Originally Posted by
holytrousers
I started with an average cadence of 65 rpm, now i'm comfortable at 95 rpm. Are there any benefits to increase that cadence ? I can't sustain a cadence of 115 rpm for more than a couple of minutes. Are there techniques to increase that amount besides repetition ? should i aim at increasing the upper limit and my average will follow, or should i just aim at slowly increasing my average cadence ?
I am going to give an anecdote: Years ago I did an exceptional bike event, the Rideau Lakes bike tour It is a 2 day event that involved an out and back 180 km per day ride. The first day, going west we had an uncharacteristic tailwind. Great day, we had time to stop off for a beer in a Kingston tavern and greet incoming riders.
The next morning we set off with another tailwind with a strong group of riders. Along the way we overtook a guy from our cycling club we knew as "Big Jim" He hooked up with us. We were doing a continuous double pace line. I was ahead of "Big Jim" on the pace side of the line, but he was swinging in front of me on the relief side of the line. I swear to this day that when he moved if front of me that my ears popped from the reduced air pressure. To the point: we were riding very fast. "Big Jim" simply couldn't turn his pedals fast enough to keep up no matter what gear he used. Some people are simply unable to maintain high cadences