# newbie question



## nwilkins (Jul 10, 2008)

I've been riding casually for a few years, but recently bought a trainer with the aim of working on improving as a cyclist - I don't really have any desire to race, but I'd like to be faster.

It seems I can pedal indefinitely at about 25kph (15.5mph) with a cadence of around 95. This is a pretty low speed. Previously I would travel quite a bit faster but by pushing a bigger gear at a lower cadence. What I'm wondering is how a person gets to the point of pedalling a cadence in the 90s on a larger gear at something like 40kph (25 mph). I know that is probably a journey of a number of years, but I would like to know if it is simply a matter of continuing to train by spinning, or is interval training what gets a person's average speed up?

Thanks in advance


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## smbrum (Jul 9, 2008)

lots of base miles to build your fuel tank. you cant go out and do intervals or hill repeats or other high intensity workouts without the base mileage. You will hit that 25mph but wont be able to maintain it for long and will cook your legs. Hard to say how to break down your training without knowing more about the riding you are doing. How many days do you ride, how many hours do you get in per week. Also what is the goal of the 25mph mark you mentioned. are you wanting to be able to do 25mph pulls for 60 seconds or less during group rides or are you wanting to do some TT's?


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## nwilkins (Jul 10, 2008)

thanks for the reply. I am still building base miles for this year, riding about 1 hour a day on the trainer, taking every 8th day off. I plan to continue with the 1hr/day trainer rides plus road rides as often as possible once the weather warms up. So right now I'm getting only 7 hours per week, and am content to focus on base miles for a while yet. Re goals, I'd like to be able one day to keep up a pace of 25mph for an appreciable amount of time, like a TT, or to keep up with a really fast group ride. I guess I'm not looking to change my training for the next few months, but I'm curious as to how people train to be able to spin indefinitely on higher gears.


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## smbrum (Jul 9, 2008)

one thing you might want to consider is changing some of the hour rides to 1 1/2 or 2 hours and taking more days off. I have been told that longer durations in the saddle, less frequently is more beneficial and then a longer 2-3 hour ride on the weekend. That is if you can pull that off and sometimes its difficult. I posted something about training for TT's a few days ago and someone gave me a good link to a2coaching.com. It had some good workouts I think would help you out. Once you have your base then intervals will be the key. check out the TT specific training post I put up and you'll see some good advice I was getting as well as that article.


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## nwilkins (Jul 10, 2008)

thanks a lot - I'll check that link and the thread out. I have heard that longer durations in the saddle are better but the last little while there just hasn't been time


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## muscleendurance (Jan 11, 2009)

if only people realised how actually simple training is...if you want to ride at 40km/hr in the big gears, then start doing it, but start gradually (in lower gears) and work your way up to your average speed you want to achieve, by riding harder than you are now, and gradually (over time) increasing how long you ride at that speed or 'intrvls' if at one moment in ride you feel "I wanna ride hard now!" then do it, and when you've had enough, abck off and ride easier for a while, then go for another...if you feel like it is the key, you cant train hard if you dont 'feel' like training hard. The biggest mistake you can make is to listen to people telling you to slow down! - chances are they're never pro's nor will they ever be.


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## nwilkins (Jul 10, 2008)

thanks for the advice - that makes sense.


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