Road bikes: riding, training, equipment...
One of the hardest aspects of cycling, especially when you are new to the sport or on unfamiliar routes, is finding a pace that you can maintain over the distance. Set off too fast or over-exert yourself on the first hills and you will be too exhausted to sustain your performance (or keep up with the other riders in a group) for the later part of the ride.
On the other hand, take things too easy and you won't be achieving your best results either...
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Most of us don't want to spend large amounts of money on a Cycling Power Meter for our bikes, and unless we are training very hard and with particular goals it is more of a luxury than a necessity. But it is still useful and interesting to know how much power we can generate when we cycle and an understanding of cycling power also makes it clear why we can all increase our speed quite quickly when we start, but it becomes progressively harder to make small improvements as we get faster!
The food we eat before, during and after a cycle ride, especially a ride that is particularly long or arduous, can make a significant different to the result and to the pleasure we get from the ride. I'm not a nutritional expert and the article is based more on my own experiences than expert nutritional knowledge, but if you follow the guidelines below you should be on the right track towards success. Before starting, and for all rides however long or short, remember the primary rule: eat before you are hungry, drink before you are thisty, and carry plenty of fluids. 'Bonking' from loss of energy will sap all your strength and dehydration is just plain dangerous for your health.
Some people have a natural confidence when cycling downhill, or at least a way of ignoring their natural fears, while others are much more cautious. This nervousness about going downhill is an important weakness to tackle since: 1) if you lose a significant amount of time cycling the descents it is extremely difficult to make it up when going up hills 2) if you arrive at the bottom of the hill at, say, 30 mph instead of 20 mph you have a great advantage for the next stage of the course, whether it is a flat or a hill, so the faster cyclists going down the hill will often be the fastest cyclists going up the hill straight after as well
A few years ago common thinking was that winter cycling was something to be avoided, especially by riders of road bikes. Many leisure cyclists simply stopped cycling for a few months during winter, while others prefered to continue indoors on a training bike, or perhaps using gym exercises instead.
OK, so this is partly an exercise in stating the obvious - but it's a good place to start! Then you can browse through some of the many other more specific articles on the site for more information about these and many other aspects of road bike cycling... Tip 1: Spend more time on your bike Do you look forward to cycling and get out on your bike at every opportunity possible? It's fun reading magazines and chatting in internet forums about techniques and the latest equipment, but not actually very useful at improving your overall ability!
Group riding - also known as drafting or paceline cycling - refers to several cyclists riding together, one behind the other. The cyclists each take it in turns to lead, than after leading the group for a while the leader drops away and joins the end of the line. This has great benefits because it is much less strenuous cycling close behind another cyclist than it is cycling alone - because of protection from wind and reduced air resistance.
Cycling up hills (or mountains) is the hardest part of cycling when you are just starting out. Ignoring problems of speed, most new cyclists can manage to go along a flat road for a reasonable distance without any terrible difficulties. But what happens when a hill turns up? Even a small hill can be a big challenge if you don't know what to expect and haven't prepared.
A couple of good reasons to spend some time thinking about the best riding position when you go out for a ride: - Sitting in an aerodynamic position on your bike is a more efficient and cheaper way to improve your performance than spending thousands of pounds on lighter road bikes each year.
Cycling faster and better on your road bike! Most beginner cyclists approach to going faster is to go out quite often and make a lot of effort. Sounds good, and certainly works to a point. But sooner or later you will reach a threshold. That may be at an average speed of 22kmh or 30 kmh or whatever, but most of us have a natural ceiling that it proves very difficult to get past.
We cyclists all have a small pouch underneath our saddle, with as few tools as possible squeezed in - because every tool we carry adds a few extra grams of weight. But which tools are really important when you set out on a long ride? Essentials:1. Spare innertube - much quicker to replace an innertube and easier than repairing a puncture 2. Tyre levers
When you first decide to buy a road bike the choice can be very daunting. From bikes in the local supermarket costing £150 to those in specialist shops costing up to £5000 or more, what is the difference and what should you look for? If you haven't ridden a road bike before, or not for many years, it is not easy to 'test drive' bikes, because they will all feel 'wrong' at first. The saddle will seem uncomfortable and too high, your back might hurt, and you won't know how to change gears. Don't be deterred!
In the 'olden days' cyclists wore shoes that simply rested on the pedals during cycling, and life was simple. Then someone had the bright idea of fitting toe clips to pedals, to stop the shoes sliding around so much. Slightly irritating to use, but more or less a good idea. Then by the 1950's someone had the idea of also fitting something to the shoe that clipped around the back of the pedal. Used together with toe clips that worked pretty well, and it was still essentially possible to move your feet to the ground when necessary (for example stopping at a road junction) without major incident.
