Thanks.
__________________ 2009: No races, No times. Slow year. So, now you're 96 cals short. You're now in starvation mode. Doomed. - LostDog
Blog entry: November 1, 2009, Pancakes LiveSTRONG daily plate log
Try doing some spinning. Go to an easier gear for a bit and spin like hell. I know it's a b*tch as you get passed by people but it will certainly get your heart beat up. I highly recommend hill repeats on days you don't do the spinning. This will build the legs up for power.
One thing you will experience with a mtb on the road is that you can't find a big enough gear to really get moving. This is where the spinning helps.
I'm no trainer but this works for me. I'm sure Kaiser has a more educated response.
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Today's mighty oak was once just some nut who held his ground!
As a former racer, one thing that helped with my overall speed was sprints. Me and my training partner made a game of it, on training rides, when we saw road signs, we sprinted for them. Over the course of a 5-6 hour training ride, it amounts to alot.
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try doing HIITs with 15 seconds max effort, then 90 seconds recouperation. you have to rest 6 times as long as you've sprinted for this.. really.. and 15 secs is about the max you can go at 100%.
This will give you the feel of what going faster is.
do it twice a week, til you can do about 12 intervals.
then increase the length to 30 seconds.. and the keep the same rest.
to that til you can do about 9 intervals.
re-evalutate if all this helps.
*edit* didn't see Mountain Marc's post when I post.. my post is just an organized variation of sprints.
My wife and I like to go down to the city trail, or the katy trail (both flat) and just spin like hell. We will pedal at top speed for as long as we can stand it. It's much easier to do if you have something to gauge your speed off of though, so you know exactly when you start slacking. You won't need to go more than 6-7 miles to really feel it the next day.
Course yesterday we did this after a rain on the trail, and Melissa did one of those tour de france crashes coming around a turn. You know, the ones where the trail turns but the bike lays down flat and keeps going straight? At about 21mph she had some nice road rash.
She’s a tough gal, she’s fine. She is an experienced crasher. That bike has been through much worse than a layover on a paved trail. It slipped a chain, but was fine once we got it back on.
She's actually kinda proud of all her battle marks, as sore as they might be haha.
1) LOTS of base miles at an easy pace. The amount of base miles you have under you dictates how fast you can become...Aim for a lot of quantity in the beginning. Increase mileage for three weeks then cut back for a week to allow for recovery. Repeat at the cycle for at least 8 weeks.
2) After base mileage, throw in intervals and sprints 2 times per week, again increasing for three weeks and recovery for a week. I've just started my intervals.
3) Finally, ride with people faster than you. Having your heart rate pegged for an hour or two a week will make you faster.
She’s a tough gal, she’s fine. She is an experienced crasher. That bike has been through much worse than a layover on a paved trail. It slipped a chain, but was fine once we got it back on.
She's actually kinda proud of all her battle marks, as sore as they might be haha.
That is me right there. I love showing off scars and flesh wounds.
Well, Sarah (silly) pretty much said what I would recommend. Let me expand on her item #2, when you work on your strength/speed after building your base, but still while working on your endurance miles (that is where I am at now).
3 drills to work on. The numbers are my drill times based on a 1:30 ride time. You can adjust yours as necessary.
1) Tempo ride: 8 minutes X 3 reps with 8 minutes rest climbing a hill or grinding in a hard gear at 50-60 rpm. Works on strength endurance and being able to push big gears for a period of time. Required to be able to push those gears at higher rpms for faster speed. HR will not spike too bad because of low cadence. (PRE=7 during intervals)
2) Strength interval: 20 mins X 1 rep at 70-80 rpm. Again, strength, but this time for a more extended time and higher rpm. (PRE=8 during interval)
3) Speed pedaling: 2 mins on, 5 mins rest X 6 sets: work at 95-105 rpm in the saddle, maintaining pedal tension, getting rid of dead spots in the pedal stroke. Once you are able to do this without bouncing and with an even stroke, go to 120 rpm and do the same thing. Emphasizes perfect stroke form and creates more efficiency. (PRE = 6 during interval).
The neat thing about these drills is you can use them building up your endurance (after you've gotten your base miles down).
Increasing cycling speed
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