How to Be a Faster Cyclist

Do you want to be a faster cyclist?

Whether you’re cycling for fitness or for competition, being faster at cycling will improve your overall ability to promote better health and compete. Getting faster is a win for any reason why you’re a cyclist.

However, it doesn’t always seem easy to become a faster cyclist.

This guide explores the many different ways to get faster at riding your bike without killing yourself in the process. Cycling is a fun and adventurous activity. It should remain that way if you want to get better at it.

Benefits of being a Faster Cyclist

There are many benefits of becoming a faster cyclist.

For starters, being faster at cycling will improve your overall fitness. That’s because it takes exercise to be faster. Once you start going faster, you’ll be working out parts of your body that will contribute to increasing your fitness level for those portions of your body.

If you’re a competitive cyclist, being a faster cyclist will improve your competitiveness. Being faster means you’ll have a better ability to win races and events or at least start placing higher than you’ve done before. Being fast doesn’t mean you’ll win first place every time, but it definitely will help you get closer to the prize.

As your speed on the bike increases, so does your control. The more you work on your speed, the more you’ll learn about handling your bike. This knowledge will give you a sense of control and the ability to correct yourself, reducing the risk of accidents at higher speeds.

Increasing your speed on the bike can also save you time. If you have a busy schedule, being faster will allow you to fit in your workout or training session without sacrificing the ride. You can even cover more miles in a shorter time, making your rides more productive.

As you can see, the benefits of being a faster cyclist apply to all types of riders. Whether you’re a fitness enthusiast, a competitive racer, or someone who simply enjoys the thrill of cycling, these tips are designed to help you improve your speed and performance.

Be a Faster Cyclist with Strength Training

To become a faster cyclist, you want to focus on off-bike strength training. Focus more on leg power than anything else, as that is what you’ll use the most when riding your bike.

Squats are great ways to strengthen your legs. They will build your leg strength and give you more power as you pedal. You can also do weighted squats to further build up your leg strength.

Deadlifts are another good form of strength training for cyclists. This will help build up your core. Keeping your core healthy and in shape can help reduce pain on the bike.

Do leg press workouts to build leg strength? This will help increase your pedal power while on the bike.

Steps and step-up strength training will also help build leg strength. Some cyclists will even take up running and trail running to help you’re their fitness.

While focusing on your legs is important, it’s also crucial to keep the rest of your body and mind in shape. Overtraining can lead to injuries and hinder your progress. Make sure to include rest days in your training schedule and focus on exercising all parts of your body as you work to become a faster cyclist.

Increase Your Pedal Cadence

Your pedal cadence is the number of pedal revolutions per minute (RPM). It’s a measure of how fast you’re pedaling. Cadence is an important factor in cycling efficiency and can ultimately help make you a faster cyclist. The ideal cadence for most cyclists is between 80 and 100 RPM, but this can vary depending on factors like terrain and fitness level.

One of the best ways to improve your cadence is to install a cadence sensor on your bike. This will allow you to record your pedaling process where you can then make improvements based on the data you retrieve from it.

Interval training will also help with your cadence. In this training, you pedal at a faster cadence for a few minutes and then slow down for a few minutes. You’ll do this off and on to train on your bike and see the results.

Try to ride on flatter terrain. This will help you get a better understanding of your cadence abilities and training. Going downhill and uphill will throw your cadence off because you’ll have a need to shift which will change the efficiency of your pedal strokes.

Try to ride more and longer and maintain a smooth pedal process. The smoother you pedal, the better the cadence of your bike.

Once you master cadence on a bike, becoming faster at cycling will be a lot easier.

Be a Faster Cyclist with Aerodynamics

Aerodynamic cyclists are faster cyclists. This is because there is less wind resistance to slow you down on the bike.

To be aerodynamic on your bike, you need to focus on your body positioning and posture. You want to get low. Your front body should be close to your top bar. Your head should be close to your handlebars. You want to cut right through the air and wind.

The bike and gear you choose will also have something to do with aerodynamics. There are time trial and triathlon bikes made with aerodynamic frame styles, wheelsets, and components. Lighter bikes made with carbon fiber can also give you an upper hand. However, aero bikes and components also mean more money.

You can also make your bike more aerodynamic by choosing aero apparel and helmets. An aero helmet is shaped to allow air and wind to roll off your head easily. As for apparel, a skinsuit will help reduce drag since all parts of your jersey and shorts will be together and skintight.

Aerodynamics will definitely help you be a faster cyclist, but it is most commonly used only when you want to compete in racing and cycling sports.

