Category: Cycling

What Is Cycling Cadence?

Cycling cadence is the number of pedal revolutions per minute (RPM) — how fast your legs are turning. At any given power output, you can achieve that wattage with a high cadence and light gear, or a low cadence and heavy gear. The combination of cadence and gear determines your speed. The choice between high and low cadence at a given power output determines your physiological cost.

Cadence is one of the most discussed variables in cycling because it is immediately adjustable with no equipment change required. It is also highly individual — what works for one rider may not work for another. Understanding the trade-offs helps you find the cadence range that suits your physiology and event demands.

What the Research Says About Optimal Cadence

The research on optimal cadence is surprisingly nuanced. Laboratory studies show that freely chosen cadences — where cyclists select whatever feels most comfortable — typically settle around 90–100 RPM for trained cyclists. This is notably higher than the mechanically most efficient cadence (in terms of oxygen cost per watt), which laboratory studies place around 60–70 RPM.

Why do trained cyclists choose higher cadences than the mechanically optimal? Because cycling is not purely about oxygen efficiency. At higher cadences with lower gear resistance, the muscular force requirements per pedal stroke are lower — which means less localised muscle fatigue, better preservation of fast-twitch fibres, and sustained power output over longer durations. The cardiovascular cost is slightly higher, but the neuromuscular cost is meaningfully lower.

The practical implication: trained cyclists should generally favour higher cadences not because it is more efficient per unit of oxygen, but because it reduces muscular fatigue over a long event.

High Cadence vs Low Cadence: The Trade-Offs

High Cadence (90–110 RPM)

Advantages:

• Lower muscular force per stroke — reduces localised leg fatigue over long efforts
• Better preservation of muscular capacity for late-race or post-bike running (triathlon)
• More aerobically sustainable for trained cardiovascular systems
• Associated with elite performance at all endurance cycling distances

Disadvantages:

• Higher cardiovascular demand at a given power output compared to lower cadences
• Requires cardiovascular fitness to support efficiently — less comfortable for less-trained riders
• Can feel chaotic or inefficient for cyclists not accustomed to spinning

Low Cadence (60–75 RPM)

Advantages:

• Lower cardiovascular demand at a given power
• More mechanically efficient (lower oxygen cost per watt in laboratory conditions)
• Better neuromuscular stimulus — useful in specific strength training protocols

Disadvantages:

• Higher muscular force per stroke — causes faster localised fatigue in hard efforts
• Increased risk of knee stress over time with very low cadences and high resistance
• Associated with faster glycogen depletion in sustained efforts above threshold

How to Find Your Optimal Cadence

Your optimal cadence is individual and depends on your fitness, physiology, and event type. Here is a structured approach to finding it:

Step 1: Establish Your Comfortable Range

During an easy Zone 2 ride, free-pedal on flat terrain at different cadences for 5 minutes each: 70, 80, 90, 100 RPM. Note your heart rate and perceived exertion at each. Most trained cyclists will find 80–100 RPM comfortable; newer cyclists often feel more natural at 70–80 RPM.

Step 2: Test at Threshold

During a threshold interval, compare power output and sustainability at different cadences. Some cyclists produce their best threshold power at 85–90 RPM; others at 95–100 RPM. Use your Garmin power data to compare normalised power across cadence experiments on the same course.

Step 3: Note What Happens to Your Running (Triathlon)

If you are a triathlete, the optimal cadence on the bike is partly determined by how well your legs transition to running. High cadences (90–100 RPM) during the bike leg are associated with better run performance off the bike because they preserve muscular capacity that grinding (low cadence, high force) depletes.

Garmin and Cadence Monitoring

Most Garmin cycling computers and GPS watches track cadence via an ANT+ cadence sensor (pedal or crank-mounted) or estimated from GPS and accelerometer data on compatible devices. The Garmin Edge series allows you to set cadence alerts — if you drop below or exceed your target RPM range, the device notifies you.

