16/04/2021
One of the questions that came up from those of you booked onto the Forge Valley coaching sessions, was how to pace long rides.
It is possible, with practice, to pace rides according to how you feel. One way to do this is to use the Borg scale, which rates perceived exertion on a scale of 1 (sitting on the sofa) to 10 (flat out, only sustainable for a few seconds). Over a long ride, keeping your effort level at around 3 (easy pace, slight feeling of exertion) to 4 (not so easy but still sustainable; able to maintain a conversation) should ensure that you're able to keep going for long periods without wearing yourself out.
However, riding by feel is not very objective and can lead to you either working too hard (and running out of steam) or less hard than you could (and taking longer or being slower than you'd like). More objective methods include using a power meter or a heart rate monitor. While power meters are expensive (although less so than they used to be), heart rate monitors are relatively cheap.
Monitoring your effort level with a heart rate monitor is simple. The first step is to estimate your maximum heart rate, which you can do by multiplying your age by 0.7 and subtracting the result from 207. So if you are 50 years old, your estimated maximum heart rate would be 207 - (0.7 x 50), which comes to 172 bpm. On long rides, riding at a heart rate of around 60 to 70% of maximum should ensure that you can ride comfortably for long periods. Although the calculation used to estimate maximum heart rate is not 100% accurate for everyone, it is a good place to start and with a little experience you can find a heart rate zone that works for you on long rides.
The other advantage of using a heart rate monitor is that it helps you to train more effectively. To gain fitness we need to push ourselves a little outside our comfort zones without overdoing it. One effective way to build fitness and get faster is to include intervals of harder riding within a ride. So, for example, you can ride at a comfortable pace until you're thoroughly warmed up and then spend 10 minutes riding at around 85% of maximum heart rate. The rest of the ride can then be spent at your comfortable pace. Next time you could try including two 10 minute intervals in your ride. Using the heart rate monitor helps ensure that you're riding in the correct zone to get the results you want.
If you're looking for a heart rate monitor, I can recommend the Wahoo Tickr, which I've used for several years. It can pair to bike computers via ANT+ and to phones via bluetooth, so you can keep an eye on your heart rate as you ride. You can take a look at Wahoo's products here:* https://www.wahoofitness.com/?rfsn=5630450.cd73ce
If you're joining me for the Forge Valley coaching sessions, I'd definitely recommend using a heart rate monitor, and I'll include some tips on how to get the most out of it,
*Disclosure, I earn a small commission if you buy from Wahoo via this link.
Wahoo Fitness specializes in indoor bike trainers, GPS bike computers, cycling sensors & heart rate monitors designed to optimize your cycling training. Wahoo Fitness is a tech-fitness company that specializes in indoor bike trainers, GPS bike computers, heart rate monitors, apps, and sensors for cy...
