These drills are directed at helping you develop and learn the optimum cadence and gearing for various aspects of bicycle racing and triathlons. Since triathlons generally do not allow drafting, they become more of a time trial and top speed and endurance is the most important skill to learn, which requires pushing bigger gears. Criteriums, track racing, road racing and stage racing involves much more in the way of tactics where acceleration is much more important than individual top speed. Efficiency at higher cadence may be the most important skill to learn.

Track and field, and other burst activity sports seem to benefit from a combination of drills that accurately simulate the physical stresses of competition. A soccer player who runs for a whole match has a very different activity profile than a hockey player, a football offensive lineman, or a 100m dash track specialist. As these athletes do not need to have the bike handling skills of a bike racer or triathlete. PowerCranks™ are best used by these athletes mounted on stationary bikes, or on bicycles attached to stationary trainer stands.

POWERCRANK DRILLS:

Any of these drills can be done on the road or on a trainer.

1. MAXIMUM CADENCE TEST- Put your bike in the lowest gear and see how high you can get your cadence before falling out of synch. This test should probably not last more than 8-15 seconds. If you do not have the ability to monitor cadence directly, monitor your top speed. Increasing top speed (cadence) is the indicator of improvement.
   
2. SUSTAINED MAXIMUM CADENCE - Put your bike in the lowest gear and see what the highest cadence you can maintain for one minute is before falling out of synch. If you fall out of synch before one minute is up, repeat at a lower cadence until you can do this. If do not have the ability to monitor cadence directly, monitor your lowest speed during this minute (highest sustained speed). Increasing lowest speed is the indicator of improvement.
   
3. SUSTAINED HIGH CADENCE - Put your bike in the lowest gear and see what the highest cadence you can maintain for ten minutes is before falling out of synch. If you do not have the ability to monitor cadence directly, monitor your lowest speed during this hour. Increasing lowest speed is the indicator of improvement.
   
4. SUSTAINED CADENCE TEST - Put your bike in the lowest gear and see what the highest cadence you can maintain for one hour is before falling out of synch. If you fall out of synch before one hour is up you will need to repeat the test on another day at a lower cadence. Brief, deliberate stops at stop signs will not invalidate the test. If you do not have the ability to monitor cadence directly, monitor your lowest speed during this hour. Increasing lowest speed is the indicator of improvement.
   
5. POWER LIFTING - Put your bike in the highest gear. Find a course about 1 mile long, unencumbered by cross streets, stop signs or stoplights. Time yourself for the course paying attention to pulling up on the back stroke and try to accelerate for the entire distance. Think about lifting during this test. Note your time and speed at the end of the course. Lowered times and/or increased top speed is the indicator of improvement.
   
6. CRANK LENGTH EVALUATION For those with adjustable cranks repeat any of the above tests using different crank arm lengths. You should be able to determine the best crank length for you for your current fitness level and for the kind of riding you do.
   
7. SUSTAINED POWER TEST - See how long you can pedal continuously while out of the saddle.

PEDALING SMOOTHNESS DRILLS

Any of these drills can be done on the road or on a trainer such as a computrainer.

1. ISOLATED LEG DRILL #1 - put it in an easy gear and while riding at a moderate speed start pedaling with one foot for 30 seconds. Try to maintain speed and concentrate on a smooth even pedaling stroke. After thirty seconds start pedaling with both feet, concentrating on smoothness. Then do this same drill with the opposite leg. Keep repeating for 10 repetitions on each leg.
   
2. MODIFIED ISOLATED LEG DRILL #1 - The same as above but modify the times. 45/15 secs, 60/60 secs, etc.
   
3. LIFTING HELL - For those with adjustable cranks, increase crank length. You won't believe how much difference a few millimeters makes. This forces you to lift your legs higher, improving your lifting ability when you go back to your regular crank length.
   
4. SPINNING MADE EASY - For those with adjustable cranks, decrease crank length. You won't believe how much difference a few millimeters makes. You should be able to increase your cadence well above your normal top, working on fast twitch fibers and high speed coordination.
   
5. BOUNCE TEST - Put your bike in the lowest gear and see how high you can get your cadence without "bouncing" in the saddle. Increasing top speed (cadence) without bouncing is the indicator of improved smoothness.

OPTIMUM CADENCE AND GEAR TESTING

These tests are probably best performed on a calibrated ergometer, such as CompuTrainer™, in which conditions can be controlled (don’t forget to calibrate the ergometer before each session) but can be done on the road or using un calibrated training stands if one accounts for variations between or during sessions due to weather or calibration.

1. OCT #1 - Put your bike on the largest front chain ring and then vary the rear cog in a series of tests. Ride a similar course (about 1 km to 1 mile) at a constant heart rate. See which gear gives you the highest average speed. Note your cadence at this speed. This should be close to your optimum cadence for sustained speed.
   
2. OCT #2 - Put your bike on the largest front chain ring and then vary the rear cog in a series of tests. Ride a similar course (about 1 km to 1 mile) at a constant speed. See which gear gives you the lowest heart rate. Note your cadence at this speed. This should be close to your optimum cadence for sustained speed.
   
3. OGT #1 - Put your bike on the largest front chain ring and then vary the rear cog in a series of tests. Ride a similar course (about 1 km to 1 mile) at your optimum sustained racing heart rate. See which gear gives you the highest average speed. Note your gearing at this speed. This should be close to your optimum gearing for sustained speed.
   