Reviewing your cadence data in Garmin Connect after rides is useful for:

• Identifying cadence drops during climbs (a common sign of fatigue or insufficient gearing)
• Tracking cadence trends across a training block (as fitness improves, comfortable cadence at a given power typically rises)
• Comparing cadence between indoor and outdoor rides

Cadence Training: How to Improve

If your natural cadence is below 80 RPM and you want to train it higher, the process requires patience. Cadence is a neuromuscular pattern — changing it takes weeks of consistent practice, not days.

• High cadence drills: Spend 10–15 minutes of an easy ride doing 1-minute efforts at 100–110 RPM in a light gear. Focus on smooth, circular pedal strokes with no bounce in the saddle.
• Cadence alerts: Set a cadence alert on your Garmin to beep when you drop below your target (e.g., 88 RPM). Use this during easy rides for 4–6 weeks.
• Patience: An increase from 75 RPM to 90 RPM as your comfortable cruising cadence takes 8–12 weeks of consistent practice. Forcing it in one week produces sloppy technique, not real adaptation.

The Bottom Line

Most trained endurance cyclists perform best in the 85–100 RPM range, with elite riders typically clustering around 90–100 RPM. If your cadence is consistently below 80 RPM on easy terrain, it is worth training it upward through structured drills over several weeks. Use Garmin cadence alerts to enforce your target range during training, and review your cadence data in Garmin Connect to track improvement over months.

What a Gran Fondo Actually Demands

A gran fondo — typically a mass-participation cycling event of 100–200km with significant climbing — is not a race, but it demands genuine preparation. The primary physiological challenges are sustained aerobic endurance over 4–7+ hours, the ability to handle repeated climbs without cratering, and enough fuel management to keep glycogen stores from depleting before the finish.

This 12-week plan is built around the metrics available on a Garmin device: Training Status, heart rate zones, Training Load, and Body Battery. It is designed for cyclists who can currently complete a 2–3 hour ride comfortably and want to build toward a 120–160km gran fondo with 2,000–3,000m of climbing.

The Training Structure

The 12 weeks are divided into three 4-week blocks, each with a specific emphasis and a recovery week at the end:

• Weeks 1–4: Aerobic Base — build volume and aerobic capacity
• Weeks 5–8: Threshold and Climbing — develop sustained power
• Weeks 9–12: Race Specificity and Taper — simulate event demands, reduce fatigue

Each block follows a 3:1 loading ratio: three progressive weeks followed by a recovery week at 50–60% of normal volume. Use your Garmin Training Status throughout — aim to see Productive or Peaking during load weeks and Maintaining or Recovery during recovery weeks. If you see Overreaching entering a recovery week, the load was too high.

Block 1: Aerobic Base (Weeks 1–4)

Goal

Build the aerobic foundation for long-day efforts. Establish your HR zone accuracy and get your body accustomed to 4–5 hour rides.

Weekly Structure

• Monday: Rest
• Tuesday: 60–75 min Zone 2 ride
• Wednesday: 60 min Zone 2 with 2 × 10 min at sweet spot (88–93% FTP) — introduces threshold stimulus without heavy load
• Thursday: 45–60 min easy, or rest
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: Long ride — progressive across weeks: 3h / 3.5h / 4h / 2.5h (recovery week)
• Sunday: 90 min easy Zone 1–2 recovery spin

Key Targets

• 80% of training time in Zone 1–2
• Long ride fully in Zone 2 — enforce with HR alert on Garmin
• Focus on fuelling during long rides: target 60g carbohydrate/hour from hour 1

Block 2: Threshold and Climbing (Weeks 5–8)

Goal

Develop the sustained threshold power needed for long climbs and the ability to recover between efforts on rolling terrain.

Weekly Structure

• Monday: Rest
• Tuesday: Threshold session — 2 × 20 min at FTP (Zone 4) with 5 min recovery. Warm up 20 min, cool down 15 min.
• Wednesday: 60–75 min Zone 2
• Thursday: Climbing simulation — find a steady climb and do 3 × 8–12 min at 95–100% FTP. Or on a trainer: 3 × 10 min at threshold with 3 min recovery.
• Friday: Rest or 45 min easy
• Saturday: Long ride with terrain — 4h / 4.5h / 5h / 2.5h (recovery). Include climbs and push tempo on ascents.
• Sunday: 90 min easy Zone 2

Key Targets

• Check HRV Status each morning — amber or red = convert Thursday session to easy
• Long ride should simulate gran fondo nutrition: eat every 20–30 min, 60–80g carb/hr
• Use Garmin Performance Condition during long rides to monitor fatigue accumulation

Block 3: Race Specificity and Taper (Weeks 9–12)

Goal

Build race-specific fitness with longer, harder rides, then taper to arrive fresh on event day.

