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Tips For Faster Bike Splits...

Friday, 19 May 2017 23:10

By Cassandra Johnson (usatriathlon.org)

In honor of National Bike Month, we’ve compiled 21 top training, racing, gear and injury prevention tips and tricks to take your cycling to the next level.

TRAINING AND RACING
Make sure you maintain a proper cadence during training and racing. Riding in too big of a gear can really fatigue your leg muscles and hamper your run. Also practice drills that focus on body position, body motion and pedal technique. Find tips from top elite triathletes.

Know when to shift gears and how to shift in a smooth and efficient manner. Choppy shifting leads to dropped chains, damaged gears and lost momentum. Follow these guidelines.

Do interval workouts, head for the hills, get specific in long rides and bricks and do good power training in the weight room. If you come from a running background and notice people are often passing you on the bike, you may need to up your power....

Become a stronger cyclist with these six remedies.

Smooth out your pedal stroke and get more power. To add in some variety to a long ride, a warm-up before a solid threshold set or to just break up an easy ride, think about high RPM spinning. Here’s how.

Get your lower extremities conditioned to running on fatigued muscles with brick workouts. You’ll also help your cardiovascular system adapt to the different metabolic demands of the aerobar position and upright running. Add these workouts to your routine.

Master balance on the bike. Practice drills to improve your comfort, performance and safety. Try these four balance drills now.

Try this two-minute interval to develop your on-bike strength. This hill interval is perfect for both on-road and off-road triathletes of any distance. Repeat three to five times or until the quality of your effort fades. Improve your strength threshold.