Speed, Force and Endurance - Event Specific Combinations

Cycling requires Speed, Force and Endurance, as well as combinations of these, to produce good results. Let's look at these 3 components and the different combinations. Then we'll discuss how to train to develop your performance in each area.

Endurance

Cycling is an aerobic endurance sport. Consider the fact that pedaling is generally at 90-100rpm and a "short ride" might be an hour long. This means that you will be doing 100 x 60 pedal strokes. That is 6000 reps in 1 hour. Compare that to weight lifting where a high repition set might be 30 reps! The foundation of a cycling training program is endurance training. When training for a long 100 mile event you need to exagerate the endurance training. Over the period of months the duration of exercise will build to near or even over full event distance. Keep in mind that in training it is desireable to isolate the system you are training. Therefore with endurance training you don't want to go "hard" you just want to go long. We'll train going hard in other workouts.

Example workout for Endurance:

• Ride long and easy, build up duration over time.

Force

Pushing hard on the pedals is an important aspect of fast cycling. Think of this as "Strength" on the bike. It is important to be able to call upon and activate your muscles to push hard on the pedals. Higher force pedaling puts the emphasis on your muscles and takes it off of your cadiovascular system. You have to be careful in events though, because high force pedaling is more fatiguing.

2 workouts to focus on high force pedaling:

• Choose a big gear and pedal at about 50rpm for 10-12 pedal strokes in the saddle.
• Find a 1-2 minute long hill and ride at 60-70rpm in the saddle. 

Speed 

How quickly/frequently you push on the pedals is another component to powerful pedaling. Pedaling is not just about how hard you push. It is also about how frequently you push. Imagine you had to climb a hill in just 1 revolution of the pedals. You couldn't do it unless you where a MACK truck. You need to break the work up into smaller pieces. That is what pedaling speed does. It breaks to work up into manageable peices. Higher cadence pedaling also equates to lower peak force per pedal stroke. This is less fatiguing too.

2 workouts to focus on high speed pedaling:

• Spin-ups: choose a very easy gear and over 30 seconds increase your pedaling speed to maximum speed without bouncing while in the saddle.
• Form Sprints: Out of the saddle efforts performed like a real sprint but without high force. These are for speed not power.

Muscular Endurance

Muscular Endurance is the key to cycling performance once the duation of the effort exceeds a couple minutes. So, for all but the track sprinter this is going to be a prevailing feature in your training. The training is designed to build tolerance to extended periods of higher force work. This is where Lactate Threshold (LT) workouts and "Sweet Spot" wokrouts fit into the picture. These are workouts with efforts at or just below a level you could sustain for up to an hour. Hill climb and short Time Trial (TT) events feature muscular endurance very heavily. The maximum pace possible for all riding can be described as a percentage of your Lactate Threshold pace. Therefore, training and improving your LT pace means that all distance paces improve!

2 workouts to forcus on Muscular Endurance:

• Sweet Spot Intervals: 2x 20 minutes at tempo pace (88-93% of threshold power, build to 10bpm under LT heart rate, perceived exertion of 7 out of 10)
• Cruise Intervals: 5x 6 minutes at LT pace (95-105% threshold power, build to LT heart rate, perceived exertion 8 out of 10)

Speed Endurance

Performing an action at a high rate for an extended time. This type of work builds "muscle memory". This is when you can stop thinking about your pedaling and your legs just go around quickly and smoothly. Most cycling doesn't focus on this for obtaining race results, but it is there in the background. You must be able to pedal smoothly with higher cadence to be efficient and prevent fatigue.

A workout to focus on Speed Endurance:

• Endurance Spinning: spin 10-20rpm over your regular self-selected cadence for 10 minutes at a time for 2-3 reps.

Power

Combining Speed and Force to deliver an explosive sprint or blast up a short "power" climb. 

• Jumps: from a fast rolling start (15-20mph) perform 10-12 pedal strokes maximum power and high cadence.
• Short sprints: Sprint all out for 15 seconds. Practice different race finish types; flat, uphill, downhill, corner then finish, etc.

Find the right combination for you and your key events

You need to spend the most amount of time training those systems that are needed for your events. You also want to focus on your personal weaknesses that overlap with the demands of the event to make the most out of your training time. Remember to split up the training themes and work on them in separate workouts on separate days. Of course, don't forget to recover!