Triathletes - can someone please tell me why I suck so much on the bike?

Reason you didn't ask this on letstri.com?

Sorry, *sub 25 in the pool. And that would be for a full mile, the swim I need to train for is just under half a mile but it’s in open water which is different so I guess I could be anywhere between 15 and 20 mins for that.

Swim: 750m

Run: 3.25 miles

Bike: 10.5 miles

Swim should take 15-20 min in open water?

Run: I will give myself 20-25min as a prediction

5-10 min changing

That leaves me with 35-40 min for the bike, meaning I would have to avg 16-17.5 mi/hr to hit my 1:29 goal. That is a 1.5-2.5mph increase from my current bike fitness.

Clickster wrote:

Reason you didn't ask this on letstri.com?

Extremely helpful, thank you. I would probably quit training altogether without that insightful piece of information. We should all be as educated as you!

But seriously, I know there are triathletes who use this board, obviously I know that for every 1 genuine reply there will be 9 troll replies but this site actually has offered me great training advice in the past and there are a few experienced/helpful athletes who come on here. Camille Herron gave me some strength training advice on here once that worked for me!

... sooooo I thought it was worth a shot.

Yezzy wrote:

Clickster wrote:

Reason you didn't ask this on letstri.com?

Extremely helpful, thank you. I would probably quit training altogether without that insightful piece of information. We should all be as educated as you!

But seriously, I know there are triathletes who use this board, obviously I know that for every 1 genuine reply there will be 9 troll replies but this site actually has offered me great training advice in the past and there are a few experienced/helpful athletes who come on here. Camille Herron gave me some strength training advice on here once that worked for me!

... sooooo I thought it was worth a shot.

Still doesn't explain why you asked here - hoping for legit advice - rather than on a triathlon forum, or even a cycling forum.

Because like I said, for every arsey-nagging-questioning response like yours, there’s an equal chance a real athlete will come along and give me some proper advice! ;)

I have posted my tri training in three places so far. I chose this board because actual elites sometimes post here, I have also seen some people (women) post some crazy impressive tri times here too, so I was hoping the right person could pitch in!

(Okay, I’m only responding to comments directly related to my training now)! :P

Tri a coach. Your bike time is WAY too slow so something is wrong. Good luck!

Gonna be honest: 1. I can’t afford a coach. 2. Most all coaches I come across are PT/weights based coaches who have no reliable info on endurance specific training.

You are just training for triathlons for 3 month. That's reason no 1.

2. You probably have to train biking properly not just going to work and back for 10 miles.

You need more like 4-6 hours on the bike on weekends.

No worries, you will get there.

I can think of a few reasons why you might be slow on the bike:

1) You are new at it. Fitness is specific, so being a good runner doesn’t automatically translate to being a good cyclist. Over time you’ll get better.

2) You have the wrong bike. If you are riding a department store hybrid that weighs 30 lbs you are severely handicapping yourself. Ideally you want a tri-bike, but if not a semi-decent road bike. You’ll also want to make sure you are fit properly. You can do a basic fit yourself.

3) Your technique is bad. Ideally you want a high cadence (90+ RPM). A low cadence leads to exerting too much force and tires you out prematurely

You don't ride anywhere near enough. Try your commute plus 2-3 other 2-3 hour rides a week.

Also start looking on youtube for videos on bike fit/aerodynamics. To ride 12 mph, you must be sitting up like a sail. Getting your head/shoulders lower has a tremendous impact on speed. After that, get some very tight fitting clothing.

With those three things, next comes equipment. Since you're just starting a road bike would be a good start. Maybe later on aero bars, then maybe a time trial/tt bike. Tires/tubes make the biggest impact on speed, but you're a ways away from that. But if you get interested, latex tubes and something simple like Conti GP 5000s would be a pretty simple thing to change out and get free speed.

What kind of bike do you ride ??

The tires at the top of this less have less than half the rolling resistance of most common road tires.

https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/road-bike-reviews

Aerodynamics will have a larger effect, but I wouldn't leave tires for last.

Thanks. Yeah, I’m gonna add in a weekly long bike ride on the weekends, something like 4 hours on the bike (in the hills) every sat afternoon. For me, this would be about 40-50 miles.

I have the boardman 8.6 model. Not a tri bike but not a cheap road bike either. Again, I’m straight out of uni and not on a super high salary with student loan to pay so the bike I currently have will have to do. I cannot get another.

My main problem is that I can only generate power on the bike while I am stood up, I’m good at climbing hills fast as long as I am stood up, this is obviously a form issue on the bike, how long will it take for me to get comfortable and use to the non-climbing position? I have a habit of pedalling standing up about 50% of the time even on the flats. Old habits die hard.

