Originally Posted by
WhyFi
And what does your power meter, HR, and RPE tell you? I'm quite comfortable spinning at 120rpm, but my power and RPE start getting out of whack, once I get over 105 or so. After noticing this, I've made a conscious effort to check that I'm not settling in to a comfy, but inefficient, cadence.
HR around 120 bpm holding a steady 20 mph in the flats at 120 rpm for 30 minutes. I both had higher HR (~130 bpm) and RPE when I hold 20 mph at lower 80 rpm cadence before I started doing high cadence training. It's also possible I've simply become stronger since that time but my legs are also fatiguing a lot less than before. I've more than doubled the time I can ride in the mountains before my legs bonked and had to stop to rest. It went from 3 hrs to >6 hrs.
I have no power meter so looking at my HR and feeling for RPE while cruising 20 mph in the flats is my only reliable pt of reference for improvement.
Adopting a much better and structured weekly training schedule for indoor training might also be a strong factor. Before, I had none. Intervals are not pure 120 rpm cadences however. 33% of training time is allotted for Z3 to Z4 intervals at 90 rpm, 50% for Z1 to Z2 at 120 rpm, and the remaining small % for Z3 interval at 120 rpm. It's polarized training model.