When I started this innings of cycling after I left it years back, I started with a basic Indian cycle, on platform pedals. Well for someone who is not bothered into exploring the real essence of cycling, its ok. But in my case I started to dig a bit deeper.
Then I bought my Schwinn Sporterra and that is when I realized cycling can be more pleasurable on a light weight bicycle. I enjoyed my initial rides on the platform pedals it came with until I learn a cycling jargon called cadence.
For Wikipedia :
In cycling, cadence is the number of revolutions of the crank per minute; roughly speaking, this is the rate at which a cyclist is pedalling/turning the pedals. Cadence is similar in some ways to wheel speed, but is a distinct measurement.
As a beginner, I used to ride my Hercules Arrow with the same way another usual roadster rider would ride – pedal… coast… pedal… coast. Then I learnt that if I have to benefit from cycling in the form of fitness, then I should be pedaling continuously than coast as and when I feel tired. So how do you manage not to get tired very often? Yes that’s exactly what modern geared cycles are for. They help you ride at a constant pedal rate at a power you can pedal continuously or at a power you aspire to be. The trick is choose the best gear ratio to maintain your pedal rate.
Now what is the pedal rate which is considered good? Lance Armstrong’s average cadence during Tour De France was in the range of 110, but that is a high number for beginners. If you are able to maintain a cadence of 60+ that is good, so you are making 60 revolutions of the crank in a minute.
When to shift gears?
Now how do you know if the gear combination you have chosen is right? On a high gear, you will not be able to maintain a good cadence, you will go below 60rpm and that is an indication for you to lower the gear. If you are on a too low gear, your cadence will increase and at one point you will feel that you are jumping on the seat while trying to pedal at that rate. And that is an indication that you have chosen a too low gear.
You are approaching an uphill. Of course you cannot maintain your rpm if you don’t shift to a lower gear. Make sure you shift gears at the beginning of a climb and choose a combination on which you can continuously climb. I have seen a few who shift gears very frequently, that may have an impact on your rhythm and you will loose some energy while doing so. Choose a gear ration on which you can ride continuously for some distance before you foresee the need to shift again.
On downhill you will have to go on high gears else you will start to jump up and down on the saddle since you will not be able to match the revolutions of the back wheel and you will tend to increase the rpm.
How to ride faster?
A typical question from a newbie. Of course you can ride faster if you can put that much energy to use the high gear combination and able to pedal at a good cadence. But the trick is you can increase the speed also by pedaling faster on a lower gear!
The speed is proportional to the combination of gear ratio and the cadence. You can increase either of them to attain high speeds. That’s the simple math. So there is no wonder why Lance Armstrong chose to ride at 110 rpm to attain an average speed of around 42kmph for the entire Tour de France. But can you ride with such high pedaling rates keeping your balance on the saddle?
The answer is yes but with proper foot retention, so my next post will be on foot retention and what I have experienced so far 🙂