success story re. high cadence intervals

I ride in Cat 1/2 in the Netherlands and last year I really struggled in criteriums. The high speed and constant accelorations really worked me over and I only completed a few events.

I asked an elite rider at my club for advice on training and he said everybody races criteriums round here on the 16/17/18 gearing and puts out a cadence of 100-110.....that way you have faster acceloration out of the corners. he also said that when you do have to accelorate the effort is lighter and less draining, but he warned me that you will be operating at higher HR generally. This was quite a change for me as I'd been riding in much too heavy a gear for years.

I started doing my intervals at 110 rpm - took a while to get used to but I noticed that after some early season road racing I was a lot less fatigued and sore, and was accelorating much mroe fluidly.

Anyway, on monday I rode my first criterium, a lucrative super fast race with 180 starters. I had ridden a 100km club championship the day before in the breakaway so I was really drained, and was not expecting to be doing well. I also had worrying memories of last year in this crit where I got dropped after 5 minutes. However, I just told myself to ride at a high cadence, concentrate hard on all the corners and try and start (and stay) at the front.

Unfortunately my staying at the front plan was scuppered when we were organized by nukber and I was on the last row for the start, so I was thinking I would have a rather uncomfortable quarter of an hour being accordioned and then get dropped.

However, despite being in the rear of a large peloton the whole race and coming to a near standstill in some of the corners I was NEVER in any trouble and found it refreshingly easy. We were up to 60 km/h on the straits but my legs were churning like an aeroplane propeller and I was not suffering at all. guys infront of me were blowing up and pulling over but I could effortlessly ride around them and get back on the wheel.

This high cadence thing really works......next week I am getting up to the front and going for a result! I totally recommend giving it a try if you're strugg;ling in crits. 70-80 rpm did me no favours at all.

How many started the crit? maybe another obvious improvement you could make is confidence in your bike handling so you can move through the bunch and get in a good position?

You're right about high cadence being the holy grail in criteriums...its the best way to go without a doubt. Maybe do some downhill mtb and track riding in the off-season to hone your bike handling. Sounds like you have the power to do well anyway.

How many started....

yeah - 180 started on a 1.5 km circuit - The favourites start in the first row.....newcomer foreigners at the back ;-) the speed was so high from the off that the field was strung out in single file throughout. Moving up wasn't really an option.....the front was about 300m away!

still it was useful race training, and getting "accordioned" is a great way to work on L6.....

It's impressive that you have made it to Cat 1, but I bet you'll finish better now in all of your races. Riding above 90 will also help you recover alot faster than at 70

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Kev