RPMs

This is the 2^nd weekend in a row where I’ve put in a 56+ mile bike day. Between the 2 rides I got a bit of an adjustment from the coaches. I mentioned that I feel pretty comfortable in the 82-85 zone for my cadence. Well, that’s not good enough. I guess we need to see a 9 as the first number.

Other years I’d try 90+ RPM and I think my HR would go too high and my legs would fatigue as well. That was before, I figure I’d better give it a shot with my current conditioning.

First thing is I think I requires a bit more warmup for me to get into 90 rpm mode. Once I got there, I think I accepted that as the tempo and didn’t find myself drifting lower. I definitely spent more time shifting. That should improve with a couple more rides.

I’m very interested to see how my legs feel running off the bike with this cadence. I have a brick scheduled next weekend, should be interesting.

My other big concern is hydration and nutrition. Both of these long ride I had a disaster for a stomach and I didn’t drink enough fluid. I’m going to have to start practicing race day breakfasts before these rides because I think it’s what I’m eating before I ride that’s causing me trouble. I also think I need to get my watch to beep at me every X:XX minutes to remind me to drink. It’s been hot the last couple rides but I’ve been comfortable as long as I’m in motion. The lack of fluid will kill my run tho’, so I’ve got to get that taken care of.