Weeks 9–10: Race-Specific Loading

• One long ride per week at or above gran fondo distance (5–6 hours), incorporating target climbs or similar terrain
• One threshold or climbing session mid-week
• All other rides easy Zone 2
• Practice full race-day nutrition strategy on the 5–6 hour long ride

Week 11: Taper Begins

• Volume cut by 30–35%
• Maintain intensity — keep threshold session but shorter (2 × 12 min instead of 2 × 20 min)
• Long ride reduced to 3–3.5 hours, mostly Zone 2 with a few climbs
• You should see Maintaining on Garmin Training Status — expected and correct

Week 12: Race Week

• Volume cut by 50% from your peak week
• Short, sharp sessions only: one 45-min ride with 3–4 × 5 min at threshold to stay sharp
• Rest 2 days before the event
• Focus on sleep, hydration, and pre-loading carbohydrates the night before

Nutrition Strategy for the Event

• Night before: High-carbohydrate meal, well-hydrated, early bed
• Morning of: 80–100g carbohydrate, 2–3 hours before start. Familiar foods only.
• On the bike: Start eating within 20 minutes of the start. Target 70–90g carbohydrate/hour. Drink 500–750ml/hr, more in heat. Do not wait until you are hungry or thirsty.
• Electrolytes: Use electrolyte tabs or sodium-containing sports drink throughout.

Monitoring the Plan With Garmin

Your Garmin device is your coach during this plan. Check these daily:

• HRV Status: If amber, reduce session intensity by one zone. If red, make it a rest day.
• Body Battery at wake-up: Below 40 with a hard session planned = push session to next day or convert to easy.
• Training Status: Productive and Peaking during load weeks = on track. Overreaching entering a recovery week = you pushed too hard.

The Bottom Line

A gran fondo is eminently achievable with 12 weeks of structured preparation. The training is not complicated — long Zone 2 rides, targeted threshold work, and a proper taper. The difference between athletes who finish strong and those who suffer the last 40km is almost always nutrition execution and pacing discipline. Train your gut alongside your legs, and trust your Garmin data to tell you when to push and when to back off.

They Measure Different Things

This is the foundation of the whole debate. Power measures output — the watts you are pushing into the pedals right now. It does not care how tired you are, how hot it is, or whether you slept badly. It measures work, objectively and instantly.

Heart rate measures physiological response — how hard your cardiovascular system is working to deliver the output you are demanding. It is a measure of strain, not output. The same 200W effort produces different heart rate responses depending on fatigue, heat, hydration, caffeine, and a dozen other variables.

Neither is better in absolute terms. They answer different questions.

The Case for Training With Power

Immediacy and Reproducibility

Power responds instantly. Hit 250W on Monday and 250W on Friday — you have done exactly the same amount of work, regardless of conditions. This makes power the most reliable metric for prescribing and comparing interval sessions.

Pacing Precision

In time trials, climbing efforts, and threshold intervals, power allows you to hold a precise, consistent effort from start to finish. Heart rate lags 30–60 seconds behind intensity changes and continues rising (cardiac drift) even as power holds steady. Pacing a 20-minute FTP effort by heart rate typically results in going out too hard and fading.

Training Load Quantification

Power-based metrics — Training Stress Score (TSS), normalised power, intensity factor — give you far more precise training load accounting than heart rate zones. This makes structured training planning considerably more accurate over weeks and months.

Standard Cycling Power Zones (Coggan)

• Zone 1 — Active Recovery: Under 55% FTP
• Zone 2 — Endurance: 56–75% FTP
• Zone 3 — Tempo: 76–90% FTP
• Zone 4 — Threshold: 91–105% FTP
• Zone 5 — VO2max: 106–120% FTP
• Zone 6 — Anaerobic: 121–150% FTP
• Zone 7 — Neuromuscular: Above 150% FTP

The Case for Training With Heart Rate

No Power Meter Required

Heart rate monitoring requires only a chest strap or the optical sensor in your Garmin watch. Power meters for cycling typically cost £300–£700+. For athletes on a budget or those doing multi-sport training across running and cycling, heart rate is far more accessible.

