philbob57

I do not go fast, but I can ride 25 or 30 miles and recover quickly.

On some rides, especially against the wind, my HR gets into the 140s and stays there, even though I'm only going 12-13 mph. I'm breathing hard at that rate, but I'm not gasping for breath. I'd like to get faster, but based on experience, too much time in the 140s wears me out, even though I'm not going fast, so whatever speed I'm going, if my HR is 140+, my best bet is to slow myself down..

At 75, my max HR is pretty close to the mid-140s. I doubt I have the endurance to do an LTHR test, nor do I have cash available for such a test, so I don't know what my max is.

Anybody else seeing this sort of igh HR and slow speed?

If have to just keep at it, I'm OK with that. I do get faster as a season progresses. But I'd like to be able to sustain higher speed. Right now the casual group in the local club is too slow, and the next group is too fast for me.

Thanks for your counsel.

davester

The best way to increase your speed is to do interval training where you do short intervals of very high intensity interspersed with recovery periods. If you spend all your time at a sustainable constant level of effort you are not going to improve rapidly.

Carbonfiberboy 

If you have hills, climb them with an effort that allows you to get to the top, but just barely. You should be panting uncontrollably after your HR comes up on the climb - otherwise ignore your HR and just concentrate on a panting level effort.. Recover back to normal breathing and do it again and again until you can't anymore. If you don't have hills, do the same thing except accelerate and stay at that panting level for maybe 5 minutes. Once a week. Once a week, on the flat, accelerate absolutely as hard as you can in a pretty big gear for 30 seconds, then 5 minutes easy, then repeat, maybe 10 times. Twice a week, ride for 2-3 hours on the flat or moderate hills, limiting your effort so that you could speak in full sentences or recite the alphabet the whole way. My guess would be 115 HR. As it is said, most folks don't ride either hard enough nor easy enough. Ride more at the two ends of the spectrum and less in the middle, as in this prescription.

If you want to ride with a group, ride with the one that's too fast. Just hang on as long as you can. If they drop you on a hill, keep riding hard as you go over the top to try to get them back. Once they lose you, just pedal the route at a comfortable pace. This is sort of the same prescription, but in a group scenario.

Greenhil

Read up on interval training. It may help you. I find it hard to do when I’m riding because it’s best done in a way where the high intensity and rest periods are consistent. You can do it on a bike, but the varying terrain, winds etc. make that tougher. I do intervals on an elliptical at the gym and sometimes on a stationary bike there - where you can program in the length of the segments, and their difficulty/ease. Also leaves me free to enjoy my rides!

terrymorse 

Based on your description, I'd say that 140s is your threshold range (or "zone 4"), and that your maximum heart rate is substantially higher than the 140s.

Andy Coggan describes zone 4 (threshold) level:

"Essentially continuous sensation of moderate or even greater leg effort/fatigue. Continuous conversation difficult at best, due to depth/frequency of breathing. Effort sufficiently high that sustained exercise at this level is mentally very taxing"

Sound familiar?

For improving your average sustainable power, I'm a big fan of doing much of your riding in the "sweet spot", which is high zone 3 (aerobic) and low zone 4 (threshold). This heart rate range will not wipe you out like threshold will, so you can ride longer and spend less time recovering. It's also much more enjoyable than suffering through threshold intervals.

I'm about to turn 61, and I got off the couch and back on the bike last June after a 4-year absence. I've been doing mostly "sweet spot" rides: riding as often and as far as I please, taking rest days when I'm feeling tired, 10-15 hours of riding per week. To monitor my fitness changes, I'm also tracking my average power to average heart rate ratio for each ride. That number varies, but if that number goes up consistently, I'm producing more power per heart beat, and I'm more fit.

Here's a graph of my ratio, note the increase. That's encouraging:



(average power calculated by strava)

BengalCat

I'm a long-time experienced ride about to turn seventy-four years old.

First off I strongly suspect that based upon your statements and description of rides and heart and breath response that your maximum HR is definitely higher than 145. I would guess it is well into the 150's at least. (All though max HR differs by individuals of the same age, for reference my max is 168.) You should when in shape and riding within your limitations be able to maintain an average HR of 60 to 80 percent of maximum. For shorter distances if in shape you should be able to hold up to 90 percent average of maximum for 30 to 45 minutes.

The above doesn't answer your question but is my opinion for your consideration. I've found at my age that as I've declined the only way to improve in any meaningful way regarding endurance, power, and speed is to significantly ride shorter distances but at a higher intensity. Also, take longer recovery periods. The preceding, plus some intervals and always include climbs sums it up for me. There is just no substitute for climbing with effort for the most bang for the buck in the LONG run.

Five years ago I had no imposed limits and would routinely ride 60-100 miles. No problems. Now with rare exceptions, I limit rides to 20-35 miles. Five years ago I LOVED to climb. Now I do not. My average power up Cat 3 climbs at max or near max effort is 60 to 65 watts less than five years ago. (Some health ailments have had some significant impact on that reduction, but aging certainly is definitely a factor.)

philbob57

Hills? I ascend and descend 400'-500' over 20-30 miles on my usual route. But now that I think of it, there are some short hills from road above Lake Michigan down to the beaches, which will serve better than the short rises on the route I follow.

Thanks for all the info and suggestions. I read them to say: have patience, ride, and do intervals.

Carbonfiberboy 

Also the motto, "See hill, ride up it." Seek them out. When I was first trying to build some endurance, I didn't think I was up to serious hill climbing, so my long ride training was to ride away from home until I was tired, then ride back. I remember sitting in a ditch, a grown man crying. That worked, though. I learned a lot, and quickly. Another of my sayings is, "Endurance starts when you start to endure." If it was easy, everyone would do it, right?

We're lucky here. It's fairly easy to plot routes with 50'/mile. That's the standard we use for group rides.

John E

There are no absolutely "correct" numbers in this game. My own resting (mid-to-upper 40s) and aerobic heart rates have been relatively low for decades. I am more interested in my recovery rate, or how long it takes to settle back to a resting pulse.