05.09.2019 Thursday Training!

You can do more work per cycle at a lower RPM.  There comes a point that the increase in work burns you out even if your power is equal.  High cadence won't burn the legs like the low cadence does but you get winded at the higher RPM so your most efficient RPM is a balance in the middle.  Being able to ride below and above your natural cadence will give you the best preparation for race day. 

The pre-season power group that I participated with identified me as strong at high cadence work and weak at low cadence work.   The workouts that I did were designed to help me get more efficiency at low cadence work.  I did a lot of all-out drills where it would be something like 10 x 5 seconds at 230% FTP (I may be wrong on the FTP%, it has been a few months. I also did 10, 20-second intervals with various number of repeats all on a 60-second round.).  That would get legs able to handle higher instantaneous work.  I also did a lot of long repeats (i.e. 10-12 minutes) at low gears with cadences of 50 rpm.  The 10-12 minute intervals did get easier as the training processes.  I am not sure if it was the short intervals that help or something else. 

I think that just turning down the watts a little bit on the big gears may help you get through and the intervals.  You are better off to get through them at a slightly lower power than to have to bail out early.   Hang in there.  If you are consistent in the training it will get easier because you ability will increase.