| First, the good news:
If you can average 12 - 14 MPH on the ride, you will not be the last one
in. In fact, 14 MPH is a bit above average, for the whole ride. On the
hilly CAR course, over 7 days, if you can do 14 MPH, you are doing quite
well. The problem is whether you can do the hills on the Ride and perhaps
sustain 14 MPH while averaging over 80 miles per day.
Second, it is good that you
started in November, and that you are riding every weekend. This will pay
off. But, now that we are into late January, it is time to start stressing
yourself a bit in the right ways.
I know that it is frustrating to
be left behind. It happens to all of us.
There is always somebody out there
faster than you are. The thing is to concentrate on what YOU need to do to
get faster and to be able to do hills without feeling like you are going
to die. Part of what you have to do has to do with improving your physical
capacity; part of it is mental.
Your issues—climbing and speed—may
be related. Getting into the kind of shape where you can go a bit faster
and climb hills with no serious problem requires you to stress yourself.
Maybe you are now, or think that you are; but probably you are not doing
it in a way that is helping you achieve your goals. Sometimes you have to
go easy, but sometimes you have to go hard. As they say, no pain—no
gain.
In general, there are two aspects
to improving as a rider: 1) leg speed; and 2) strength (physical and
mental). To improve on these aspects, there are several things I’d
recommend:
1. Work on leg speed.
When you are riding a flat course, what gearing are you using??
Especially if there is no wind, or a bit of a tailwind, you want to work
on your spinning. Spinning classes can help with this too.
What I want you to do is think about your cadence (how fast are you
turning your pedals). You should make sure that you are doing at least 70
revolutions per minute (RPM). How do you know? Well, after warming
up, and getting yourself to your normal pedaling speed, look at your
watch, and count how many revolutions you do in 15 seconds, then multiply
that by 4. By a revolution, I mean a full revolution—left and right foot
up and down. If you are doing
less than 70 RPM, you are either using a gear that is too hard or you are
not stressing cardiovascular system (CV) enough.
Many beginning riders think that
they should be pedaling in the highest gear that they can. NO NO NO!
You should be pedaling in the EASIEST gear you can, as fast as your legs
will go without bumping your butt all over your seat. Generally, on a flat
piece of road, I will pedal in a gear easy enough for me to pedal at about
100 RPM. If I have a tailwind, I pedal even faster. I do not
switch to a harder gear until I know I can keep the RPM’s up.
Now, pedaling fast stresses your
CV system. And, at first, until you can pedal fast, you will feel like you
are going slower. You may be left behind sooner rather than later.
Be patient. Once you get your legs trained to pedal faster, this
"leg speed" will ultimately help you ride faster. Once you
can pedal fast in a really easy gear, your legs’ muscle memory will know
that they want to move fast. So, when you start shifting into harder
gears, your legs’ muscle memory will say: faster!!! In the harder
gear, you will go faster. You will start getting to the point where you
can blow by the people who are now blowing you by! It works!
I recommend that you start trying
this. Don’t go for 100 RPM right away. Being able to go 70 RPM,
concentrating on pushing down and pulling up with each foot with each
stroke, pedaling in perfect circles, is the first step. Be aware that
doing this is tiring. You may only be able to concentrate on pedaling at a
high RPM at first for only a few minutes. Try to increase the time you can
do it each time you ride. And, once you can do 70 RPM effortlessly, move
on up to 80; 90; etc.
2. Strength.
After you feel like you are making progress with your leg speed, we have
to work on your strength. While you are beginning to work on your
leg speed, long and steep hills will be tough for you. The
best you can do is to put yourself in an easy gear, and use it for more
spinning practice. Try to spin as fast as you can. When you get tired,
shift into a gear two harder and stand up for 10 or so revolutions. Once
you get some momentum back, shift back to the easy gear, sit back down,
and keep your leg speed up as long as you can. Alternate between sitting
and standing. But try your best to sit and spin at as high an RPM as you
can. It is the most efficient way to climb. Just survive, and know that
once you get your leg speed up, and you do as I suggest below to get your
strength up, hills will become much easier for you.
The physical part of getting
strong riding legs involves stressing your muscles in a different way.
Here I want you to identify a hill that is about 4% or 5% grade, and about
a mile long. I want you to climb it and climb it and climb it. Climb it;
turn around and go back down, and then climb it again. I want you to use
some of the leg speed you are developing, but you want to put yourself in
a bit harder gear. Go as hard as you can until you feel that burning
sensation in your quads (thighs). Once you feel the burn, ease off for a
couple of minutes. Then go hard again. Remember to go as long as you can
sitting. Stand up when you need to ease the pressure a bit and the burn
becomes too intense for you.
Mentally, you have to think of a
hill as fun. There is a top. You will get
there. Focus on your legs as they go up and be amazed at how powerful they
are. Up down up down. You can make them keep going. As you climb, look
back when it is safe to do so, and see how far you have come. Pat yourself
on the back. Be amazed at how you used only your own body to get yourself
up there. Know that there are not very many people who can or would do
what you are doing. When the pain hits, think about the great downhill you
will have once you get to the top. Think about why you are doing the Ride.
Think about how small your suffering is compared to that of the people all
over the world suffering with sickness and poverty.
Increase Mileage.
Of course you will have to start thinking about increasing your mileage.
Riding both weekend days and doing one spinning class is enough. But, you
must make your weekend rides longer and a bit harder every week. Try to
increase your effort load and miles 10% each weekend. By April, be able to
ride back to back 75 mile rides each with significant climbing.
Finally, I do not know what kind
of bike you are using. If you are not using a road bike I may have to
alter some of my suggestions, or make suggestions for your
bike.
I hope this is helpful. -
Georgene Vairo
If you have other
questions we highly recommend that you contact one of the many veteran
riders who have volunteered their time as Buddies. Click here to go
to the buddy page
For more articles please visit
the
Virtual Rider Leader page which lists all
the articles on the site. |
