Improving Bike Fitness

As some of you might know, I’ve been out of training with a knee problem. But finally the Physio has given me the green light to test out my knee and after a short run and a cycle, I’ve come through unscathed (well, a few little niggles but I’m sure I’m just being hypersensitive) I gather as long as I take it easy and build up some strength slowly I should be fine.




So now I am coming back into training, I have to think about my goals. So long-term it will be the 3 Ironman events in 2011. Medium-term it will be getting my bike fitness up to the level I want for those IM events. Short-term, will be to build up the strength in my knee so I can concentrate on cycling more.

Time on the bike is the key factor and starting with 1hr30min rides 4 to 5 times a week and building this up over the next few months until I get the confidence and fitness to take on some longer group rides with some good riders - and get used to cycling for 6-7 hours at a time.

Although time is the key, I want to look at some other factors such as Cadence and Heart Rate. Keeping the Heart Rate in the aerobic zone whilst riding will over time increase the output (speed when cycling) whilst the HR stays the same. You’re not looking to work incredibly hard when on the bike as this will not improve you aerobic fitness, TRAIN EASY, RACE HARD.

Cadence, what is this? In relation to cycling, it is the number of revolutions of the cranks (pedals) per minute. Let’s talk about cadence in terms of endurance/IM distance because the optimum cadence changes for longer or shorter races and how you should train for these events. Efficiency is the most important aspect for an endurance athlete, so what is the most efficient cadence? Low cadence is a more efficient than high cadence.

I’ve taken some advice about cadence from Joe Friel who is the author of ‘The Triathlete’s Training Bible’. Athletes will have different cadences which they pedal comfortably at, but cadences in the low-80s seem to be right for long-course, high 90s for sprints and somewhere in the middle for Olympic and half-IM.

The best drill for becoming a more efficient rider is to pedal at a high cadence, so on an easy ride increase your cadence every 5 minutes (make sure you do it slowly over 30 second span until you are turning the cranks at your top end.) You’ll know you’re there because you’ll tense up and start to bounce around, so practice staying relaxed. Approx 12 weeks before an IM event you race you should be training in the low 80’s.

With this in mind I’ve just bought my new bike computer with cadence meter - it’s all fitted and ready to go. So I’m off on my easy rides to play around with my cadence and hopefully I won't end up like the chaps above  – It’s going to be a long Winter!!