PEDALLING SKILLS – TIME TO GET BACK TO BASICS

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OTHER PAGES : Coaching Advice : Paddy Doran

Last Updated: Jan 23rd, 2011 - 17:04:42

PEDALLING SKILLS – TIME TO GET BACK TO BASICS
By Paddy Doran, Cycling Coach
Jun 24, 2010,

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About Paddy Doran

Daniel Martin in action last Friday in the Halfords Tour Series

Exhibition of pedalling skills by Daniel Martin in Halfords Dublin City Centre Criterium

Last Saturday evening Daniel Martin of Garmin- Transitions gave one of the best exhibitions of high speed pedalling skills that I have been seen in Ireland since his uncle Stephen Roche was in action.

As he zipped around temple bar going through the corners as if they were straights it was very interesting to see the gears that he was using and the high cadence he was riding at. From my observations it seemed to be about 52 x 18 to 52x 16 and I have included a picture where he is using the small chainring and 17 or 16 sprocket? Racing over the cobbles up through Eustace Street.

This was producing speeds that were shattering groups left in his wake. This contrasted greatly with a lot of the other riders who were riding at much lower cadences on bigger gears and who were struggling leaving the corners as they tried to get the bikes back up to speed.

Small chainring through Eustace street

I think Daniel Martins cadence may be the high end of what’s achievable and we must remember he is a full time world-class rider and so it wouldn’t be entirely fair to compare part time riders with him. However it would be a good thing for Irish riders to take some lessons from this demonstration and to build good high cadence efforts into their training sessions and programmes.

Restrict gear in domestic events?
I think it would also be worth considering looking at restricting racing gears for senior riders whether through rules or by the riders own choice.

53 x 11. This is a gear that’s used by Tour De France pros that go very fast for extended periods of time. Its also a gear that is used by many of our domestic riders. For most of our domestic races this gear is too high, as the speeds are not reached often enough to justify such a big gear even 53 x 12 is a high gear for most of the races in Ireland.

We might also see improved performances by Irish riders in the FBD RAS and international events if their gears were restricted for most Irish events. Then they can put the 11 sprockets back on to their bikes for the FBD RAS and international events which generally move at higher speeds than our domestic events. This would go some way towards bridging the gap in speed between domestic and international events.

Cornering through Lord Edward street corner

Food for thought anyway isn’t it!

About:

PADDY DORAN

Paddy Doran Is a level 3 coach and coach tutor. Paddy has trained professional, International and club cyclists from road, track and mountain biking, including winners of four Ras events. He has also been masseur to professional and international athletes from different sports.

Paddy Specialises in coaching individuals and groups with proven training plans that are aimed at peaking for the main goals of the riders. Paddy has been Cycling Ireland coach of the year and overall winner of Tutor of the year in the Coaching Ireland Tutor awards.

Paddy Doran can be contacted at paddydoran(at)hotmail.com

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