Efficient Riding

[Dogtrousers]

On long rides I try to ride to an energy budget - effectively trying to ride with best fuel efficiency. So I have policies that I discuss with myself as I go along such as:

Keep the effort level down to medium, unless on a hill that absolutely demands high effort just to keep going.
Gear lower rather than higher, if in doubt change down
Hands in the drops to reduce air resistance
Don't accelerate hard. Work slowly through the gears. Unless traffic conditions dictate otherwise.
Don't stand on the pedals on hills unless about to grind to a halt and fall over, or on long hills occasionally to shift the effort around, esp if my back starts to hurt.
Don't pedal on the downhills when going over 25km/h. Have a rest.
Stop and stretch periodically
Keep eating.

On these rides speed isn't the issue, distance is. Obviously if I go too slow, it takes ages and I get more tired, so there is an optimum speed to be found there. My aim here is to avoid ending up in the misery zone where you are just pushing the pedals and wanting the ride to be over, and to finish the ride with a bit in the tank for things like accelerating in traffic or late hills.

Just wondering what people's thoughts on these are? Some of them may be silly or just plain wrong. Especially the pedal/don't pedal on the downhill. Maybe a constant level of effort there would be more efficient?

 

[Doobiesis]

It depends how far you're going I guess. 10 to 20 miles totally blast it. 30 to 40 miles higher cadence and keep a steady pace. I have to stand up on hills and tend to try using my calfs to give my thighs a break.

Don't over do it on supplements I have an electrolytes drink and a water - and a banana for longer rides.

I think you're over thinking the energy thing a bit and should enjoy the cycling rather than putting that much pressure on yourself to conserve energy.

 

[xxDarkRiderxx]

It depends how far you're going I guess. 10 to 20 miles totally blast it. 30 to 40 miles higher cadence and keep a steady pace.

Totally agree on the above, but this is a great debate question and I think different for everybody. I used to love the flats and hate the hills. So I would want to go quick on the flats and peg back during hill climbs, just sit in the saddle and slowly grind out the hills. Prior to riding a fixie I would conserve energy on downhill sections, but now I peddle on downhill sections because this actually improves recovery as you are spinning with low resistance and keeping the blood circulating which also flushes out the lactic acid.

Fuel yourself with works for you and experiment, bananas and pasta (used to take a small bowl for longer rides) really worked for me in the past. I agree with Doobiesis you should also concentrate on enjoying the ride most of all.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Thanks. The rides I'm talking about are in the 100k to 200k range.

As to over thinking - on these rides I have an empty brain, it wanders all over the place, and often returns to how to be most efficient.

I don't need to concentrate on enjoying it - I just do that anyway. Unless I enter the misery zone, that is.

 

[Donger]

On long rides I try to ride to an energy budget - effectively trying to ride with best fuel efficiency. So I have policies that I discuss with myself as I go along such as:

Keep the effort level down to medium, unless on a hill that absolutely demands high effort just to keep going.
Gear lower rather than higher, if in doubt change down
Hands in the drops to reduce air resistance
Don't accelerate hard. Work slowly through the gears. Unless traffic conditions dictate otherwise.
Don't stand on the pedals on hills unless about to grind to a halt and fall over, or on long hills occasionally to shift the effort around, esp if my back starts to hurt.
Don't pedal on the downhills when going over 25km/h. Have a rest.
Stop and stretch periodically
Keep eating.

On these rides speed isn't the issue, distance is. Obviously if I go too slow, it takes ages and I get more tired, so there is an optimum speed to be found there. My aim here is to avoid ending up in the misery zone where you are just pushing the pedals and wanting the ride to be over, and to finish the ride with a bit in the tank for things like accelerating in traffic or late hills.

Just wondering what people's thoughts on these are? Some of them may be silly or just plain wrong. Especially the pedal/don't pedal on the downhill. Maybe a constant level of effort there would be more efficient?

Spookily like my own approach to 100km audaxes. You have summed up my own strategy almost exactly .... except that I rarely place my hands in the drops because of a neck problem I have. Otherwise you have ticked every box. I do generally just try to keep chugging away like a diesel, expending a constant effort level by dropping through the gears on hills but keeping my cadence up.

