Training blog - comments and advice welcomed



110 is too high. I would only go that high for a short sprint. Your cadence range should be 80 - 100 in my opinion. The Sufferfest videos have the cadence on the screen to follow and change regularly as does the effort required. Out on the road I keep my cadence between 90 and 95. I find that the optimum range for me. I'll do 100 when I want to go harder and faster. Anything much over 100 I'll then change gear.

Try standing up on the pedals every 5 minutes. I usually do this on rides more than about an hour. Stretches your legs plus gets the blood flowing to your butt. Sounds like you need a new saddle anyway.
 
There are recommended ranges and 80-100 is a good place to start but telling someone how fast to pedal may be like telling them how they like their eggs done. It is good advice to work different cadences though. From what I've heard our optimal cadence declines with age, although I've found my preferred cadence increasing with age - I did the Bear Mountain hill climb in 1982 with a 14-18 5-speed straight block, 52/42 on the front. Back in the day 23 was a bailout gear :p

In the sprint Cav hits 110 – 125 RPM depending on the gradient, going as high as 130, Boonen between 115 – 120 RPM, Track sprinters often go even higher, some at 150rpm+ (while seated). The Lancer TT'd at over 100rpm.

Many coaches prescribe extended cadence drills over 100rpm. Carmichael's Fast Pedal drills 108-120. Putting a cap at 100 may short change some riders. If anything most riders pedal too slowly imo. YMMV.

WARNING: do not try this at home! (237rpm)

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Originally Posted by Nigel Doyle
What I was trying to say is don't do an entire training session with a cadence of 110. Have some variation.
Sound advice. My intention was not contention.
 
As Dan said, you need to focus more on time, not intensity. With regards to the saddle, you are on a trainer, spinning a really high cadence, so it is no surprise it hurts. The saddle is fixed as opposed to on the road, where it is constantly moving changing the pressure points. Spinning at that cadence is taking lots of weight off your feet, on a trainer you also tend to take more weight off your hands, so this leaves more weight on the saddle. This combined with the tendency to rock at a higher cadence leaves me to believe your grinding the **** out of your a$$/soft tissue. My advice focus on a lower more comfortable cadence, keep trying to ride longer, and stand for a minute every ten minutes. Don't worry about a bit of leg soreness, it is a normal part of training and with 30-60min a day it would be real hard to overdo it.
 
Dear all,

If i really cant sit for more than 35 mintues on the saddle, does it help my endurance if i do 2 set of 35 mintes with 15 mintues rest in between?
 
Originally Posted by Molala2
Dear all,

If i really cant sit for more than 35 mintues on the saddle, does it help my endurance if i do 2 set of 35 mintes with 15 mintues rest in between?
Yes. There is a commonly frequented thread on this forum about a well accepted formula, the 2x20, for improving on the bike: http://www.cyclingforums.com/t/314849/its-killing-me-but
A lot of it is fellas keeping each other motivated, but there is some very good training advice as well if you have the patience to sift through the many pages. Many of the riders use a power meter but one is not necessary to accomplish these workouts.

It's a common modus operandi to do sets of 2x20 minute intervals (or longer)) with some rest (5-10 minutes) in between. The key is really nailing down an appropriate intensity that one can maintain a steady effort across the sets, with enough rest between workouts that one can maintain a consistent and steady dose of these workouts over time. For many, that intensity is about 85-90% (+ or -) of their maximum sustainable intensity for 1 hour. That's easier to gauge with a power meter but can be done with a heart rate monitor or perceived effort as well. In the early days it's better to go a bit easier. If you cannot complete the second 20-minute interval with the same intensity as the first, you have gone to hard. No problem, just ease up a bit the next workout. It's really better to ease into it altogether. You should be breathing heavily but not gasping. Some riders do them year round, Some riders do them in blocks for a couple months. Some riders do them mixed in with other workouts on the bike during the week. A lot of it comes down to the goals one wishes to accomplish and the length of time (experience) one already has with bike riding. For a beginner twice a week of these types of efforts is plenty, along with a couple endurance pace days for a total of 4 or 5 days a week on the bike.

However, and I can't stress this enough, if you cannot sit on the bike for that long you may find it tough to maintain interest in riding. If you haven't done so invest in a good pair of shorts with some quality padding. All bike shorts are not created equal. Btw, it is customary NOT to wear underwear beneath padded bike shorts, and it is highly advised not to wear the same shorts without washing for more than a single workout. Some of us had to learn this the old fashioned way with the business end of a very sharp surgical instrument in a dermatologist office.

While some butts take longer to condition than others, a saddle should be like a pair of shoes. They should fit relatively well out of the gate. If you are having problems with 30+ minutes, the saddle tilt needs adjusting/tweaking or you need to find yourself a different saddle. That is often no easy task either as many of us have gone through quite a few saddles in our quest for the holy grail. Some are lucky enough to find one that works on the first bike we owned. One should be excited about jumping on that beast, not dreading the encroaching discomfort after 30 minutes. Many riders around these parts think nothing of going out for a 2 or 3 hour ride, some even longer.

As bgoetz and Nigel both mentioned, shift around in the saddle, do some occasional standing, or adjust your cadence if needed.
 
