How To Ride Flat Roads Faster

thank you [Applause] long flat open row stretching off into the distance can sometimes be just as daunting as mountain passes but is it possible to start riding faster on those flat roads with ease in this video we're going to show you and give you a few tips to do just that hello Madam [Music] thank you first up if you're someone that analyzes your power data looking at your efforts over your run you can't work out why you can't put down the same power on the flats as you do on the hills and this is probably something worth realizing that you're not really going to be able to change a recent study examining 98 professional cyclists power data over 10 years human Riders who preferred riding uphill and also who preferred ride on the flats actually found that everyone across the board put down more power on uphill gradients compared to the flat and actually that difference is about 0.4 to 3.6 so quite a noticeable one it also found that the optimal gradient for putting down the power has been six and seven point three percent [Music] so you may not smash any power PBS when you're riding on the flat and I think it's good to know that away from the hills your numbers may not quite be as high however away from those watts and all the data there's plenty of ways to increase your raw speed on those flat roads whoa [Music] okay so when you're doing a fast flat effort you want to think of it in two efforts the first bit of effort is the effort that's going to get you up to speed so you really want to make an effort to get up to speed now you don't want to put yourself too much into the red not a 30 second Sprint and then you haven't gotten been out kind of in the middle and that that kind of then gives you the momentum to get up to speed and Roll Along at quite a nice Pace without having to slog along for a bit I just find that's a lot easier way of doing it and then the second bit of the effort is you then up to pace and then holding that effort so then Roll Along with flat first rows nice and quickly the number one way to go faster on the flats is to improve your aerodynamics now of course you can spend a bit of Dollar on gear and equipment that will improve your aerodynamics of your bike or what you're wearing but I think the cheapest free and easiest way to do this is to improve your position getting more aerodynamic and learning how to sustain that position for longer so getting used to riding on the drops tucking your head in or another good position is using the tops but really bending your elbows like this tucking them in to the center reducing your frontal area still and then tucking your head down so it's not kind of popped up you're tucking it in like a turtle just nestling it into your shoulders really keeping it out of the wind and a flat back and to be honest that's my comfortable position that I prefer to riding for longer periods and the more you can get used to doing this when you hit the wheel and when you hit those long stretches you'll definitely be able to up your top speed if you're a bigger taller Rider then make the most of those Flats because generally as you get taller your power increases at a greater rate relative to your frontal area if you are a taller Rider like Connor make the most of it get air and put those Watts down and get revenge for all those Hills yeah but let's not mention the disadvantage we have sitting on the rider's Wheels yeah nothing you can do about that except maybe attack and go solo always happens foreign in an aerodynamic position for a long period of time can be uncomfortable and you want to build up to it slowly but working on your Cadence can be really beneficial too so getting some chaos drills into your rides riding a lowercase or leg speed than you used to and also a Higher One just to get used to activating those muscles that are needed in the pedal stroke plus I think for higher speed on the flat when you're really pushing hard sometimes you do need to move out from your favorite kind of cadence and be able to push through a gear keep on top of that gear and get it going over the top of a little brother Hill potentially when the Flat Road kicks up if you get a bit of a Tailwind section likewise when you're digging into a headwind and those higher leg speeds are great they're just up in the acceleration if you're riding a group you just need to notch things up a bit get on someone's wheel and hold the pace so yeah definitely don't underestimate any Cadence work out on the bike foreign next up rolling resistance now this is going to make a key difference to your speed out on the road and running resistance is essentially the energy lost for your tires and it's kind of a bit of an old-fashioned thing but sometimes people think that the narrower the tire and the harder pressure the tire the faster it's going to be but that is not always the case sometimes a wider tire at a lower pressure is better especially if you're riding on really bumpy roads The Wider tires at lower pressure tend to kind of absorb those bumps a lot better and Roll Along quicker now having the right tires and the right pressure in the tires is super important now silk are actually a partner of the channel here at gcn and they actually have a free Cal pressure calculator that you can use you go in you put all your tire details your body weight and it gives you the optimal tire pressure for your tires so make sure to go and check that out so these are some of our top tips on how to ride a little bit faster on those flat roads yeah personally I'm a flat Road Rider I am not suited to those mountains where you are in the world and what's your favorite Flat Road to ride because we always talk about the Epic climbs but what about the flat roses let's give them some love Yeah down in the comment section below and hi there don't forget to give this video a big thumbs up if you found it useful and see on the next video oh yes this is where we race out of shot man huh yeah I'm getting fast enough for my liking

Channel: Global Cycling Network

Views: 117,646

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Id: Ll4DNWEHPcA

Length: 6min 49sec (409 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 21 2023