I was a decent H.S. runner, 4:25 1600. I transitioned to cycling in college, and I sucked at the start. Now at 30 I am a Cat 2 and podium in 1/2 races.

First, be consistent. 4-6 rides per week is better than 1-3, even if the volume is the same. Build to 8 hours per week, mostly easy. 1 longer day (over 2 hours), 1-2 workout days.

Second, do workouts, and do them when you are fresh from all other activity. Minute hard minute easy for 20-40 minutes is a good place to start. Also try 10min at goal race pace, and build up to 4-5x10min at goal pace.

Be patient, it will come!

Also, get tight clothes and work on your position on the bike. Aero is everything!

I have the same problem as you--I really suck on a bike compared with my running fitness. I'm a 61yo female and no longer nearly as fit as you--I can only run about a 24 min 5K, but I can only maintain 15-16 mph on a good quality, well fitted road bike on a flat course. I was a much, much faster runner when young but have never been able to generate any power sitting down on a bike.

My husband is a bike racer, and he has done everything he can to get me a good bike that fits me properly, and he gives me lots of tips about form and cadence, but nothing seems to work. I feel that the only way I can generate any power on a bike is by standing up and getting my center of mass over the pedals rather than behind them as when sitting in the saddle. He keeps telling me to gear down and spin faster. But when I gear down, I don't spin any faster--I just move more slowly at the lower gear.

You should be able to make some improvement by improving your form, but you might have to accept that you're really better at running than at anything else!

Yezzy wrote:

I am a beginner triathlete. I’ve been doing the training for three months. I’ve never done one before, I transitioned to this type of training because I seem to be more injury prone when I’m just running.

I have gone from 45 mpw of just running to 25 mpw of running, 60 mpw pfbiking and 2.5 mpw of swimming. I feel like it builds base the same, I’m just as fit but running less.

.

Don't despair, you are new to the sport. Having said that, 60mpw (per week?) on the bike is paltry when 60 miles should be your long ride either Saturday or Sunday. Work on your position on the bike, and t loose that bad habit of stepping on the bike for too long, very unproductive and needless to say non-aerodynamic at all, you lose precious time doing that.

Good luck !

Light weight is very good for cycling. The main measure cyclists use is watts per kilogram. You got the low kilograms, you need the high watts.

If it's as bad as you say -- which it may not be, it could be that the cyclists passing you on the road are really good -- , then it's likely two issues:

- intensity. It takes time to physically and mentally get used to high intensity for longer periods, think like tempo runs. Do intervals of like 30 minutes hard*. It may be tough to keep steady for that long if it's all up and down where you are like it is where I am. I'm either climbing or braking. But I got on an exercise bike at the gym. It was hard to do 160 watts for 30 minutes when I first started, and I was sorta fit from running and weight lifting, but 6 months later I can do 260 watts for 30 minutes**. Every workout it seemed like my body and especially my mind could push harder.

That being said, I follow on Strava a couple local runners who win the marathons around here. They both recently took up cycling and were like immediately putting up amazing numbers on the road, so those guys don't fit my hypothesis.

- aero position. Makes a big difference. Even if you don't get aero bars and get a true aero position (which you should if you want to be competitive), if you can learn to ride more aero than your tendency to stand, it'll make a big difference.

*not saying that's the best way to train

**have no idea if the exercise bike wattage translates to a real bike

Get a trainer and join zwift. Learn how to ride hard. End of thread. I speak from experience. You don't need 4 hour rides to do a sprint triathlon.

You describe my experience on the bike perfectly, even if I turn the gear lower and spin faster - I do not go faster. Standing up on the bike, I could maintain 15-16mph for an hour or so, sitting down, more like 12-13mph at the same effort level.

By the way, I think you are more fit than me personally, a 24 minute 5k at 61y beats 20 minutes at 24y 1000 times over so congratulations, I really hope I can maintain that sort of fitness over the years. Your times are extremely good!

Most people (even female endurance athletes) seem to weigh quite a bit more than me, not only am I super naturally light but I’m also extremely short so I was thinking maybe low skeletal weight might have something to do with why I can’t generate as much power on the bike. Even people who do not look fast or fit at all can overtake me on the roads! That never happens on runs or in the pool, anyone who overtakes me in those settings tends to genuinely look fast.

I’m thinking that maybe the answer would be strength training but I already strength train my legs and I have gained 1.1kg of muscles in my legs while losing fat off my midsection and I’m pretty sure it hasn’t made much of a difference people who can squat less would still overtake me on the bike. I think the people saying practice my technique and form could be right, I also had no idea being in the aerodynamic position mattered that much but looking back at some of my rides now with that in mind, people who overtake me on the roads tend to have their back down in an aerodynamic position ...