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Sounds ideal.
I've surprised myself in the past on these rides by getting PBs shallow, 5-15min climbs ... all whilst focusing only on a high cadence.
Fair point about fixed. I think there are a couple of ways a fixed bike can be ok for training;
- Convenient beater you can grab and just get miles done on a light gear. This is commuting for a lot of people. If you're somewhere hilly it accidentally becomes...
- High gear, ad hoc, low-cadence rides - good for strength (which are just as easily done on a geared bike).
- Convenient beater you can grab and just get miles done on a light gear. This is commuting for a lot of people. If you're somewhere hilly it accidentally becomes...
miro_o
I did a long ride today, and pushed my cadence the whole way. It was good - I found it surprisingly easy to adapt my shifting habits by looking at the cadence readout and aiming for 80 and 90. I felt pretty fresh deep into the ride, more so than I would have if I had ground my way up the hills as per usual.
I wondered whether I would actually benefit from an easier gear (than 36/28), because going up two long and steep climbs on my route I found myself in the granny gear and my cadence dropping below where I wanted it.
You can see from the graph that my cadence really slumped during the steep mid-section on Mam Nick
It turns out I can climb out of the saddle at 80rpm, it's not necessarily fatiguing, just different.
I would love to have a fixed gear bike again, but I don't know whether I could do much with it it in Yorkshire/Peaks. Maybe with a flip-flop hub and two brakes.