How can I improve?

[Andrew_Culture]

Being in too high a gear puts unnecessary stress on your knees and is inefficient; sticking in one gear will wear out your cassette faster than needs be, especially if it is a small cog which wears faster anyway.

Ooops! Duly noted, I shall give myself a break!

 

[amaferanga]

Walking would be a good start (1), but there are more effective alternatives (2) which cyclists might consider (3), although I'm not sure if being sarcastic has any added benefits; perhaps you could let us know?

1) From the American NIH Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases National Resource Center:
"The best exercise for your bones is the weight-bearing kind, which forces you to work against gravity. Some examples of weight-bearing exercises include weight training, walking, hiking, jogging, climbing stairs, tennis, and dancing. Examples of exercises that are not weight-bearing include swimming and bicycling. Although these activities help build and maintain strong muscles and have excellent cardiovascular benefits, they are not the best way to exercise your bones."

2) From The University Of Arizona:
"The best exercises for building bone are weight- or load-bearing exercises. These include weight-lifting, jogging, hiking, stair-climbing, step aerobics, dancing, racquet sports, and other activities that require your muscles to work against gravity. Swimming and simply walking, although good for cardiovascular fitness, are not the best exercises for building bone."

3) From About.com:
"Swimming and bicycling are not considered weight-bearing exercises and aren't usually listed on the list of exercise that increases bone density. In fact, there is some evidence that elite level cyclists actually lose bone density during high intensity training and racing.
Several studies, including one in 2008, found lower bone density in elite level cyclists who train for hours on the bicycle.
Researchers are not entirely sure the cause of the bone loss in cyclists, but the current theories include:

• The non weight-bearing nature of cycling put little strain magnitude (see above) on the bones.
• Minerals, including calcium, are lost at an enormous rate during hours of sweating.
• The possible energy imbalance (more calories are used than consumed) during hours of intense exercise."

I stand by my comment that being generally active outside of riding your bike (bit of walking around, taking the stairs instead of lifts, bit of gardening, etc.) is all you need to do.

 

[compo]

Walking slowly is harder work than walking fast. In the military we marched at 88 steps per minute. We regularly covered 100 mile plus marches pretty well non stop and there is absolutely no way that could be done at that parade ground pace.

 

[Scilly Suffolk]

I stand by my comment that being generally active outside of riding your bike (bit of walking around, taking the stairs instead of lifts, bit of gardening, etc.) is all you need to do.

Which is your absolute prerogative: there are plenty of people who choose to hold to their beliefs in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

No need to be a sarcastic smart-aleck though.

 

[Philtofit]

Many thanks for all your responses, lots of information that I can work on:

I'm reducing the weight, already lost over 4 stone.
Will start a training plan with some interval training.
Find more hills.
Use the HR monitor.
Be a bit more patient on expecting major improvement, once I have done my 60 mile ride in three week time.

Having just taken up cycling, I was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I do; or getting so obsessive.

 

[Monsieur Remings]

When I started road cycling again I too thought it made common sense to push harder and harder gears, but this alone won't improve anything other than your likelihood, as Jimmy Whiskers has said, of creating unnecessary stress.

Build up your mileage slowly, if you ride alone you will probably find that when you go out with others you will find it easier as all the hard work is undertaken by the riders at the front. Do lots of hill climbing, spin when you can...think about being in a car when you need to accelerate, sometimes it's easier to change down a gear. It may seem unnatural at first when you think you could in theory push a bigger gear but the determining factor(s) as to whether you are doing the right thing, are your average/current speed and how knackered you feel.

You will always be overtaken by others, simple fact is some will always be fitter riders and what's important is to concentrate on your own improvement. Everyone has weaknesses (if you'd seen Cavendish today on the Tour of Romandy you'd know that climbing hills is not his strength) and mine own, as with many others, is dealing with the wind. But, you can't expect to do the same speed into a headwind as you could expect with a tailwind behind you, so note these things and note the effect they are bound to have.

I know I've also mentioned average speed, well, where do you ride? If you ride over the Pyrenees then your average will be slower than it would be on the flat, so again, take note and accept that sometimes you might not be improving your average speed because of the route you take, whilst actually, objectively, improving all the time.

Keep a cycling diary, fuel properly, before, after and during exercise and enjoy it.