Captures Recovery State

This is heart rate’s genuine advantage over power. A heart rate that is elevated by 5–10 bpm above normal at a given power output is telling you something: your body is under more stress than usual. Maybe you are fatigued, fighting illness, or dehydrated. Power alone cannot flag this. Heart rate can.

Better for Long Endurance and Heat

On long rides, cardiac drift means heart rate rises progressively even at constant power. Monitoring heart rate on a 4+ hour endurance ride helps you avoid drifting into higher intensity zones later in the session without realising it. In heat specifically, heart rate is a more accurate guide to physiological stress than power.

Where Power Beats Heart Rate Every Time

• Short intervals (under 5 minutes): Heart rate cannot keep pace with the rapidly changing intensity. Use power to prescribe and execute intervals.
• Pacing time trials and threshold efforts: Heart rate lag makes precise even pacing impossible. Use power.
• Comparing sessions across different conditions: A 200W Zone 2 ride in winter cold will show lower heart rate than the same 200W effort in summer heat. Power tells the objective training story.
• Tracking fitness over months: Declining heart rate at a fixed power output is a concrete fitness improvement signal.

Where Heart Rate Beats Power Every Time

• Long steady rides: Monitor cardiac drift and fatigue accumulation over 3–5 hour rides.
• Recovery rides: Heart rate enforces intensity ceiling more naturally than staring at watts.
• Multi-sport training: Use the same HR zones for cycling, running, and swimming without needing sport-specific power measurement.
• Daily readiness check: A consistently elevated HR at a familiar effort signals overreaching before subjective fatigue does.

How to Use Both Together on Garmin

The most effective approach for cyclists who have access to a power meter: use power to prescribe and execute sessions, use heart rate to contextualise them.

Set your Garmin data fields to show both power and heart rate during rides. After a session, review whether your heart rate response was higher or lower than expected at your target power zones. An HR 10 bpm above your normal range at 200W is a recovery signal. An HR 10 bpm below normal at 200W is a fitness gain signal.

Garmin’s Training Status and Performance Condition features already do some of this analysis automatically — but understanding the underlying metrics lets you interpret those readouts more accurately.

The Bottom Line

If you have a power meter, use power zones as your primary training guide for intervals and pacing. Use heart rate as your secondary signal for recovery state and long endurance effort management. If you do not have a power meter, heart rate zones alone are entirely sufficient for structured endurance training — just be aware of their limitations in short intervals and highly variable efforts.

The athletes who train most effectively use both metrics together. The insight comes from the relationship between the two, not either one in isolation.

What Is FTP and Why It Matters

Functional Threshold Power (FTP) is the highest average power output a cyclist can sustain for approximately 60 minutes. It is the cornerstone metric for power-based training. Set your FTP accurately and every training zone, every interval prescription, every TSS calculation becomes meaningful. Set it wrong and your entire training structure is built on sand.

FTP matters because it anchors your training zones to your actual physiology rather than population averages or age-based formulas. Two cyclists of the same age can have radically different FTPs and therefore radically different zone thresholds. Only measured, tested data gives you the precision that makes structured training effective.

The Three Main FTP Testing Protocols

The 20-Minute Test

The 20-minute test is the most widely used FTP protocol. After a structured warm-up including a 5-minute hard effort to pre-fatigue your anaerobic system, you ride as hard as possible for exactly 20 minutes. Your FTP is estimated at 95% of your 20-minute average power. The 5% reduction accounts for the fact that 20-minute power exceeds 60-minute power due to anaerobic contribution.

Pros: Well-validated, widely understood, works on most training platforms and Garmin devices. Produces a number that most athletes find psychologically manageable — you know it ends at 20 minutes.

Cons: Requires genuine all-out effort and experience in pacing. Novice cyclists often start too hard, fade badly, and underestimate FTP. The 95% correction factor is an average — individual variation means some athletes are closer to 92% and others to 97%.

