Super-charge your next LSD road ride

Tuesday, 08 February 2011 07:32

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What's a steady ride anyway?

This weekend I did a long steady distance (LSD) road ride with a bunch of old pals and some new ones. It was interesting to see the different approaches of riding. Some were pushing the uphills like you'd expect in a race, trying to drop those behind. Then they'd freewheel the downhills and everyone behind them would be riding on their brakes. So it was a long ride but it was anything but steady!

My advice, if you want to improve your cycling workout by 20% or more next LSD ride?
KEEP PEDALLING on the downhills! Put your head down, hit the stiffest gear you can spin and ride as hard as you can. I'll bet you won't go out of your LSD zone on your HRM - no matter how hard you try. We forget how much gravity adds to our workload on the way up hills and how much it saves us on the way down. To keep our heart rate steady, we have to work really, really hard on downhills.

So aim to balance the two - ease right back on uphills and wind it on downhills. That's steady riding - based on effort - not on speed.

No freewheeling allowed anytime! Make it a habit every training ride and you'll see your riding improve through the roof in a very short space of time.

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