How often do you stop and really focus on your cadence?

Different riders have their own styles – some fantastic (often time trial) riders will tap out a steady 80rpm (revolutions per minute), whilst others might be ticking over at 100rpm.

Best Pedaling Drills to Improve Your Cycling

There isn’t a definitive ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ – however, 90rpm is the recommended pedaling speed for most riders.

Adjusting the speed at which you pedal isn’t about just ‘thinking about it’ over long rides – you’re probably hardwired into your habits and they won’t change overnight. You need to practice.

Cadence sessions can be challenging – pedaling fast will make your heart pump hard, and pedaling a high resistance, slowly will get your legs burning. They take a lot of concentration, so short is good!

Here are two examples – if you don’t have a cadence sensor, try counting each pedal revolution first to get the ‘feel’ of fast and slow, then ride with that in mind:

• Warm up for 5 minutes, don’t exclude this because it’s a short ride!
• Do 5 x 20 seconds fast pedaling, 40 seconds easy pedaling
• Now you’re warmed up. Ride at an easy pace, then every 2 minutes, spin your legs as fast as you can, until you start rocking in the saddle – these are called ‘spin outs’ – then ride as normal
• Keep this up until you’ve got 5 minutes left, and cool down – don’t exclude the cool down, however tempting!

To work on high cadence and strength – try this – but don’t attempt this one if you are struggling from any form of knee niggle:

• Warm up for 5 minutes, don’t exclude this because it’s a short ride!
• Do 5 x 20 seconds fast pedaling, 40 seconds easy pedaling
• Do 3 sets of: 1 minute pedaling at 100-110prm (or as fast as you can), 1 minute pedaling a high gear at less than 70rpm, 1 minute steady cadence at your ‘normal’ speed (aim for 90rpm)
• 10 minute cool down – this is important as high gear intervals put a lot of stress on your knees. Stop if you feel any pain.