30mins @ 46 cad

I'm not named Lance and I will never be an Armstrong.

Several years ago when Lance, of whom I am in awe, was in his prime I recall reading about his high cadence approach to racing. It was at a time when I never thought a second about cadence in any way. I didn't know why what he was doing was unique.

But watching him spin at hyper speed was hypnotic. Yet when I tried to spin fast, I was out of control. It's a skill and one that I am OK with not having.

Fortunately I have always enjoyed shifting to the biggest gears and grinding it out. I like the physicality of cycling; the benefit of having played lots of hockey and carving a few turns at Whistler.

Then ironguides came along and apparently I've been developing almost an ideal cadence without even knowing it. And so now I'm focused on cycling for strength, which translates into low cadence.

My average cadence of 46 for today's 30 minute timetrial on the trainer - book-ended by 30 minutes to start and 30 minutes to finish - is what it's all about.

Here's the official word:

... the most effective cycling style for triathlon is to “grind” it out in a big gear rather than adopting a higher cadence because low cadence cycling against a higher
resistance:

• Fatigues slow twitch muscle fibers while preserving fast twitch fibers
• Caps heart rate due to the slow contractions and high resistance
• Consequently conserves glycogen stores and draws more on fat as a fuel source ...

http://www.ironguides.net/news/186/65.html