4. OGT #2 - Put your bike on the largest front chain ring and then vary the rear cog in a series of tests. Ride a similar course (about 1 km to 1 mile) at a constant speed just under your best sustained speed. See which gear gives you the lowest heart rate. Note your gearing and cadence at this speed. This should be close to your optimum gearing for sustained speed.
   

LEG CONTROL AND COORDINATION DRILLS

These drills are useful to help you gain improved leg muscle control for improved coordination and to help prevent boredom on long winter nights. Don’t worry, these can and have been done (except Look ma, no brains).

1. FRONT AND BACK- Pedal forwards with one leg and backwards with the other. Switch.
   
2. TWO FOR ONE- Pedal forwards with one leg and forward with the other leg at half the cadence. Switch.
   
3. TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK- Pedal forwards with one leg and backward with the other, at half the cadence. Switch.
   
4. LOOK MA, NO HANDS- (This is a training stand only drill) Pedal out of the saddle with your hands off of the handlebars. You will be "running" on your PowerCranks™.
   
5. LOOK MA, NO BRAINS - Perform “Look ma, no hands” on the road. (just kidding)

THE MOST IMPORTANT DRILL OF ALL

You have a lot of years of bad technique to undo. The most important thing you can do is put hours and hours under your belt pedaling properly. Any time spent on regular cranks will slow your improvement as you get no feedback when you are not pedaling properly. The above drills allow you to work on specific areas and judge your improvement in those areas but they are simply adjuncts to this most important drill, time on the PowerCranks™.

DRILLS FROM YOUR WEBMASTER (a sprint specialist speedskater who uses PowerCranks™ extensively in training)

1. PARKING LOT SPIN PAIN
   After a really solid warm-up & stretch. Find a small loop or a large parking lot with a very gradually rising 50-75m section. Place your bike in a small gear (usually a 39-19 early season, 53-17 later season) and from a slow, almost walking pace, sprint that 50-75m with 100% effort and maximum spin velocity. Take at least 3-5 minutes after each effort of super easy lazy slow riding. Even get off the bike and stretch, have a drink, relax, the rest interval is essential to make sure each effort is a maximal one. Your top velocity should climb slowly with each effort (I can hit 27mph in the 39-19) and then plateau for a few reps. When your velocity consecutively decreases for 2-3 efforts, the workout is over, you physiologically have accomplished the purpose of the workout, and it is over. More efforts dilute the training effect, and will take away your ability to train hard tomorrow.
   
2. MAXIMAL POWER SPRINT TRAINING
   After a really solid warm up& stretch, find a nice, quiet road that also points slightly uphill. Put your bike in a very large gear (I use 53-14) and from a STANDING START do a maximal power 100% effort sprint for 15 seconds. The idea is to pick a gear that is a huge effort to get turning over, but then you are spinning out by the finish. after sprinting for 15 seconds, sit and coast/spin lightly for 45 seconds, then sprint 15, rest 45, sprint 15, and rest 45. So you sprint 3 times. By the 3rd sprint, if you are really making these maximal efforts, it should hurt. Look at the stopwatch you have been using to time yourself. you now have 10 minutes before the next set. Spin super easy until your legs don't hurt, and then GET OFF THE BIKE AND RELAX IF YOU CAN. It sounds weird, but its essential to be as rested as possible between these maximal efforts, a 10 minute break is what many track cyclists use between their efforts, and they relax & chat in the infield of the velodrome during the 10 minute recovery. Usually 3 sets of this is enough for me, as my maximal power is dropping by the 3rd set.
   
3. RECOVERY DAY WITH A STING
   This is a very effective recovery ride after a really hard day, although at first, it does not seem to be. Warm up with easy riding for 15 minutes, with 2-3 easy accels. Then do 15 seconds of hard acceleration in a big gear (not a maximal sprint, but going pretty hard) followed by 15 seconds of soft pedaling. Repeat this 10 times in a row. You should be quite a bit over your threshold, maybe even near your max by the 10th 15 second hard accel. Its only 5 minutes of focused work, so go hard. warm down really well for 10-15 minutes. Don't be on the bike for longer than 35 minutes or so, stretch after. For many people, this can be a more effective option than complete rest. See how you do your main workout the next day after one of these.
   
4. ABS & CYCLING FUN
   Find a fairly steep, long hill (or if you live in kansas, a really big gear and nasty headwind). Pedal "Dolphin Style" with both feet together up the hill at a very low power centric cadence. Stay in control, keep the knees straight up and down, and really use all the abs, hips, and back to force the pedals around. If the hill is really steep, your front wheel might want to hop around a bit, so be careful. This might feel pretty easy to the main cycling muscles, but the supporting muscles and abs just fry. My steep hill is 5 or so minutes long. I do this until the little muscles are fried. Usually 3-5 trips or so up the hill.
   
5. THRESHOLD & POWER
   A solid 3 minute interval is a magical thing. This is the time period where aerobic and anaerobic effort balances, in that each system contributes about 50% to the effort, and the ideal work/rest ratio is 1 to 1. After a solid warm up, do as many 3 minute intervals with 3 minutes of easy spinning rest in between as you can without a drop in speed or effort. Have some intervals be slightly higher than race cadence, some at comfortable cadence, some lower and more power centric. See which kind is harder and do that one the most (train your weaknesses!). When your work per interval drops in the speed/effort/heart rate that you can sustain. Your workout is over, you have accomplished the goal for today (depending on what part of the season I am in, and what I am working on that week, this could be just 4 intervals, or almost 15).