Vlady,

Cadence has always been a big question mark with me? Some people like to spin
and push smaller gear combinations and some, like me, feel more comfortable
pushing big gears with a slower cadence. The "rule of thought" is to use a
cadence of 60-80 rpm for handcyclist. Obviously, if you are using lower gears
with a higher cadence you are not quite expending as much energy as you would
pusing higher gears. I think this whole concept really goes back to Carmicheal
Training Systems and the way he trains Lance Armstrong....Lance uses a very high
cadence and people seem to try this, I guess, b/c he does.....and wins! On the
otherhand if your watching other cyclists such as Jan Ulrich he uses a
relatively low cadence and pushes big gears and wins, also....(just not the
Tour). Question is which is better? I dont know, I think it's a preference
thing and whatever is your strength....if you are a power guy your going to tend
to have a lower cadence pushing bigger gears.....endurance guys
may have higher cadence. I think you do need to set a medium even if you are a
power guy.....train 1 day with your normal cadence and go hard, all out...the
next training session ride with a higher cadence but not so fast, this does 2
things: 1) spinning at a higher cadence but slower speeds will help clear the
lactic acid out of your muscles from your previous more intense training session
2) your muscle memory will adapt to training at this higher cadence and will
over time carry over into your more intense training sessions and you will
notice your cadence increasing all the time, no matter what training session
your in!

If your training 12-13 km 3 times a week with a 10 km flat and 2-3 km hill.....I
suggest, for instance....1 day to be hard just all out at your normal cadence,
kinda like a time trial....Then your next training session should be high
cadence slower speed for recovery....Your 3rd training session will be
intervals.....10km flat @ your normal speed and when you get to the hill go all
out up the hill for 2-4 repetitions. Use your time coasting back down the hill
for recovery and then repeat the climb at all out intervals 2-3 more times.
Then preferrably, you would want to add another day where you just spin at a
high cadence for 20-25 km for active recovery and to adapt your body for
utilizing it's fat stores to burn for energy plus remember this helps in
increasing your overall cadence thru muscle memory and flushing the lactic acid
from your previous training session.

I hope this helps!

Warren

Âëàäèìèð Ãþðîâ <vl_gyurov@...> wrote:
OK Guys,

I'd like to ask you somethign as I see you're really experts in
handcycling.
I got my bike recently(a month ago). It's a Quickie Spirit 470.
I was a cyclist before my accident.
I'm a T3-T4 para with no movement and sensation from the waste down.

So I started riding my bike 2-3 times a week in the evening riding
it mainly on flat roads and with climbing one hill at the end of my
riding in the one direction (I ride flat some 10km and than 2-3km
hill and than back home).
But I noticed that I feel much much better pushing the bike on
higher gear 48teeth front gear and 11 teeth rare one...well it's
27th speed. My bike has 3x9 speeds SRAM 9.0

So I feel much better when pushing at higher gear but with lower rpm
than pushing on lower gear with higher rpm. My hands start aching at
those high rpm.

I can push at 60-70rpm for at least 40km without problem with an
average speed 12-16km/h depending on the road.

So what's your opinion about that?
I'm also playing wheelchair tennis so I've the endurance from there
and I also do push ups at home and other exercises.

And also I'll be very happy if you give me an advice on how to
arrange my trainings so I could start eventually compete next year.

I'm 185cm tall and I'm 73-75kg weight and this weight is steady no
getting heavier or much lighter.

Thank You very much in advance,
Regards,
Vlady


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