Fueling, Hydration, and Dieting

It’s important to take care of yourself and your health if you want to become a faster cyclist.

You have to fuel properly to be fast on your bike. This means you need to eat healthy but carb-loaded meals before your ride. For example, a meal with a good balance of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats like a chicken and quinoa salad or a pasta dish with a lean protein source. You want energy to be able to burn off. You also need to fuel during your ride with gels, snacks, gummies, and stuff like that.

Staying hydrated is essential to being a faster cyclist and staying healthy and safe. You should drink plenty of fluids before, during, and after your bike ride. Sometimes, water isn’t enough, either. Consider adding some electrolytes and hydration powders to your water bottles.

Eating and drinking right is important. You shouldn’t just accept any sort of food or drink. Stuff that is more sugar and fat more than anything else should be avoided. If you have a few extra pounds, you should focus on losing weight. Weight loss can definitely increase your bike speeds.

Like with any form of exercise, taking care of yourself is essential to improving.

Improve Your Total Bike Fit

If your bike doesn’t fit you properly, it can hinder your efforts to become a faster cyclist.

It’s important to get a bike fit. This should actually be done before you buy a bike. If you already have a bike and haven’t really been fitted for it, you should get one so that you can make any required adjustments to make the fit closer to a true fit.

A bike that doesn’t fit you properly will create serious concerns for you as you try to get faster.

For starters, it will likely increase fatigue because you’ll be working harder than you need to. You also have a greater chance of becoming injured. If you’re trying to go faster, injuries will likely occur, and the kind that stick around for a while at that.

Do yourself a favor and go to a reputable local bike shop and get properly fitted for your bike.

Be a Faster Cyclist by Riding with Others

Sometimes, the best way to be faster on the bike is to ride with others who want to be faster as well.

Find you some cycling buddies and go ride with them as often as possible. Have some friendly competition and try to race one another. Help each other out by motivating each other and giving each other advice on improving your cycling techniques. Riding with someone else is a great way to get faster at cycling.

Find a cycling group to become a faster cyclist. A cycling group or club will help you increase your speed. You can work on drafting with your fellow riders. This will help you get faster on the flats. A club will help you with any of your cycling needs.

Try to participate in more organized bike rides and races. Organized rides will help you stay with the group and keep you socially engaging with other riders. Races will also help you maintain your cycling technique and get faster.

Other cyclists can help you be a faster cyclist, and it’s a good thing to learn more about cycling from them while you’re at it.

Ride Longer Bike Rides

The more you ride, the more you’ll become a faster cyclist.

Try to ride your bike more often and for a longer period. I know that’s not always applicable based on work, school, and life schedules. However, if you can add more ride time into your routine, try to do so.

The more you do something, the more you’ll improve at doing it.

The more you ride your bike, the faster you can get. Of course, you need to make sure you’re attempting to get faster at the bike as well.

As you ride more and more, you’ll get more and more comfortable going faster on your bike.

Improve Your Breathing Techniques

A lot of times, something as simple as not breathing correctly will keep you from going faster on your bike.

Improving your breathing technique is important during any sort of physical activity or form of fitness. Once you start breathing right, fatigue and resistance will typically not overtake you as quickly as it does.

Start by taking deep breaths when you start to get winded.

Breathe in through your nose deeply, and then breathe out through your mouth. Try to keep a cadence with your breathing like you do when pedaling your bike. At the end of the day, you’ll be able to ride longer, farther, and faster.

If you breathe well on the bike, it gets easier to push yourself harder.

Keep Your Bike Maintained

The more you push yourself to be a faster cyclist, the more you push your bike.

It’s important to keep your bike as healthy as you’re keeping yourself.

Maintain your bike frequently. Lube your chain often. Check your components and tire pressure often. Make sure there are no cracks and defects present. Maintain the overall health of your bike.

The faster and farther you ride, the more impact will be done on your bike.

You’ll essentially need to get repairs and replace parts like your chain and rings. If you don’t, things will start to wear other components out, and it might be a lot more expensive to replace stuff.

Take your bike to a local bike shop that you can trust and have it inspected each year.

Final Thoughts on Being a Faster Cyclist

This concludes this guide on becoming a faster cyclist. As a final recommendation, try to be consistent with the advice above, and you’ll be a lot faster than you think you can be. Improving takes training, patience, and consistency.

Please share this article with other cyclists you know. If you want to support me even further, consider making a one-time donation to provide this free guide. Thank you for reading this article.

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