The Anatomy of Going Fast

First off, this post is not intended for any of you racing cyclists out there.  But all other road cyclists wanting to increase their average speed……have a read.

When it comes to going faster on your bike, little tweaks in your style and technique can totally increase your speed.  Of course things like your bike, wheels, helmet, and things like that can help increase your speed….but this one is all about what you can do with your current set up.

Here’s a few things that I feel will make you go fast.

Prologue – Do you ease into your rides with some light pedaling?  Maybe you’re forced to cycle through some main streets on the way to your cycling route.  Well, a simple way to bring up your average speed is to exclude this part of your ride in your tracking.

Cadence – More rotations equals more speed, right?  Well, not always…..but it’s definitely the easiest way to make you go faster. If you don’t have a bike computer that tracks your cadence, you should still have a pretty good idea of approximately how many rotations of the crank you make in a minute.  Bring up your cadence, and you will go faster.

I’m totally a spinner and have an average cadence of between 90 and 100 depending on the ride.  Don’t spin too much, however.  If your cadence is close to 110 or over, it’s time to shift into some bigger gears.

Ride – When you are out training on your bike, ride full out.  Push yourself for the entire time you’re out there.  Sure, this one would not apply if you’re doing interval training or something like that.  But if you’re wanting to increase your average speed, give it all you got the whole time you’re out there.  Keep doing it and you’ll see your average speed increasing over time.

Intervals – Speaking of intervals….try pedaling at your ideal goal speed for part of the ride.  If you want to have an average speed of 20 miles per hour, pedal so that you bring yourself to that speed.  Hold it for as long as you can.  Take a break and then do it again.

Partner – Like they always say, if you want to improve your performance play against someone better than you.  If you want to increase your cycling speed, go riding with people who will challenge you to go faster.

Kick the Wind’s Ass – If you have a windy riding environment, you’re going to have to show it who’s boss in order to bring up your average speed.  There are a bunch of positioning tips and techniques to help you with this, and we talk about them in this edition of the Cycling 360 Podcast on Cycling in the Wind.

Drop the Weight – It seems like the simplest solution, but dropping a few pounds is sometimes not super easy.  But if you lose some weight and improve your strength to weight ratio, you’re going to go faster.  Use this as your motivation to eating better and improving your weight.