 

[Philtofit]

M.R. I live in Essex with very few real hills, however, have a number of inclines that slow me down. I will be choosing routes with more hills to build up climbing strength, this is an area I need to work on; as it's a big factor in my overall average speed. I started a log but now use endomondo, I will go back to a log and record other factors. I will try changing down a gear as well.

Went out yesterday and suffered badly, trying to cycle against headwind.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Just to report back - it felt very odd changing into an easier gear for hills (well; Suffolk hills) but traffic stops are a LOT easier in a lower gear!

 

[Monsieur Remings]

Okay, imagine you're on a main road doing around 18-20mph +, when you're up to a good speed all I'm saying is don't push too hard on the highest gear, keep the cadence high. If, for instance your top gear is a 12 and you'd normally click up to that and push hard but slower, change down to say the 3rd gear in, a 15 for instance, or a 14 and spin faster. (My top gear is 11 which is a tough cookie to push on the flat, so bring it down just a few gears). Then compare a set distance and time with doing it with a higher gear and you might find it was just as quick or quicker and you feel less knackered/strained.

It doesn't always feel like the most natural thing to do.

As for the headwind Phil, next time it'll still be a sod too! Sorry, that's just a headwind! Keep as low as you can on the drops (this will help your core strength too), don't try and fight it and definitely change down to a lower gear and spin as comfortably as you can. Trying to push a big gear in a headwind is pretty demoralising and won't get you anywhere any quicker.

All the best.

 

[lukesdad]

" How do they do that ? "

No simple answer.

Once you ve taken onboard advice on weight and technique, think about this. Youve a mountain to climb is it easier to do in one ascent or in stages ? Now apply this to the way you ride or train ( you may allready do this if so my apologies ). As you develop you ll get stronger and fitter but there will come a point when you flatten out. This is known as a plateau. You need to structure your riding to take account of plateaus. Use base and interval training as part of the structure but importantly you need to improve your recovery. The act of training is not the key to improving, your rate of recovery is. If you havn t recovered properly your next days training and the day after that etc. will be limited to how you ve recovered from the previous sessions. Think about it this way if you ride at 100% to 50% of your potential has it done you any good ? Likewise factor in some tapering down. This doesn t have to be too scientific, you ll get to a point over a number of weeks and you ll know you re not "on it " time to taper down, drop the intensity or maybe distance if you train that way, take a day or two off start building again.

Above all if you seriously want to improve you need a proper training plan. Try using 4 or 6 week blocks building the intensity and the last week to taper. Factor in proper rest days, and increase the load for each block you ll be surprised at the results, pay attention to your diet especially to your protein and carb intake for your immeadiate recovery periods after a training session.

 

[Philtofit]

Great advise gents, I should be flying alone soon.

 

[Philtofit]

Completed my first ever 50 mile ride today, it would have been a lot easier without the head wind. Onwards and upwards.

 

[mattobrien]

The first 50 is a good feeling. I am currently training for my first metric century on the 13th May. Managed an 80 miler on monday, but it nearly killed me at the end. Once I got home and got some more food into me I was much better. Must remember to fuel better on the next ride.

Slightly twitchy today as it is a rest day, but planning a medium length ride tomorrow. My biggest problem is not going too fast too soon, or at all, when going further a field. The competitive bugger in me always wants to go faster (and further), but I need to remember that for the long rides fast at the beginning means more pain at the end. That said, it would be nice to clock a PB for the medium route tomorrow, wind and rain permitting.

 

[Philtofit]

Good luck Matt, is it the Suffolk Sunrise. I would love to get to that stage, of being able to do that next year.

 

[Monsieur Remings]

Good luck Matt, is it the Suffolk Sunrise. I would love to get to that stage, of being able to do that next year.

You will fella, you will. Maybe look at some info on winter training too. Many riders prefer to ride longer but slower in the winter months, toughening up on a heavier, training bike so they're good for the summer. I know we're in summer but the same principles can apply to building up stamina.

Give yourself a day, fuel properly, use hydration tablets before, Nuun are fab, relax and ride, take gels when you need them. Don't worry about speed, just see how far you can go and when you get knackered change down so it's as easy as it can be on your legs.

You might surprise yourself. Sometimes distance itself isn't the issue, more the terrain as I've said.

I'm a relative novice in the grand scheme of things by the way. I do my first road race on the 27th May and on July 14th I'm doing the Etape du Tour - two very different events, one, a very fast pace over a relatively short distance (and I'll probably come in towards the end) and the other, an endurance event but what the hell! One can only improve.

All the best.