Our sport and particularly the cycling part have many fads. From bike materials to helmets there is something that all of a sudden everyone has to have, or at least they think they have to have. Whenever a top professional has some success with a certain product all of a sudden everyone thinks that is the way to go. This also happens with technique. Lance Armstrong for example is a great spinner. That is he rides somewhere around 100 RPM all the time. But Jan Ulrich who almost always finishes right behind Lance spins more like 70 to 80 RPM. Both are great results, yet since Lance wins, his technique gets all the press and hype on his spinning technique. In Kona this year Faris Al-Sultan was more like Jan Ulrich but last years winner Normann Stadler spins more although not quite like Lance Armstrong.
Today I rode for a bit over 2 hours in a absolutely beautiful day in Boulder. It was cool at 50 degrees Fahrenheit but the sun was out and there was hardly any wind. I rode with my friend John who is a former professional soccer player and is perhaps the most well known soccer coach in Boulder. When I coached boys’ soccer he was my boss so to speak. I learned quite a bit from him about coaching soccer. John is thinking about doing some triathlons so we discussed training for most of the ride. The main topic was cadence as I noticed John was a pedal masher and was doing about 70 RPM and his bike was swaing a bit when he was riding.
At MarkAllenOnline we recommend a cadence of about 90. That is not quite Lance but not quite Ulrich. This seems to be a cadence that saves your legs for the run but there is one more reason. Most top runners have a running cadence of about 90+ and there is a relationship between your bike and run cadence. You will most likely have a similar cadence in both sports so improving one will also improve the other.
In Kona this year I noticed that Faris Al-Sultan has a slow bike cadence but the one thing I did noticed was that he was not pedal mashing. His bike was very straight and his pedaling motion was smooth. Very interesting I thought. I also noticed that his run cadence was slow but his strides very long. Faris is not the best runner for sure but his run was good enough for the win.
I got an email from an athlete were he said that if he spin 90 RPM and maintain a certain heart rate his power output was low. Yet a 70 RPM at the same heart rate produced a lot more power. Why is that? Well the answer is more likely lack of an efficient pedaling motion. If you normally ride a slow cadence and try to do 90+ RPM you will feel somewhat out of control at first. But with enough practice you will learn to maintain pressure on the pedals throughout the entire pedaling motion and be able to produce more power. Just practice and practice, it will come.
Here are a couple of things I do. I try to listen to my bike. See if you hear a constant hum rather than a pumping noise. If you hear a pumping noise it is your push down with each pedal push. But if you have an efficient pedaling stroke you will only hear a nice constant hum coming from the bike. The other thing I do is concentrate on one leg at a time. I do 10 circles concentrating on my left leg and then 10 on the right leg. The other leg stays there but I try to not apply pressure with it. I do not think you need to invest in one of those crank sets were each crank arm is separate and acts by itself. These drills are more than enough. I have done them and continue doing them today. Efficiency seems to be the key even if you can not become a great spinner. Keep the bike from sawing and ride smooth.