You just got passed, again, by the same faster cyclist. It’s growing old. And even though you train, it keeps happening. You corner the guy at the local watering hole, and ask him.
What’s the Deal?
“Why are you a faster cyclist than I am?” You say to him. “I train all the time, and you blow past me like I’m a kid on a Huffy.” He just smiles, not condescending at all. I realize he’s really a cool dude.
“Why am I a faster cyclist than you? He says back to me. “Maybe my bike is faster. Maybe I ride harder or more often. Maybe I’m genetically faster than you are. Maybe it’s because of my mother.” He adds.
Always Someone Faster
It’s the oldest question in the book for cyclists. Most, if not all cyclists battle with it occasionally. But remember that there will always be a faster cyclist than you. It’s a throw-back to a simpler time, when the fastest gun in the West was always brought down by someone faster. Maybe you’re not the fastest cyclist out there, but remember, the slower you are now, the faster you get faster.
The Gene Pool
Don’t beat yourself up when someone passes you, or continually passes you. The reason why you’re slower than any given cyclists is not always your fault. Simple genetics are probably the biggest reason. You may have not been born with a circulatory system that can process oxygen at the same rate as that cyclist that constantly passes you.
Training and DNA
Take a close look at professional cyclists. Their muscles will tell you one way they achieved their elite status. Endless hours of training and commitment to cycling played a big role in building the body that got them to the podium. Take an even closer look scientifically and you’ll see something embedded in the genetic DNA of these cyclists that’s just as important as their years of training.
Be Your Best
So how do you determine if you have genetics for cycling faster? By pushing yourself. Live clean, train hard and smart. Be your best. Don’t expect it to be obvious right away. Give it a couple of years at least. If you truly have superior genetics, it will be obvious at some point. If not, you’re in great shape, get to have a blast riding your bike and performing at the best of your abilities.
Not Limited to Genetics
You might ask the question that’s hounded professional and amateur cyclists alike; “Even though I’m not gifted with superior genetics, can I train to get faster?” The answer is YES. Most cyclists, particularly at the amateur level, never reach their genetic potential. Even some of the gifted cyclists fall short for various reasons, and less gifted athletes who trained and stuck it out end up getting faster.
The Mom Connection
If your father was a genetically gifted cyclists, don’t assume that you will be. Mitochondria are your cell’s power producers. They also affect your growth, development, overall health and performance on the bike. The thing is, mitochondria are inherited only in the maternal ova and not in sperm. This means that a large percentage of your cycling performance is directly related to your mother, not your father.
The Muscle Angle
The human body produces two types of muscle fibers: slow-twitch and fast-twitch. Fast-twitch fibers contract faster with more force than slow-twitch but they also fatigue more quickly. Endurance athletes have a greater proportion of slow-twitch fibers. Sprinters or faster cyclists have more fast-twitch. This is another example of why you get passed on the bike. It depends on the quantity or type of muscles you have. And no matter how hard you train, muscles cannot be converted from one type to another.
Natural Oxygen Uptake
Another reason why you are not as fast as that other guy has everything to do with oxygen. Cycling language typically refers to it as VO2 max, or the maximum volume of oxygen that can be inhaled and absorbed and processed by your body. Vo2 max can be measured on a bell curve. So in a given population, some cyclists will have have dramatically better VO2 scores than others.
How to Boost VO2
Measuring your oxygen capacity, or VO2 max, requires being hooked up to a gas analyser, which can be expensive and time-consuming. But professional cyclists agree that you can improve your Vo2 max through simple interval training.
Beat the Faster Cyclist
With all that being said, it’s impossible to recreate your gene pool without genetic manipulation. And yes, it’s happening. But there are proven ways to get faster on your bike without risking a science experiment gone bad.
Interval Training
Intervals are your best shot at getting faster. Interval training is in direct proportion to speed because you’re constantly challenging it. Interval training is all over the place, with different ranges, times and outcomes. Keep it simple enough so that you can stick with it.
Simple Drill
Warm up for 15-minutes at a steady pace, then ride for another 15 minutes at a slightly harder pace, but not so hard that you can’t carry on a conversation. Next, do five intervals of three to five minutes as hard as you can go while keeping in mind that you have more of them after. Take a recovery period of three to five minutes and finish with a 10-minute cool-down. Once you’ve gotten used to the intervals, continue your improvement by increasing the number of intervals, increase the length, and or reduce the time you spend in recovery between them.
Tips to Get Faster
- There are no real shortcuts to becoming faster, you just have to ride. Don’t assume that you’ll get faster overnight. Expect two good seasons in the saddle, look back and you’ll realize you’re faster.
- Coasting wastes time. If you can’t get out of the habit, try riding a fixed gear bike for a while. You will stop coasting immediately.
- Cadence should feel natural. Don’t speed up and slow down. Keep it steady. This includes using your shifters constantly if you need to. Try to find a comfortable gear, if it’s not working, shift to another. Constant clicking is a sign of faster riders.
- Some cyclists consider random bursts of effort to be heroic acts of bravery. But they’re unproductive. It’s is much more efficient to calculate the timing of your efforts with calculated precision.
- Join a club or group ride. Let the faster riders push you to go faster. Nothing is more motivating.
- Get more comfortable on your bike. Feeling safe and comfortable is a real barrier to speed. Master the basic skills, get comfortable and you’ll pick up speed.
- Think about your position, aerodynamics is extremely important. You want a flat back with a long and low reach to the handlebars. Try to avoid a hunched or arched back. Keep your shoulders tucked in and make sure your head is in line with your back.
- Nothing will make you faster than the right bike. Spend as much as you can afford. Get a professional to help you get the fit right and if that’s a bit too much for you right now consult this article to get your position as good as you can on your own. just get out there.