A common question among cyclists is, "what is the ideal cadence?". No one really has? a clear answer. Some literature I have seem from an efficiency point of view (lowest oxygen consumption for highest power) indicates a cadence between 65-70 revolutions per minute. That may be true in a lab, but on the road it seems that higher cadences will help delay muscle fatigue. Most cyclists will spin between 80 to 110 rpm. You have strong cyclists that are on the low side and others on the high side. On short hills, most cyclists usually lower their cadence. I don't have answer as to what is the optimum cadence, but I guess it does not work hurt to train your body at different cadences.

Last Sunday, was my last road cycling race of the season, a 40km two person time trial. This is a fun event at the end of the season, called the "Gentleman". The idea is to have a young rider with an older rider, or father/daughter, mother/son, etc... Usually I play the young guy. This year I had strong and young triathlete to pull me around. Meet Jerome Bresson.

I met him two years ago when I did my second duathlon. Two years ago, was probably my best bike season so I was quite fit. I had passed him on the bike, and he suprised me by matching my speed for the rest of the bike leg. After the race, I chatted with him, and he told me he was going to Kona for the Ironman World Champsionships. So I asked where he had qualified, and he answered, "I don't have a spot yet, but I'll qualify in Lake Placid". So I asked him if he was signed up for Lake Placid, and he answered, "No but I'm signed up for Muskoka, which is a qualifier for Lake Placid". And so he did - finished first in Muskoka to qualify for Lake Placid, then finished 2nd in Lake Placid, to qualify for Kona. He is a young 25 year old triathlete, that will just keep getting stronger.

Two weeks ago, Jerome clocked a Half-Ironman? in under 3:57, averaging 45km/h for the 90km bike leg. So I was expected the worse. To make things more interesting, 3 minutes before the start of the Gentleman TT, my rear derailleur cable breaks. And on my Kestrel Talon, the cables are internal. So that means doing a 40km TT in my 54/11 gear combination. I'm thinking, "I guess I'll be spinning at 70rpm".

So Jerome has the brilliant idea of asking around 2 minutes before the start if someone at the start line has a screw driver, to lock my derailleur one or two gears up. Someone did have a swiss army knife, so we were able to lock my gears into 54/13.

The TT itself turned out very well. 54/13 happened to be the best compromise. In the tail wind section I was probably spinning in the high 90s, and in the head sections, probably in high 70s. So we came in at 54:34, in first place in front of two teams with riders from the Calyon Pro Cycling team.? Another close one, just a 2 second lead over the second place, and 3 seconds over third place.

I felt fast with good late season form as I was able to do my share of the work. Jerome didn't make me suffer too much (maybe next year as he continues to get stronger and stronger).