Originally Posted by Molala2

cannot sit more than 35 minutes because of saddle discomfort. need to think of a way out for this.
Not sure what the problem is with your saddle discomfort, but there are a few noseless saddles on the market. Here is a study about noseless saddles:
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/updates/upd-06-30-04-2.html
Here is an article about noseless saddles:
http://www.healthycycling.org/
And here is one example of a noseless saddle:
http://www.nexride.com/index.html
 
Originally Posted by danfoz
However, and I can't stress this enough, if you cannot sit on the bike for that long you may find it tough to maintain interest in riding. If you haven't done so invest in a good pair of shorts with some quality padding. All bike shorts are not created equal. Btw, it is customary NOT to wear underwear beneath padded bike shorts, and it is highly advised not to wear the same shorts without washing for more than a single workout. Some of us had to learn this the old fashioned way with the business end of a very sharp surgical instrument in a dermatologist office.
While some butts take longer to condition than others, a saddle should be like a pair of shoes. They should fit relatively well out of the gate. If you are having problems with 30+ minutes, the saddle tilt needs adjusting/tweaking or you need to find yourself a different saddle. That is often no easy task either as many of us have gone through quite a few saddles in our quest for the holy grail. Some are lucky enough to find one that works on the first bike we owned. One should be excited about jumping on that beast, not dreading the encroaching discomfort after 30 minutes. Many riders around these parts think nothing of going out for a 2 or 3 hour ride, some even longer.
^^^^ This a million times over.

OP you need to sort out why you can't ride for more than half an hour at a time. I agree that on the turbo, seated and pedalling at the same intensity/cadence for a long time is hard on your sitbones but if you can't ride outdoors either for longer than that, then you need to figure out what's wrong and go about fixing it. What you're describing is akin to a runner saying he can't run more than a mile in his shoes until his feet start hurting!
 
1/1/20014

happy new year!

Good news and bad news. Good news is i have proceed to do 2 set of 30mins today. Bad news is due to satellite mis-setting i cant upload the data to garmin TC.

here are the data anyway

Second Set:
30 minutes.
avg cadence 103 rpm
avg heart rate 133 bpm

First Set:
30 minutes:
avg 102 cadence 102 rpm
avg heart rate 146 bpm


it is good if i can do 3 sets aday
 
Good but for a good trainer workout some of your workouts need to be interval type workouts. That's an elvated effort / faster cadence or more resistance, then followed by a rest period i.e. lower cadence and lower resistance. Repeated a few times. Below is what I mean from one of my trainer rides. This was following along to the Sufferfest Blender video. Those teeth like spikes are short and sharp intervals e.g. 20 seconds maximum effort then 20 seconds short rest where my heart rate never fully recovered. You can see I did a warm up and a warm down. Average cadence for the entire workout was 93. Avg HR 123 Max HR 153 (remembering I'm 52 so my Max HR is about 170 plus I've found heart rates indoors on a trainer are lower than outside on the road)

Hope this helps. Don't forget to have a couple of days rest each week.

 
feeling like losing interest in cycling recently
sure it is not because of fatigue or over training, i think it is because of boredom
so i will do a causal ride without my computer on tonight
 
Originally Posted by Molala2

feeling like losing interest in cycling recently

sure it is not because of fatigue or over training, i think it is because of boredom
so i will do a causal ride without my computer on tonight


worried about detraining, i finally decided to do a tempo
there was a jam in the speed sensor so the curve wont tell much helpful
the cadence sense was working fine and my avg cadence increased 1
PE is a lot easier then last time, after i was done i felt like i wanted to do more
 
Originally Posted by Molala2

feeling like losing interest in cycling recently

sure it is not because of fatigue or over training, i think it is because of boredom
This can happen when we approach any activity solo. Best ways to keep going are to make it social with group rides or riding with a buddy. Choosing an event to train for is another good motivator. For those not interested in racing there are often charity rides, sportives or gran fondos that might be appealing. Final advice is drop a few grand on a fancy carbon bike and you'll have to ride it not to feel like you just wasted a pile of cash.
 
The way I've being reading Molala2's entries is that all training is on an indoor trainer. That would have to be pretty boring. Outside riding is much more enjoyable. I guess the reason for riding indoors is the weather?
 
Originally Posted by Nigel Doyle
The way I've being reading Molala2's entries is that all training is on an indoor trainer. That would have to be pretty boring. Outside riding is much more enjoyable. I guess the reason for riding indoors is the weather?
Hello Nigel,

It is because of work constriant. Every night i got home from work it is already 8:30 pm and i got to sleep at 11:00 pm.
 


Here is a pic of my bike, Merida 905 carbone 2013

Merida carbon is made in Taiwan instead of China, and it is researched in Germany.
I am happy with the frame. Good road feel, light, and not in any rate soft.
In fact Specialized is OEM by merida.
But merida is a lot less expensive.
 
Molala2 said:
Here is a pic of my bike, Merida 905 carbone 2013 Merida carbon is made in Taiwan instead of China, and it is researched in Germany. I am happy with the frame. Good road feel, light, and not in any rate soft. In fact Specialized is OEM by merida. But merida is a lot less expensive.
Nice. As it happens a ProTour team, Lampre-Merida, will be riding Meridas this year. I can take those Zipps off your hands for price that's very convenient for me.
 

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