Whats a good HEART RATE and RPM for road cycling?

Question

If I am training for a 50 mile road cycling event, what would be a good heart rate and rpm to try to reach/ and maintain? I'm fairly new to biking, and it would be my first event. I need a good goal that would be consider tough to reach.

Answer 1

for 50 miles the cadence should be around 80 rpm and you heart rate at 65% of you max. the maxxis calculated like this

220- your age and then that number multiplied by that 65%

hope that helps

bikingthings

Answer 2

There are a lot of approaches to this, but it sounds like you are riding too hard for your current fitness level.  If you ride within your limits you will progress at a much faster rate than if you kill it every ride.  Cycling is kind of weird - you can actually improve faster by riding slower.

Try a lower cadence (80-90ish) and keep the average heart rate around 130-140BPM.  Your HR will peak much higher than that, depending on the terrain, but if you keep the average in the 130 range you won't feel dead after the ride.

Develop a training schedule that gives you 2 easy (or recovery) rides, 1 hard ride and 1 easy longer distance ride.  Most training resources will suggest something similar to that schedule with slight variances.  As you improve you can ride harder and start pushing the cadence and average HR higher.

Answer 3

Since all your training appears to be geared towards this one 50 mile ride it would be helpful to know what the course is like. Without knowing whether the course is hilly or flat, or whether you will be riding in a pack with other riders, or mainly by yourself, or whether this is a race, or just a touring ride, it is difficult to say exactly how you should be preparing. You also didn't say how long you have to prepare, which will also make a big difference. So lacking a lot of information, the best that anyone can do is give you a general guideline for how you should be training.

100-105 rpm's is about right. You should try to hold that for the entire 10 miles, unless the course that you train on has some hills, then you can let your rpm's drop as low as 80 on the uphill sections, and as fast as you can maintain on the downhill sections. Since you say that you are completely worn out afterwards you should stick to only 10 miles. When you're comfortable with that distance, begin to increase the distance. Your goal should be to be able to maintain 100-105 rpm's for one hour. After you can ride hard for one hour, don't increase the length of the ride, just try to increase the speed that you can maintain.

I assume that 185-190 is your max heartrate during your rides, that would be extremely high for an average heartrate. At this point your heartrate is somewhat irrelevant. Focus on what you can maintain throughout the entire 10 miles. If you want to work on increasing your max heartrate then set aside one specific day a week to work on pushing your heartrate to its max, then resting and repeating as many times as you can. But do not mix your training. When you go out to train, know what it is that you're going to be working on. If you are going to try to ride a steady high rpm ride, then focus on that. If you're going to work on your max heartrate, then work on that. If you want to work on hills, then focus your efforts on the hills. When your conditioning improves you can mix different workouts together, but for now focus on one thing.

Since your goal is a 50 mile ride you should do some longer rides. But don't worry about speed, just get used to the distance and what you need as far as nutrition, and hydration. You need some idea of how difficult 50 miles will be.

As a beginner, if you can do 10 miles in half an hour that's very good. If you can do it in 25 minutes you're ready to start racing. If you can do it in 20 minutes, you can start thinking about the Tour De France.

But you're off to a good start. The good thing about cycling is, that what you lack in talent, you can make up for with tenacity.

Answer 4

that heart rate is rediculous

we need a speed by the way

itd be alot easier with a speedometer

but drop your cadence

i like from 88-93

93 being my most comfertable

yet i race track too so i can hold 160+ for quite some time too

but 80-100 is efficent

so stay there but your not short

and you are skinny you must not be in good shape if your heart rate is over 180 at only 105 rpm, and im guessing your not in a huge gear either especially at over 100rpm

basically slow your rpm down to 85-90 try around there

your heart rate should also drop

relax

and get a good pedal stroke

of course if u really wanted me to evaluate it id need to ride with you, see how you breath, your pedal stroke, your gear its alot of variables

basically your rpm and heart rate are way to high

so slow the cadence get your heart rate to drop by maybe shifting into an easier gear and just progressively get into longer rides

dont try to get a tough goal to reach

reach one you can get to with practice

Answer 5

This is a good question, but the answer is really unique to each individual.  A good heart rate for me is not likely to be close to the optimal heart rate for you.  Furthermore, over time your optimal heart rate will increase as you get in better shape.

Finding the optimal heart rate is not too complicated.  Most coaches recommend you determine your lactate threshold and work from there.  The lactate threshold is the point at which your muscles begin to make the transition from aerobic to anaerobic.  It is characterized by deep breathing, muscle burn, etc.  No one can ride at length beyone their lactate threshold.  At some point, everyone has to slow down when they have exceeded their lactate threshold too long.

To find your lactate threshold you should take a gentle 30 minute warm up ride with a few short bursts toward the end of the warm up.  Then zero your heart rate monitor.  Then ride at the fastest pace you can maintain for 30 minutes.  Your lactate threshold will be your average heart rate for the 30 minute ride.

When doing an aerobic conditioning ride, you should aim to keep your heart rate below 80% of your lactate threshold.  You build muscle power by doing sprints and intervals are paces above your lactate threshold.

Chances are you'll find you can pretty easily do your 50 mile event at a pace between 80% and 90% of your lactate threshold.

This article may be helpful for you:

http://www.velonews.com/article/8217

If you want to learn more I suggest your read: "The Cyclists Training Bible" by Joe Friel.

Optimal RPM, like heart rate, is varies by individual.  I am usually most comfortable between about 80 and 100 RPM.

With respect to being worn out after 10 miles, you will find it helpful to vary your workouts.  Fitness improves in response to the stress of exercise.  Your fitness will quickly plateau if you only provide the same level of stress each day.  I suggest taking some much longer rides at a slower, gentler pace and taking some short rides at a very hard pace.  Likewise try taking some of your rides spinning the pedals at even higher RPMs (like 110+) also take some rides using higher gears and much lower RPMs like (50-60).

Hope this helps.