On High Cadence work

Lance had a high cadence. So what.

Why is training at a higher cadence important to the local recreational cyclist?

If we were talking about fixed gear racing, cadence becomes very important. If you only have one gear, the only means to increase wheel speed it to increase cadence. Some people ride fixed gear bikes just for the effect that it has on improving the smoothness of your cadence at higher RPM's. Basically, it exposes you to higher cadences and therefore, you get better. Those of us with a zillion gear combinations can become very lazy and therefore only become efficient within a very narrow ranges of RPM's. It's a double edged sword.

In the past, I have written about the internal resistance to motion. That is motion that is retarded by resistances within the human structure. In this case, it would be related to resistance due to muscular inefficiency.

At a certain point, the untrained person begins to have impaired ability to turn muscles on and off. This becomes more dramatic at higher frequencies. Research shows that this impairment becomes more pronounced at about 90 RPM (A light should be going off in your head).

This impairment begins long before we start bouncing in the saddle. It's only after the impairment force becomes greater than our body weight that we begin to bounce. If we are talking about inefficiencies that are great enough to physically lift us, they are definitely great enough to reduce the amount of power that goes to the wheel long before we start to bounce.

The body has to be trained to turn muscles on and off quickly. Otherwise, there's no impetus to improve effectiveness.

Regardless whether you pedal 150 rpm in a race or not. Training your muscles to turn on and off at higher frequencies will improve your effectiveness at lower cadences(ie. 90-95rpm).