Cadence and HR for endurance
steve palmer
Posts: 93
Whats the opinions here on cadence and HR for endurance cycling. I am training for an endurance event in the summer (4 x 70-100 miles per day) and I have been focussing on getting my cadence up. On the road, for a training run of say 50 miles I can keep an average cadence of high 80's with an average HR of 130-140. Is this a good balance? It feels comfortable and now when I drop below 80 I feel that I'm not spinning fast enough. You guys speak a lot about speed but I only look at that at the end of a run.
0
Comments
-
I think its going to be a personal decision - If you feel comfortable and can sustain the effort then your doing ok.. personally I average approx 100 - 105 but people tell me I'm a real spinner, this however feels comfortable and I can keep it going for as long as I need to. There are people who I ride with who don't have a cadence as high as myself and they are more capable cyclists than me.0
-
I have read that your optimum cadence is the one that gives you the highest average speed for the lowest HR and can vary as you gain/lose fitness.0
-
steve palmer wrote:Whats the opinions here on cadence and HR for endurance cycling. I am training for an endurance event in the summer (4 x 70-100 miles per day) and I have been focussing on getting my cadence up. On the road, for a training run of say 50 miles I can keep an average cadence of high 80's with an average HR of 130-140. Is this a good balance? It feels comfortable and now when I drop below 80 I feel that I'm not spinning fast enough. You guys speak a lot about speed but I only look at that at the end of a run.
If you're averaging 130-140 for 50 miles, then you probably want to go at least 10bpm lower for 4 x 70-100 miles. For example, I've just done the Tour of Wessex day 1, 95 miles, at an average of 125bpm. But when I did flat 150 miles the other weekend, my average was about 110bpm, and that was fine. I finished the day with plenty of energy. At that bpm, then I think that your cadence will naturally be a little lower.0 -
GeorgeShaw wrote:steve palmer wrote:Whats the opinions here on cadence and HR for endurance cycling. I am training for an endurance event in the summer (4 x 70-100 miles per day) and I have been focussing on getting my cadence up. On the road, for a training run of say 50 miles I can keep an average cadence of high 80's with an average HR of 130-140. Is this a good balance? It feels comfortable and now when I drop below 80 I feel that I'm not spinning fast enough. You guys speak a lot about speed but I only look at that at the end of a run.
If you're averaging 130-140 for 50 miles, then you probably want to go at least 10bpm lower for 4 x 70-100 miles. For example, I've just done the Tour of Wessex day 1, 95 miles, at an average of 125bpm. But when I did flat 150 miles the other weekend, my average was about 110bpm, and that was fine. I finished the day with plenty of energy. At that bpm, then I think that your cadence will naturally be a little lower.
Surely that depends on his maximum heart rate. His 130-140 bpm might be a lower percentage of max than your 125.
My max is 195, so 140 bpm would only be 71% of max. This would be easily sustainable over long distances.0 -
The search for an "optimum cadence" is a fruitless one. It doesn't exist. Just pedal.scapaslow wrote:I have read that your optimum cadence is the one that gives you the highest average speed for the lowest HR and can vary as you gain/lose fitness.
As you gain time on a bike over the years, you get better at choosing gears that best suit you, the terrain and how hard you can ride.0 -
Sure Nickwill, that's why I said "at least" but I should have made my caveats clearer.
My max is around 165, which is low, so I rode the ToW at 75%, and the 150 miles at 65%.
As you say, anybody with a higher max should expect to ride a longer distance with a higher absolute drop in bpm.0
