It’s Time To Sweat

Summer is here and the triathlon season is in full swing. Many of you will have competed in several races by now and are keen to improve your performance. Hopefully you’re training consistently, feeling faster than you did during winter, and have fought the temptation of too much food and alcohol over the festive season.

After spending some time in past issues focusing on your pedal efficiency and cadence, it is time to start developing some ‘on the bike strength’.

Choice of gears on your bike

It’s really important to remember that the gear you can push will vary depending on your strength, experience as a cyclist, terrain and your gender. Males are typically stronger than females and can drive a harder gear.

It will be easier for you to understand some of the suggested bike sessions if we get technical for a few minutes. The big chain ring typically has 53 teeth and so it is called the B/C/R. The small chain ring usually has 39 teeth (some bikes have 42 teeth) and this small chain ring is called the S/C/R.

On your back wheel, for those on a 10 speed bike, your cassette has 10 cogs. The smallest cog typically has 12 teeth while the easiest or largest gear has 23 or 25 teeth. So if you are riding in the 39x15, you would have your chain on the small chain ring at the front (i.e. the 39) and somewhere in the middle of the cassette on your cassette (i.e. the gear with 15 teeth).

Now that you understand gear jargon it’s time to pull on your lycra and get strong with some challenging strength workouts. The proviso before you start any of these exercises below is that you need to have the correct aerobar time trial set up (cleats, bike frame size, aero bar length, head stem length, seat forward/aft position). This will minimise the risk of injury before you attempt the suggested sessions.