speed and cadence and quads, oh my!

[NaeNae]

Hello, I've been road cycling for about two months now, and I've seen improvements in my overall performance. However, my quads usually are quite tired after riding--not every day, but enough.

It seems to me that they shouldn't be so sore anymore. I asked my boyfriend about it, and he said that, observing me recently, my cadence is too slow. In fact, he said it seems to have gotten slower since I started using clipless pedals about two weeks ago (I disagree).

I don't know what my cadence is, but from using bikes at the gym, I'd guess average around 70-80? I know it's not as fast as my experienced cycling friends.

I feel like if I speed up my cadence, I'm going to lose speed (which I've been working on increasing). But I'm also getting tired of my tired quads! How do you find the balance?

[Owlie]

I find that if I spend my ride in too high a gear, I am in pain the next day. (Like I did yesterday. And now I'm paying for it.) Use lower gears than you're currently using. Yes, initially you'll pay a price in speed, but as your body gets used to the idea, you'll start picking your speed up again. Just keep riding.

[NaeNae]

Thanks, Owlie. Another problem I have, though, is that it seems that there is too large a difference between my big ring and my small ring! If I'm in a middle gear on my big ring and it feels too hard, so I switch to the middle gear on my smaller ring, it often feels way too easy! Is this normal, and like you said, I just have to get used to it? Thanks!

[westtexas]

Thanks, Owlie. Another problem I have, though, is that it seems that there is too large a difference between my big ring and my small ring! If I'm in a middle gear on my big ring and it feels too hard, so I switch to the middle gear on my smaller ring, it often feels way too easy! Is this normal, and like you said, I just have to get used to it? Thanks!

When you're just shooting for a minute adjustment in resistance, simply shift between the cogs on your rear wheel. I usually start in the small ring up front, but as my muscles warm up, I switch to the large ring. I rarely, if ever, switch back and forth between the two front rings, unless I'm climbing. All my gear shifting happens in the back, where you can really fine tune everything.

[Owlie]

What kind of bike are you riding?
The way I see it, the chainrings (the two or three big rings in front) aren't there for fine-tuning. They each have their own uses. Big ring is for going fast on flat ground (once your legs get there!) and descents, middle ring is all-purpose, and the small one is for climbing hills. You need to fine-tune using the gears in the back. Now, you'll probably feel like you're spinning too fast for the gear. Unless you feel a little jump at the top of each pedal stroke, you probably aren't.

I will say, though, that 8-speed cassettes seem to have climbing gears and "zoom" gears, but not cruising gears.

[NaeNae]

It's a 2010 Jamis Ventura Sport. No middle ring; 8-speed cassette. I don't usually have a problem with climbing, and I can go pretty fast on flat ground. It's that dreaded head-wind that usually gets me with the difference between the two rings.

I never shift past the middle gear for either ring because I don't want to stress/stretch the chain (does that make sense?).

I feel like Goldilocks--that gear's too hard; that gear's too easy...

[Owlie]

Generally speaking, while I don't know the rules for double cranksets, you're not going to stress the chain unless you use the large ring and the large cog, or the small ring and the small cog. Feel free to use all but those two combinations.

[westtexas]

I had the same problem too at first. I was mashing around in too high of gears and eventually you reach a point where you're pushing too hard but your heart and lungs can't keep up. I got a cycling computer that measures cadence and I started spinning faster in lower gears to build up my cardiovascular system. At first, my cadence was typically between 70-80 and now it's usually between 90-100 and I can push higher gears and go a lot faster than I used to. I rarely feel tired the next day.

At first when you start spinning more and mashing less, you feel ridiculous and out of control. But you adapt quickly and now it annoys me when my cadence falls below 80 - I shift down and spin more.