by Joshua Seldman of Love In Motion

Endurance Racing Efficiency

Efficiency is defined as "the ratio of the useful energy delivered by a machine to the total energy supplied for its operation".   For a 24-hour racer, this means the percentage of energy that you expend which actually allows you to go forward (or up and down) on your bike.  If you can increase that percentage, when carried out over an extended period (like 24 hours), efficiency will make the difference between hitting your fullest potential, or bonking well before you ever catch a glimpse of it. 

Your body produces energy two ways, either with or without oxygen.  When forced to produce energy quickly or in large amounts, your body produces energy without oxygen, consequently relying solely on carbohydrates as the fuel source and producing lactic acid.  When your body is allowed time to produce the energy or it is required in smaller amounts, it will instead favor a process that incorporates oxygen and consequently be allowed to use fat as a fuel source, there by not producing lactic acid or robbing your body of those valuable carbohydrate stores.  Therefore the goal of becoming more efficient is developing ways to continually allow your body to stay aerobic (using oxygen).

The first way a cyclist can do this is by increasing their comfortable cadence on the bike and developing a smoother, more round pedal stroke that supplies energy through out the complete range of motion.  A faster, smoother pedal stoke will lessen the demand on your leg muscles (allowing them to stay aerobic) by distributing the force through out each pedal stroke and by increasing the overall number of pedal strokes required to do the same amount of work (dispersing the load). Besides looking to increase your average cadence on most rides, there are two specific drills that can increase your efficiency. The first are speed pedals where you will do specific intervals at a maximum cadence, beginning with 100-110 revolutions per minute and working up to 120 RPM's.  The intervals will begin at 3 minutes with 3 efforts per workout with the goal eventually being 3-4 x 10 minute efforts, always with an equal ratio of work to rest between intervals.  The second exercise, which is great for an indoor trainer, is one-legged pedaling, which truly allows you to deliver force through out the complete pedal stroke.  Begin with sets 2 minutes long, alternating legs in 4 x 30 second intervals, again with a work to rest ration between sets.  Start with 3 to 4 of these sets with the goal being to increase the length of each interval to 1 minute and the number of sets to 5 or 6.  Cadence on these will be slower, in the range of 50-60 RPM's, ensuring you are able to deliver force throughout the entire range of motion.

The second key to increasing efficiency is how you ride the trail.  Your 24-hour strategy will be distinctly different than a cross-country race in two areas: hills and corners.  These two areas can drastically alter your race by trading a slight decrease in speed for a huge increase in energy savings.  With the goal again being to lessen the immediate amount of work your leg muscles have to do, by staying seated, increasing your cadence, and lessening your effort just a bit you will keep your body working aerobically on hills that normally would be sapping your carbohydrate sores by the second.  Any time you stand you force your legs to produce immediate energy and with that goes your carbohydrate stores.  So when cornering, work on entering the turn at slower speeds so that you can keep a smooth and efficient line and avoid having to slam the breaks, lose speed and then have to stand and mash the pedals to get back up to speed.  In a 2 hour race this might not seem like a big deal, but over a day, every time you do that takes just a little bit more away that would otherwise be there for you on your final laps.

The last essential element to an efficient 24-hour event is proper warm up.  Regardless of whether you are solo or on a team you never want to force your body to produce energy faster than in needs to, and when you go from standing still to race speed you do exactly that.  By easy spinning for 10 minutes before your next lap, or slightly longer with 2-3 x 5 minute efforts at race pace for your initial warm up of the event, you allow your body to begin working slowly, so when your partner does come flying through the tent, you systems are already aerobic and there is much less shock to your system.   

            Success in true endurance events lies in being able to save just that little bit of energy every second of the race.  With these three elements on your side, your will finally begin to feel how great endurance athletes are able to perform with such power at the end of such amazing events. 

Joshua Seldman operates a coaching and training camp service named Love In Motion.  He had great success as a professional mountain bike and Cat 1 road racer including back to back 24 hour solo wins at the 24 HOA at Conyers, GA in 2001 & 2002 and a solo win at the 12 Hours of Razorback over Tinker Juarez.  Joshua has worked as a CTS Elite coach, a coach for the 2004 Tour of Hope, and was a director sportif for Jittery Joes Pro Cycling Team.  He attended the University of Florida where he earned his B.S. in Exercise Physiology, specializing in Sports Psychology.  Joshua can be reached at joshuaseldman@yahoo.com.

Questions, Comments or Concerns? Please email race director