Saturday, January 2, 2010

Pedaling Efficiency

Last week I had an opportunity to jump on the CompuTrainer at Coach Grasky's house and do a spinscan. When I first got on and started seeing my efficiency numbers I thought "there is no way my efficiency is that bad". Well it was! I was in the low 50's and good cyclists are typically in the 70 or above. Luckily for me my power was pretty much split 50/50 between my two legs. My cadence for the initial spin scan was in the high 80's low 90's. Which again I thought was optimal for me.

So after some discussion with Brian regarding my stroke and cadence I started back up again. This time really focusing on more of a cross country skier motion. Brian also had me slow my cadence down to around 75rpm. This time my efficiency shot up into the high 70's and I was riding faster with less power than the initial test. I was ready to jump off the bike and call it success :)

We talked a little more and decided that I should take the CompuTrainer home with me and continue to work on my pedal stroke while also changing up my cadence to see how it impacts efficiency.

Over the next couple of weeks I will be spending some quality time on the CT to really get things dialed in.

Based on my recent rides having the SpinScan done has proved highly beneficial. Not only am I producing more speed with less power but my legs feel so much better on my rides.

If you want to improve your cycling I highly recommend having a spinscan done.


Brian Nath
Coach, Grasky Endurance Coaching
USAT Level 1 Certified Triathlon Coach
www.graskyendurance.com