Cycling speed skills
Byy JJoe Frriiell
Of the six abilities I write about in
The Triathlete’s Training Bible, the
area in which age-group athletes could
likely make the biggest improvement
consists of speed skills: the ability to
make the movements of the sport in an
economical manner while at race
cadence. Moving economically means
your body has learned how to conserve
energy and maximize efficiency.
Now is a great time to refine and
improve your speed skills in all three
sports. Once the race season begins,
your emphasis will shift to the race-specific abilities: muscular and anaerobic endurance.
The starting point for improving
cycling speed skills is to get a bike fit by
a professional to ensure you are in an
economical position for the types of
races you do. You can also improve
your cycling speed skills with a simple
drill known as isolated leg training.
This drill has been around as long as
bikes have been ridden and raced. But
it’s still the best there is, and I have the
athletes I coach do it all winter.
It’s simple to set up: Put your bike on
a trainer and place a chair on each side.
Warm up, then unclip one foot and
place it on the chair. While pedaling in
an upright position in a low gear at a
low cadence with one leg, pay close
attention to the dead spots at the bottom and, especially, at the top of your
stroke. Smooth out these dead spots by
learning to move your foot horizontally rather than vertically. Pedal until
fatigue begins to set in, then change
legs. The changes you should see over
several weeks include a decrease in
effort, a delay in the onset of fatigue,
the ability to use a higher cadence and
ease in turning a higher gear. When
you can skillfully do ILT in the aero
position, then your pedaling speed
skills are exceptionally economical.
Joe Friel is a coach and the author of
several endurance-training books including
The Triathlete’s Training Bible. He
may be reached through his Web site at
trainingbible.com.
