Riders tactics and styles - NO DOPING COMMENTS

[Anonymous]

I hate to mention the 'son of satan' but I think he fundamentally changed the way many riders climbed with his fast cadence on the climbs (not like me grinding the F**k out of both my BB but also my knees !!!) and I do see more riders using this style.

I recently tried it as I am going to be climbing some big hills with a fully loaded touring bike and wanted to see if the granny climb helped ...... all I can say is that it felt very strange.

Oh dear goodness, the myth that lance created spinning up a climb. It boggles the mind, really, it does.

 

[neil69cyclist]

Another thing I am constantly amazed at is that teams often don't really work together, yeah we have the train for lead outs but sometimes when a rider gets out on a break why don't his team mates actively try and disrupt the peloton.

And how many times have we seen riders in a break watch each other while another rider goes off up the road, you can only win by crossing the line 1st.

I remember riding in a race in Spain, it was a sort of criterium/devil type affair around a newly built holiday complex and was down to the last 10 or so riders and everyone was watching me as I was the 'foreigner' and these 2 guys just headed up the road so I chased them down everyone chased me, got down to the last 5 and racing for the finish again all watching me while another rider heads of up the road so i did nothing for as long as I could and then when basically the race was lost I jumped they all jumped with me and I still beat them for 2nd so they could have tried to gang up on me and try and drop me or they could have taken their chances with the sprint I won £900 for 2nd and 3rd won £300 so I was stoked and waved my cash in their faces ..... Had I chased I could have won £1500 .... so who was the idiot but I'm sure you get my point

 

[neil69cyclist]

Oh dear goodness, the myth that lance created spinning up a climb. It boggles the mind, really, it does.

Thoughtforfood you really don't have to be a ***, you could just enlighten us with your superior knowledge and leave the attitude at the door.

I just thought i would add this bit of data along with much of the anecdotal information that has been written about the climbing style of LA over his career by knowledgeable writers and trainers

"Data from pro cyclists during the 1999 season covering the Tour, Giro and Vuelta shows that cadence drops on climbs to 60-80rpm [6]. In flat peloton-based stages and individual time trials cadence averages from 80-99rpm. Spin when riding against the clock or in a group but lower the revs when you climb for longer periods.

This goes against the 100+rpm Lance climbing method, so one size does not fit all. Try varying cadences to see what works for you. At the very least it will stimulate your muscles and nervous system differently, most likely causing some positive changes in cycling efficiency."

 

[Amsterhammer]

Thoughtforfood you really don't have to be a ***....

Sadly, he does. He evidently can't help himself.

 

[Anonymous]

Sadly, he does. He evidently can't help himself.

So DependsTM, do you have mirrors in your home?

 

[Zoncolan]

Thoughtforfood you really don't have to be a ***, you could just enlighten us with your superior knowledge and leave the attitude at the door.

I just thought i would add this bit of data along with much of the anecdotal information that has been written about the climbing style of LA over his career by knowledgeable writers and trainers

"Data from pro cyclists during the 1999 season covering the Tour, Giro and Vuelta shows that cadence drops on climbs to 60-80rpm [6]. In flat peloton-based stages and individual time trials cadence averages from 80-99rpm. Spin when riding against the clock or in a group but lower the revs when you climb for longer periods.

This goes against the 100+rpm Lance climbing method, so one size does not fit all. Try varying cadences to see what works for you. At the very least it will stimulate your muscles and nervous system differently, most likely causing some positive changes in cycling efficiency."

Look up Charly Gaul.

 

[neil69cyclist]

Zoncolan,

Yeah Charly Gaul had a faster cadence style than most but still not in that 100+ range but I think that was more about the choice of gearing and therefore riders only had a very limited selection and they tended to ride with bigger gears.

 

[uphillstruggle]

Pantani on those drops sprinting up a mountain, pure class, and the 'saddlebag' down the other side was just as good. Shame about the commercial he did though (can't find it on youtube to provide the link).

I wonder about the whole cadence thing. I have recently been training with people who race and can leave me for dead and I find I can keep up them on the climbs (just) if I push low gears, I just pop if I push the bigger gears for too long but the common consensus is that it is a waste of energy to do this.

 

[neil69cyclist]

Pantani on those drops sprinting up a mountain, pure class, and the 'saddlebag' down the other side was just as good. Shame about the commercial he did though (can't find it on youtube to provide the link).

I wonder about the whole cadence thing. I have recently been training with people who race and can leave me for dead and I find I can keep up them on the climbs (just) if I push low gears, I just pop if I push the bigger gears for too long but the common consensus is that it is a waste of energy to do this.

I find when I spin while I don't feel it in my legs as much I do seem to raise my HR more and then feel like I go anaerobic quicker but when I use a bigger gear I muscle my way up, but on a longer hill I think the HR would settle where the muscles would fatigue and die. I don't really have long enough hills to find out !!

 

[auscyclefan94]

Oh dear goodness, the myth that lance created spinning up a climb. It boggles the mind, really, it does.

lance's spinning on the bike was bruyneels idea. lance didn't create that idea but he revolutionized it and made it famout. even when i ride my bike when going uphill it's harder to change the pace or respond to atacks when riding a big gear.