What a pros average cadence and speed

[linck]

I was wondering what a pros average cadence and speed were. I've been riding a week and my average speed is 17.4 miles an hour. I did my first 20 mile ride this morning and felt really good. I'm going to do 20-30 a day now. Just want to shoot for something. My average cadence is about 80-90 RPM's. I'm using the old fashioned method of couting strokes for fifteen seconds as I don't have a computer that counts cadence yet

 

[linck]

How important is cadence anyway if you can keep an average speed???????

 

[LJS]

How important is cadence anyway if you can keep an average speed???????

At a given speed, you are putting out the same power in watts whether your cadence is high or low. At a low cadence you will be pushing harder on the pedals than you will at a high cadence. Low pedal pressure can help with endurance. We have 2 types of fibers in our muscles, fast and slow. Fast muscle fibers are anaerobic and are used in high force muscle effort such as weight lifting and sprinting. The fuel they use is stored in the muscles and is depleted in a couple of minutes of high effort use. Slow muscle fibers are aerobic and are used in endurance activities. They burn sugar combined with oxygen supplied through the cardiovascular system to the muscle. The fuel is renewable until you run out of oxygen or blood sugar. High cadence, low pressure favors slow muscle fiber and so the better endurance.
Higher cadence means you are in a lower gear at a given speed and gives more leverage advantage at the wheel. In mountain biking, in particular, it helps to be in a low enough gear for the constantly changing terrain and for getting over obstacles.
Two riders may have a different ideal cadence depending on the composition of their muscles, the type of training they do, their aerobic capacity, and other variables.
A good endurance athelete generally has a higher percentage of slow muscle fiber, a good sprinter or weight lifter a higher percentage of fast muscle fiber. It's probably best to train at different cadences and find what works best individually.

 

[Bro Deal]

Most people that start cycling use a lower cadence than experienced riders. A lower cadence feels more natural at first, but it will tire your leg muscles over long distance. You might try doing some rides in a lower gear just to get used to spinning at a higher cadence.

On stage 17 of last year's TdF, Floyd Landis averaged 37.175 km/hr for 5 hours and 23 minutes at an average cadence of 89. That was a stage with a huge amount of climbing and descending so the cadence is not typical.

 

[pistole]

stage 17

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[JTE83]

When I was watching a pro race in Elgin a policeman used a radar gun on the pelton entering a corner and they clocked 30 mph.

Ulrich - low cadence rider
Armstrong - high cadence rider maybe in the 100 to 115 range?

1 week of biking and 17.4 mph avg is good, if that's in the fat burning range HR.

When I go without training during the winters my season starts out with 14 to 15 mph avg workout speeds in the fat burning hr range.

Fastest TDF time trial - David Zabriske - I think it was in the 32 to 33 mph range going solo.