Slow cycling wife

[Arsen Gere]

Does Mrs dtd want to go faster or do you want her too?

Mrs Gere does the same, averages 12-14mph, but since she knocked out 55 mles over Bilsmoor and The Gibbet last Sunday I am dead proud of her and don't mind going slower than I would on my own or with a club.

Most women in their 50's are in front of eastenders on a Sunday afternoon not hill climbing.

What I sometimes do is stick 20 miles on one or both ends of the longer slower ride with her and get home knackered but enjoy her company in the middle for the longest section of the day.

I can blow my brains out in a midweek TT or going to work.

Mrs Gere prefers her solo road bike and rides a bike better than I race on.

If Mrs dtd is out with you be patient, we've had over 35 years of cycling together and I'd do it all again.

Her speed never stopped me being fast, I've held a 1st cat road license so don't worry about that.

 

[carolonabike]

 

[Fiona N]

It's got to the point that I think there is a biological reason.

I think it pays to understand how you go faster (how one goes faster...) - more speed requires more strength but using that strength requires more oxygen to be delivered to the muscles to sustain that strength otherwise you get a sprint - not quite what you're after, I think (although it does explain how some people with lousy fitness can magic up a devastating turn of speed - for a very short run)

So to get faster, your wife would need to start doing some more or less painful interval sessions, starting with fairly short intervals but at a pace where she's working significantly harder than she can sustain, interspersed with recovery. This builds the strength. Then when she's getting used to these hard efforts (not maximal, she should be able to do say 5 x 5 mins with 3 or 4 minutes rest in between each), she needs to cut down the recovery time and lengthen the effort. This will build the cardiovascular system to cope with the extra effort. Do the interval sessions once or twice a week when fresh (doing them with tired legs is counterproductive) and even an older person** will see an improvement.

Interval sessions are one thing which are more easily done on a turbo than outside and the constant 'clock watching' breaks up the session so that an hour doesn't seem like half a century


** Don't mean this to be patronising - I was really meaning 'even a person as old as me' (well into my 50's)

 

[Fiona N]

.. I'm in my early fifties and less than 9 stone, ...

I'm jealous - If I was 9 stone I'd still be racing even though I'm older than you

 

[Baggy]

One thing I'd add - if Mrs. dirk rides behind you most of the time, it might help if you let her ride in front. When I'm behind I feel as if I'm constantly working to keep up, but when I'm in front it adds about 1mph+ to my speed.

Am not 100% sure of the psychology behind this, but think if I'm behind in a faster group it makes me more inclined to go slowly in the hope they'll notice and slow down a bit.

 

[ufkacbln]

Just enjoy the difference

I have the same situation

We tour about half the distance at about half the speed, but it is simply a more mellow and relaxed tour

 

[dirkthedaring71]

Wow!! I never guessed I would get so much helpful info

After Reading the posts about how some partners are less than willing, makes me appreciate cycling together even though at a slow pace. Like someone else said " I can often coast past her with minimal effort". This is what does aggravate me as I think how can she be so slow esescially being 5 years my junior (im39). Some of this aggravation does stem from saddle soreness on my part.

It does make for some funny situations such as the time she decided to overtake a group of oaps on the flat only to have these same oaps overtake at the first incline . They even shouted things out as they went past. This REALLY annoyed her as it would anybody. We can laugh about it now though and I bet the oldies thought it was fantastic.

 

[Hont]

My wife is the same, but does not have the same inclination to improve (she doesn't like to suffer and will moan about how hard any climb above 4% is, whilst I'm thinking if she's got enough breath to moan she's not giving it everything ).

I just use the joint rides as recovery rides.

There's no real substitute for intervals or really hard sessions unfortunately. If it's the hills that are the problem then hill reps are the best solution.

 

[ttcycle]

As has already been advised interval training on the turbo and hill reps are the way to go - this stuff can feel very punishing so it's worth bearing that in mind. Also it must be done when rested as it can be very tiring.

You could do fartlek training which takes two forms:

If it's the two of you (I don't recommend doing this until she's worked on intervals etc and feels more confident otherwise it can have the reverse effect and become demoralising) you sprint ahead at an agreed point either traffic lights and she has to catch you but of course don't go all out just go faster.

The easier option (and potentially less conflict causing) is to choose a sign post or traffic sign to sprint to, sprint all out until she reaches it, rest and then pick another point to sprint to. Probably best to let her sprint to the sign and keep behind until she's done.

 

[Lard Armstrong]

Mrs Lard won't ride, I dream of getting her out @ 12mph, even for an hour

 

[JonnyBlade]

70 miles? 12 mph? Count yourself lucky mate that's what I say!

+1

 

[byegad]

I wish my wife would cycle 5 miles in a day let alone 70.

If she would do three miles a for all of October, she'd be 93 miles away by the end of the month. Any help?

 

[xpc316e]

How does she know that she doesn't want a tandem? Has she ridden one? Have you experienced the joys of a tandem?

 

[dirkthedaring71]

The interval thing sounds like a good idea I will suggest it to her and see how she goes. Much like many of you have suggested it does seem that she may not be pushing herself hard enough so that her speed improves. I'm sure you can imagine the response I get when she's struugling up a hill and I say that she isn't trying .

We've never tried a tandem though we did come close whilst on holiday the other week. She is mainly against it as it's like admitting defeat and if you knew mrs dirkthedaring71 you would know that she never gives in. Does anyone know if there is anywhere where you can hire one in the Colchester area for a few hours?

 

[david k]

Hi,
my wife and I regularly go out on bike rides together which is great. But there's a problem, speed. She has little problem with distance and recently completed a 70 miler. The thing is this took her all day. Her average speed rarely goes over 12 mph even on much shorter rides and this hasn't increased in over a year.

She goes out each day and when the weathers bad she practices on the trainer. Can anyone shed some light onto her failure to improve?

And no, she doesn't want a tandem.

get a new one