Best for: Experienced cyclists who can pace a 20-minute effort accurately.

The Ramp Test

The ramp test starts at a very low wattage and increases by a fixed increment every minute (typically 20W per minute) until the rider can no longer maintain the target power. FTP is estimated from the highest one-minute power achieved, using a correction factor (typically 75% of peak one-minute power).

Pros: Self-pacing is essentially automatic — the test ends when you physically cannot continue. Less mentally demanding than a 20-minute all-out effort. Harder to underperform due to pacing errors.

Cons: The 75% correction factor is an average derived from a population of cyclists and may not fit your individual physiology. Riders with a high anaerobic capacity — track sprinters, crit racers — tend to overestimate FTP with the ramp test. Riders with predominantly aerobic physiology may underestimate.

Best for: Newer cyclists, athletes who struggle with pacing, and situations where mental fatigue or illness make a full 20-minute effort unreliable.

The 2×8-Minute Test

Two 8-minute maximum efforts separated by a 10-minute recovery. FTP is estimated at 90% of the average of the two 8-minute efforts (or 90% of the better effort, depending on the protocol variant).

Pros: Shorter maximum efforts are more achievable mentally. Two efforts reduce the impact of a single bad execution.

Cons: The 90% correction factor carries even more individual variation than the 20-minute test. 8 minutes draws heavily on VO2max capacity rather than threshold, making this a less pure FTP test for athletes with high aerobic ceilings.

Best for: Situations where fatigue or limited time make a full 20-minute effort impractical.

Which Test Should You Use?

If you are an experienced cyclist who can pace well and is currently in good training condition: use the 20-minute test. It is the most validated protocol and produces the most consistent results across training blocks when executed correctly.

If you are newer to structured training, returning from injury or illness, or testing after a long break: use the ramp test. The self-pacing nature removes one significant source of error.

Avoid the 8-minute test as your primary FTP assessment. It is a useful secondary tool but should not anchor your zone structure.

How to Execute the 20-Minute Test Correctly

1. Warm up properly: 10 minutes easy, 3 x 1-minute at threshold effort with 2 minutes recovery, then 5 minutes easy.
2. Complete the 5-minute pre-test effort: Hard but not maximum — roughly 110% of your estimated FTP. This depletes glycolytic stores and ensures your 20-minute result reflects aerobic threshold rather than anaerobic contribution.
3. Rest 5 minutes easy.
4. Start the 20-minute effort: Aim for even or negative splits. Begin at what feels like an 8/10 effort. If you are fading badly in the final 5 minutes, you started too hard. If you have energy left at 18 minutes, you started too easy.
5. Record average power and multiply by 0.95 to calculate your FTP.

Power Meters and Garmin: Getting the Data Right

FTP testing requires accurate power data. A pedal-based or crank-based power meter gives you consistent, left-right balanced measurements regardless of terrain or conditions. Garmin’s cycling computers and power meter accessories pair directly to provide real-time power display during testing and automatic FTP detection based on performance data over time. Garmin Connect can also detect FTP automatically from your best recent 20-minute power — a useful cross-check against your formal test results.

How Often to Test

Test FTP at the start of each structured training block — typically every 6–12 weeks. During base phase, FTP may improve slowly. During a build phase focused on threshold work, gains of 5–10 watts over 8 weeks are typical for athletes who are training consistently and recovering well. If your FTP is not moving over a 12-week period, the issue is either training intensity distribution, recovery quality, or nutrition — not lack of effort.

The Bottom Line

FTP is only as useful as the accuracy of the test that generates it. Choose your protocol based on your experience level and current fitness state. Execute it honestly — which means not going out too hard and fading. And retest regularly so your training zones stay anchored to where your physiology actually is, not where it was three months ago.

Why Heart Rate Zones Matter More Than Most Cyclists Realise

Training with heart rate zones for cycling is one of the most accessible ways to ensure your easy rides are actually easy and your hard rides are actually hard. The problem is that most cyclists set their zones wrong from the start, which means every subsequent workout is calibrated against a flawed baseline. You end up working too hard on recovery days, not hard enough on threshold days, and wondering why your fitness is not progressing.