 

[Sea of vapours]

I'm struggling to find any points of difference between your and my strategies (and my typical distances are in 100-150km range). All of this sounds familiar.

- I stop to eat and rest for (literally) 2-5 minutes every 30km or so, generally at the top of a hill. I don't like anything longer than that as starting again always seems harder if the stop is too long. That said, stopping at the top of hills helps there!
- I do tend to pedal up to about 40km/h on downhill sections; it seems to keep my legs in a better state for when pedalling's actually necessary. The amount of effort is generally low though; it's really just to maintain movement and somehow feels more balanced.
- I have stood on the pedals for a grand total of about five minutes in the last year, and only to remind myself that I don't like it much - seems overly tiring to me.
- Hands on the drops quite a bit for the same reason, but mixed with being on the hoods, both 'normally' and sometimes with horizontal forearms, just for a change of position to reduce possible tiredness in the various supporting muscles..
- Assuming I'm feeling good, I tend to raise the effort level in the last 20-25km on the basis that I'm nearly home!

All the above are minor points really. Sounds like a good overall strategy.

 

[Bollo]

Interesting question! I'm probably different to most of the posts so far. For reasons too boring to mention, I usually have.a minimum of three time-limited rides a week ('wife-TTs') of between 25-50km each. Two are solo, and one is with a friend of similar ability.

For these shorter rides I tend to go all out, with plenty of out-of-the-saddle efforts up the frequent-but-not-truly-evil Hampshire hills and not a lot of freewheeling. When I'm two-up, there's usually some jousting. I don't tend to have a lot left in the tank by the time I've finished. I rarely ride more than 120km in one go but, depending on the terrain, I'm usually pretty uncomfortable by the end with cramps (and a sore @rse).

I guess people's riding strategies are driven by both their abilities and their expectations of the ride they're undertaking. Because most of my rides are shorter, I'm less governed by absolute energy requirements than fatigue/lactate buildup.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Thanks. So I'm not all that wrong then. Sore backside is an issue for me too after several hours. Just time in the saddle is tiring, which is where the need for a modicum of speed comes in. I've been trying to go a wee bit faster lately because my overall average (start to finish) can be pretty slow, which is less efficient I think.

Maybe I need to tape a sudoku to my handlebars, having read this: Brain-Teasers Enhance Workout
"Test subjects rode stationary bikes 25 percent faster when they simultaneously tackled some relatively easy cognitive challenges."

 

[Dommo]

I'm a "large lad" trying to drop a few kilos and mostly do short rides of up to 50km so I'm looking for the least efficient strategy possible.
I guess what I need to do is look at the list above that the efficiency-types like and do the exact opposite... which looking at it is kind of what I do already. Please pass on any more inefficiency tips

 

[vickster]

Flat tyres, lots of luggage, flat pedals with work shoes on slippy leather soles, go out in the rush hour in stop-start traffic where there are lots of traffic lights, rucksack, at least three layers too many, suspension fork with no lock out on knobbly tyres

Those should all make cycling harder

Alternatively, consume fewer calories and increase your rides from 50km to 50+ miles

Or pick up a good dose of amoebic dysentery

 

[Donger]

I'm a "large lad" trying to drop a few kilos and mostly do short rides of up to 50km so I'm looking for the least efficient strategy possible.
I guess what I need to do is look at the list above that the efficiency-types like and do the exact opposite... which looking at it is kind of what I do already. Please pass on any more inefficiency tips

I started out as a flabby 21 stoner about 7 years ago. The best thing I did was to stick with a heavy, inefficient hybrid until I started swapping muscle for flab. The worse your bike, the better it is for your fitness, I reckoned. I waited about 6 months before getting my first proper road bike, and in retrospect I'm glad I did. Better for you to do the work than for your bike to make it easy. As for staying in the saddle instead of standing on the pedals, I must admit that I've always done that because I thought it would be harder work, and it has just sort of stuck, like my other personal rule of never stopping on an up slope.

By the way, I'm still 21 stone, but now a much fitter and more muscular 21 stone, and comfortable doing club rides and capable of big hills and 100km audaxes. The tips above were all only really meant as a means of surviving the longer rides. Good luck to you.