Which are the best road bikes? It's a common question - after all everyone buying a bike wants the best one possible - but the question is one that is impossible to answer! The answer depends on what you are looking for i.e. what you mean by 'best. First you need to consider which of the following is important to you':
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It is often said that cycling doesn't get easier with time - you go faster but still suffer just as much. This is especially true of hills. But every rule has an exception. When you first start cycling (or take the sport up again after many years) the first few rides can be very demotivating, and many potential cyclists will decide at this stage that cycling isn't for them. So what should you expect when you first come back to cycling
It is generally accepted that interval training is a better way to increase your average cycling speed and effectiveness than always simply just going as hard as you can for as long as you can, but there are two problems with interval training: - They are very tough! - They involve careful planning and discipline to avoid making too much effort between the periods of exertion - they involve going on a special ride just to perform intervals and time doesn't always permit an extra ride in a busy week So is there an effective alternative?
Training books will all tell you that it is the rest days between cycling that are just important as the training rides themselves. This is because 'your body needs time to recover', they tell you, or 'your muscles develop when they are resting'. It's one of those things that I have heard very often but always found it slightly hard to believe, unless your daily rides are really very intensive training rides. If, like me, your main priority is just to get out riding as often as possible, is that really making you slower?
I have to explain three things before starting this Trek Madone review: 1) The bike under review is one I bought myself, with my own hard-earned cash, and I ride it a lot. It is not a short-term review model - unfortunately Trek didn't feel the need to send me a free bike, I can't imagine why! 2) Because buying bikes myself is rather expensive (!) I don't have a great range of comparisons to make with similarly priced bikes.
'Modern' thinking is that cyclists should take very little break from the sport during the winter, and should focus on getting out on the bike each week if possible. A fine idea, and if you are able to get in a couple of decent length rides each week it will certainly make the new season much easier. For many of us, however, a combination of shorter days, work commitments and poor weather mean that cycling training opportunities diminish substantially during the winter months. This article is aimed at us...
The definition of 'long distance' for you or for me or for someone else will always be completely different. If you talk to a non-cyclist, 20 miles sounds like a long ride, but for an enthusiastic club member 100 miles might be a long ride.There are cyclists who regularly cycle much greater distances than this (Tour de France stages are often 140 miles or more).
When you first start cycling, you will probably read about the speeds and distances travelled by other cyclists, and find that you fall a long way short. Many experienced cyclists will cover 60 miles at 20-25 miles per hour a couple of times a week, enthusiasts much more, and faster. This knowledge often translates into a desire to push yourself hard, when you can only manage 10 miles at 14 miles per hour!
Cadence in cycling is the speed at which your legs turn. It is measured in revs per minute / pedal rotations per minute. Much the easiest way to measure cadence is with an attachment to your bike computer, but it is also easy to calculate as you are cycling along - keeping an eye on the clock of your bike computer, count how many pedal turns you make in 30 seconds (and double it for a one minute result).
One of the most common questions among new cyclists - and one of the hardest to give a sensible answer to - is the average speed of a cyclist. There are lots of reasons why average speed can't be used as a reliable measure of comparison, which mostly come down to the following:
We have looked at bike pedals and why they make a difference to cycling performance. Well it is not possible to use these effective bike pedals without having 'proper' cycling shoes! The way they work is that a cleat is screwed to the bottom of your shoe, and then the cleat in some way clips onto the pedal. The exact process varies slightly, depending on the make of pedal and cleat, but generally the front of the cleat is put into/onto the pedal first, and then pushing down with your foot 'clips' the rest of the cleat into the pedal.
The most important thing when purchasing a bike is to get the bike frame size and setup right - otherwise you will find you ache on longer rides, and lose enthusiasm for cycling very quickly. Riding the most expensive bike in the world will not be fun if it is the wrong size for you. As a quick starting point to getting your bike setup right:
If you are looking for a good cheap bike there is a bewildering choice of bikes in the £350-600 price range, the typical starting point for a road bike, and it is difficult to know where to start. Virtually all mainstream bike manufacturers have entry bikes in this price range. To confuse matters further, your bike supplier will often have last years models at reduced prices, and often available at extremely tempting prices. There is little benefit for the beginner in having the latest model - so if last years version of the same bike is available at 25% reduction it is likely to be a bargain.
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Our GoalTo provide training information for cyclists, cycling equipment reviews and other information about cycling, road bikes and racing bikes - how to get started, what bike to ride, and how to ride it faster - these are the questions that all new cyclists ask so these are the questions we try to answer. There are lots of cyclists who aren't interested in always racing further and faster but simple want to go cycling for pleasure - no harm in that either! We have a simple goal - our cycling tips and techniques aim to get new cyclists out on the road, existing cyclists to new levels of achievement, and with helping mountain bike cyclists make the transition to road bikes. It's not always about the latest cycling equipment (although that is always welcome), it's more about fresh air, health, personal challenge and motivation! |
Road Bike FriendsA couple of mountain biking sites, for when you want to get off the road...Mountain Biking the Lakes & Mountain bike videos And when you've mastered cycling...get swimming and running as well so you can start to enter triathlons! Please feel free to recommend any cycling sites you are aware of...or even better, get off the internet and get out on your bike! |
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Re: Average cycling speed
I have been keeping my cadence at about 60,...
Re: Average cycling speed
Thanks for the wise words - I'm sure you are...
Re: Average cycling speed
Hi Gerald, I would have thought 42/28 would be...
Re: Your first few rides
thanks for the tips on this site, helping me...