Pacing yourself...

sjaszczak

Hi All,

I was just wondering what most of you like to do to pace yourself when you're attempting to set a personal best on a particular route?

Do you:

a) Start "slowly" and try to finish fast
b) Keep looking at your cycle computer and just try to match or beat your average speed from last time
c) Go out fast and try to get well ahead of the pace knowing that you'll likely slow down towards the end?

The reason I ask is because I'm new to cycling and last week I did my first ride (10 miles in 34min 38s, 17.35mph)... and today I thought "right, I'm going to smash that time today".

So because I was determined to beat my time, I set out quite fast because I was all motivated...but I really started to pay for it in the last third of the route and I slowed up quite a bit at a few points. Motivation caused me to pick up the pace again but it wasn't arf hard work.

However, I did suceed...here are the stats from today's ride:

32min 37s (2min ahead of last week's time!) at 18.43mph.

Am dead chuffed with that...but can't help thinking I can go faster if I pace myself better!

Steve

Infamous

I'm no expert, but I find that chosing the right gears is the best way to pace myself. If I try to grind big gears early on, my legs feel like lead at the end. So by using a gear or 2 lower, and pedalling faster, you can keep close to the same speed and when the end comes you still have enough left to push the last few minutes.

idaviesmoore

I don't think there's any exact science. Pacing comes with experiance. You learn, through trial and error (usually lung busting error) what tactics to adopt.

I used to operate a 'fight or flight' tactic when I first started time trialling and went off as quick as I could and if I blew up, well, I blew up.

Now I realise that isn't always the best way. Working on steadilly increasing speed over whatever course you're racing on is the way I try to work now. As I said, this takes time and patience as no two courses are generally the same.

The time triallists I have spoken to have learned that consistant pacing is the best and speeding up and slowing down is inefficient (unless it's unavoidable e.g roundabouts, other road users).

Trouble is, if you go 'Balls out' everytime you'll end up either injuring yourself or plateauing (sic) and then getting demotivated IMHO

Alex_Simmons/RST

In general (from physical and physiological principles), it is fastest to apply an even effort* for the entire duration of the ride, such that the effort is at a level you could maximally sustain for that duration**. The trick of course is knowing what that effort level is.

The other problem of course is that conditions can make a big difference to the speed you can ride at, so speed is generally a poor guide.

Having said that, it is better to start a little conservative and build up, than to start fast and fade.

The critical time is the first 1-2 miles as it is this part where most people over cook it. Legs feel good, you are fresh and it doesn't hurt. But then it catches up with you and what happens is you are forced to slow down to a pace below what you would nominally be capable of maintaining.

This is because the body needs to recover some of the Anaerobic Work Capacity used up in the opening salvo. This can only be done through aerobic metabolism and since that metabolism is now both replenishing your tapped out AWC and generating power to drive you forward, instead of all the energy going into driving you forward, then you go slower by necessity.

Eventually you recover and your pace will pick up again but the time lost in recovering doesn't make up the time gains by going hard at the start.

* in reality, the most optimal pacing takes into account elements of the course, such as variations in gradient, wind etc so that the effort applied does vary a bit depending on whether you are going uphill or down but it is not that much more optimal than an even power delivery, and letting speed rise and fall as the terrain dictates.

* There are several studies on optimal TT pacing to demonstrate this and it can be modelled using the equations of motion for a cyclist and details on the rider and course profiles.

sjaszczak

Thanks for the great replies! Lots to think about there....will try to adopt some of it next time I am out.