The Max Heart Rate Problem

Most people default to 220 minus age to estimate their maximum heart rate. This formula was never intended to be used at an individual level. It was derived from population averages with a standard deviation of roughly ±10–12 beats per minute. A 40-year-old with a predicted HRmax of 180 could have an actual HRmax anywhere from 168 to 192 — and their zones would be wrong by a significant margin.

If you are using 220 minus your age as the basis for your zones, stop. You need a measured number.

How to Measure Your Maximum Heart Rate on the Bike

• Ramp test on a trainer: Start at a comfortable wattage and increase by a fixed amount (typically 20W) every minute until failure. Your heart rate in the final 30 seconds approximates HRmax. This is the safest and most controllable method.
• Hill sprint protocol: After a thorough warm-up, sprint up a steep hill (8–10% grade) at maximum effort for 60–90 seconds. Repeat twice. Your peak reading on the second or third effort typically represents true HRmax.
• Race or hard group ride data: Review your historical heart rate data from competitive efforts. Your highest recorded number across multiple sessions is your working HRmax floor.

Note that HRmax is sport-specific. Your cycling HRmax will typically be 5–10 bpm lower than your running HRmax because cycling uses less total muscle mass. Always set your cycling zones from a cycling-specific test.

The Five-Zone System (Coggan/TrainingPeaks)

Zones are based on percentage of LTHR (lactate threshold heart rate — typically the heart rate you can sustain for approximately 60 minutes at maximal effort):

• Zone 1 (Active Recovery): Under 81% of LTHR — easy spinning, recovery rides
• Zone 2 (Endurance): 81–89% of LTHR — the bulk of your aerobic base work
• Zone 3 (Tempo): 90–93% of LTHR — comfortably hard, sustainable for 20–60 minutes
• Zone 4 (Threshold): 94–99% of LTHR — classic threshold work, 10–30 minute efforts
• Zone 5 (VO2max): 100%+ of LTHR — short, high-intensity intervals

Finding Your Lactate Threshold Heart Rate Without a Lab

The most practical field test: ride at maximum sustainable effort for 30 minutes. After a 10-minute warm-up, start the effort, then record your average heart rate for the final 20 minutes. That average is your LTHR estimate. It is not perfectly precise, but it is far more accurate than any age-based formula and entirely sufficient for setting training zones.

Zone 2 Is More Important Than Most Cyclists Think

Zone 2 — long, aerobic, conversation-pace riding — is where the majority of your training hours should be, especially during base phase. Rides in Zone 2 develop mitochondrial density, fat oxidation capacity, and cardiac stroke volume. These adaptations underpin everything else. Most cyclists ride Zone 2 too hard (drifting into Zone 3) and then cannot complete their hard sessions with quality.

The test: can you hold a full conversation in complete sentences? If not, you are above Zone 2. Slow down.

How to Set Zones in Your Garmin

Go to Settings → User Profile → Heart Rate → Zones on your Garmin device, or update via Garmin Connect on your phone. Set the zone type to Custom rather than %HRmax or %HRR, and enter your calculated thresholds directly. Garmin cycling computers and GPS watches display your real-time zone during rides and show time-in-zone after each activity — essential data for confirming your training distribution matches your plan.

The Most Common Zone Mistakes

• Using 220-minus-age: As covered above — stop doing this.
• Not accounting for cardiac drift: Heart rate rises over the course of a long ride even at constant power. What starts as Zone 2 becomes Zone 3. Use power to anchor intensity on longer efforts and treat heart rate as a secondary check.
• Skipping Zone 2 entirely: Many cyclists only ride hard or easy, skipping the moderate-intensity Zone 2 work that builds aerobic base. Structure matters.
• Never retesting: Your LTHR changes as your fitness improves. Retest every 8–12 weeks during structured training.

The Bottom Line

Heart rate zones for cycling are only useful if they are anchored to accurate numbers. Measure your LTHR with a field test, set your zones manually in Garmin, and distribute your training effort intentionally across zones. More Zone 2 than you think you need. Hard efforts only when your zone structure confirms you are recovered enough to execute them well.