Training for my first century ride!

kcjchang

fajeeta wrote: »

How do you gauge cadence on a road bike? Do I need to install one of those little bike computers? Is there a way to count or time it?

Counting: number of full rotations (choose a leg) over a ten seconds time six. I get distracted easy so it never works for me and I brought one after my first season (circa 1988) and never went without.

The ideal behind higher cadence is to stress the cardiovascular system rather than relying on the neuromuscular where power = force x distance or torque x angular velocity (cadence). CV recover quickly and keep on ticking. Once you exhaust your neuromuscular capacity, your done. Given the short time before the event, I wouldn't bother changing it up but pace yourself. If after 80 your are good, hammer.

fajeeta wrote: »

I use Strava. Will that give an idea of cadence?

? I only upload my rides and never use it to track a ride. Cadence is displayed on the analysis section as long as it's captured. You will need either a BLT or Ant+ cadence sensor. See https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/216919007-Android-and-external-Biometric-sensors & https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/216917167-iPhone-and-External-Biometric-Sensors-or-Displays.

fajeeta wrote: »

When I mountain bike, I have no clue as to cadence. It's more about when to push to make it over rocks, up stuff, and how fast can I take that downhill or curve. I'm pretty adept at gears and gauging my effort.

Different demands and generally much better surface.

NorthCascades

fajeeta wrote: »

Lol. I love the "on hills...whatever gets you up them." I'm thinking a lasso around the strongest rider in front of me? Tow, anyone? lol

Ride up at high tide. Take advantage of the gravitational assist from the moon.



For full effect, wait until low tide to ride back down, so you get as much speed as possible. Then wait until the next high tide to ride up the next hill. A century might take you a full century using this method, but you'll be about 6 millionths of a gram lighter on the way up.

Machka9

fajeeta wrote: »

kcjchang wrote: »

Assuming no problem with fit, are you grinding? What's your typical cadence? On flats/climbs. I get discomforts when doing strength intervals, low cadence with big gear. Same after leg speed work (20 min @120+ rpm). Goes away after a day of rest or light work.

Consider tampering, cut back on intensity and duration, starting the week before or the week of. Not stopping completely but at 70-80%. Any work you do now and upto the event is not going increase you fitness much but being fatigued will definitely impact it. It'll also give your knees time to recover.

Eat something every hour and drink as needed. Have Tums for cramps and ibuprofen for inflammation. Good luck.

***

Now you're really about to find out how new to road cycling I am.

When I mountain bike, I have no clue as to cadence. It's more about when to push to make it over rocks, up stuff, and how fast can I take that downhill or curve. I'm pretty adept at gears and gauging my effort. How do you gauge cadence on a road bike? Do I need to install one of those little bike computers? Is there a way to count or time it? I use Strava. Will that give an idea of cadence?

Tums?! Never even thought of that. Excellent. I'm trying that this weekend. Also didn't think about ibuprofen. May pop a few before the ride even starts.

If you've got a watch and the ability to count, you can count cadence. Cadence is simply revolutions per minute ... the number of time your right (for example) foot goes round.

Look at your watch ... and start counting ... 15 seconds later, stop counting. Multiply the number by 4 to get the full minute.

Or count for 30 seconds and multiply by 2.

Or if you're bored ... count for the full 60 seconds.

You should aim to be somewhere between about 80 and 90 rpm. In other words, if you count for the full 60 seconds you might get to, say, 85 times that your right foot did a revolution.

Machka9

Here's another first century rider.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10463430/first-century-ride-advice#latest

Before you know it you all will be riding randonnees with me.