any numpty tips on how to begin increasing my cadence speed?

Lower gears.

Or ride fixed and you'll have no choice but to pedal like fury on the downs.

Put it in the next easiest gear when riding along and get used to spinning?

Single speed road bike on low gearing?  I did that for a while and you don't half spin going downhill

spin classes?

Fixie.  Bloody love it. I sold my DayOne about 18 months ago, wish I'd not. I should set up an eBay alert.

If you're within a manageable distance, ride it to work.

A cadence monitor is cheap (sensors are under £20 and some connect to your phone), I'd say the first thing is measuring it to see if it's actually an issue, I thought it was for me but it turns out I push 90.

Given where you're starting from, is cadence the best thing to be focusing on? The best part of your plan as I read it, was trying to get out every 2 or 3 days. Anything that makes it feel more like a chore that something to enjoy might be a set back.

Go to a spinning class, I did it for years and loved it.

I think expecting to average 20mph from a low current base level is going to set you up for failure. I'd ignore that goal until you are first riding the distance that you are wanting to ride, then work on speed afterwards.

cadence is proportional to power, just improving your general fitness will raise your cadence. I don't thinks it a case of using an easier gear.... it's more getting "on top" of the gear ie making turning that gear more aerobic than anaerobic. Some of this would come from riding singlespeed/fixie but I don't think it's a particular requirement 🙂

I don't think cadence has anything to do with what your actual goal sounds like. Just ride more and get generally fitter if you want to increase your average speed but it will take a long time to see any meaningful improvements.

Go to a spinning class, I did it for years and loved it.

Whilst loving spin classes is just plain weird and also has the problem "spin" is used for pretty much any indoor cycling and so can cover those with high cadence (which as I understand is what spin originally was) vs those which go for more mixed styles such as high gearing and hence slower spin. I know my rpm varies massively depending on the instructor and what they fancy doing that day plus whether I just add a few onto the gears because thats closer to how I ride outside.

I would also agree given the starting point I would just be spending the time riding without micromanaging the figures beyond watching the average speed and distance. Once you are happy covering a reasonable distance in a reasonable time then it would be time to looking at specifics to improve.

Until a couple of years ago I’d always adopted the “single speed mosher’s” approach to riding. High/tall gear and grind it out.

As I’ve gotten into more road/gravel riding and started riding with a couple of guys who are spinners I’ve realised the importance of cadence.

I used to ride with a SSer who would wipe the floor with us geared riders simple because he never stopped pedalling. No coasting. No let off.

Riding a fixed gear bike has helped a lot in getting me into the mentality of just keep pedalling.

On a geared bike I’m better but old habits die hard and I still find myself pushing a too bigger gear.

Sooooo … my tuppence … don’t stop pedalling (ever) but do so in a gear that you can spin comfortably. The speed will come but it’s not an overnight change.

First thing - get a cadence sensor. Halfords did one for about £20 when I bought one a few years back. You’ll need a garmin or wahoo that it can talk to.

I’d then do intervals when out on your bike - start to up cadence for maybe 3-4 mins at a time then drop back down to normal. I achieved this through turbo training with sweet spot sessions where you had instructions to speed up in certain workouts. You could totally do this on a bike if you find the right kind of road / track where you can concentrate.

I’ve found the faster cadence and the power that came with structured training really helps on mtb. Where previously I got to features already tired with no reserve of power to deal with them - now I arrive and can put a burst of faster cadence in and race up stuff.

Zwift with speed/cadence sensors, >80% it's using cadence to measure your accuracy to the plan. Changed me from 70rpm to 90rpm.

I upped my cadence from around 70 to 85 rpm 15 years ago just doing steady flat road rides using a cadence meter. Any efforts on the rides were done with higher cadence and it soon it became second nature.

20mph average on the road solo is very fast imo! When I was racing I'd have struggled to do that for more than an hour.

Visualise spinning circles with your feet when you are pedalling... Don't push the pedals down or even pull up. Think about turning your feet in circles. If you can do this on flat pedals, so much the better, as it will really focus your mind on the technique...

In combination with visualising spinning circles, drop a gear, then drop another gear. Sit on the flat 2 gears lower than you are used to, all the while thinking about those perfect circles that your feet are turning... Don't think about applying pressure on the pedals, just focus on spinning them in a circle.

ALWAYS shift down a gear before you need it, not after...

Make sure your saddle height is spot on perfect... Too high is not good at all (it will make your hips rock and your pedal strokes will become choppy, making spinning perfect circles impossible), a little too low is better than a little too high, but micro adjust up and down as required to get it where it should be.

Try not to get bored/distracted... The benefits of visualising spinning perfect circles will become apparent quite quickly, but if you let your mind wander you will inevitably find yourself either slowing down or shifting up into a harder gear, thus pedalling slower...

A cadence meter can only measure your cadence... It doesn't help you to improve it!

Clipless pedals can help you turn the pedals faster and more smoothly, but they just mask a poor pedalling technique... Learning to pedal smooth circles on flat pedals might sound counter intuitive, but it will build in muscle memory and the technique will stay with you for much longer...

I think expecting to average 20mph from a low current base level is going to set you up for failure

Yep, seems a pretty unrealistic goal.  I have ridden 3 to 4 times a week for last 20 years but admit to zero training (which no doubt hasn't helped) but I could not hold 20mph average for an hour but maybe you live somewhere very flat?

I also rode fixed and singlespeed for a lot of that time and the other benefit to high cadence is that I rarely coast, even when going downhill.

Cadence drills on the turbo if you have one.

Cadence drills on the turbo if you have one.

Yeah, this. Low gear, low power, high leg speed. And nothing else to focus on except pedalling.

That said, you probably need to start by just riding your bike regularly at whatever intensity feels achievable. Get some solid, regular miles in first and then start worrying about cadence (as a bunch of people have already said).

Just get out and enjoy riding your bike in the sunshine 🙂

I bet you are not 60 rpm that's real grinding slow

Anyway who cares

Do regular consistent riding first, care about cadence later

Cadence doesn't matter unless you need to be able to suddenly leap onto an attack in a race. Go with whatever self selecting cadence your body chooses.

Yep, riding your bike ouside as much as possible will set you up well for your later speed targets.

In the meantime I'd try to dedicate at least one turbo session per week on drills, maybe when you're limited on time but can squeeze 45 minutes in or something.

Shorter cranks/new bike.

20 mph is fast, i'd aim for 25kmph to start with. do it for the enjoyment / fitness benefit, then when you are back into riding and enjoying riding, start setting targets

20mph is pretty quick, that's at least a year or two of solid riding unless you only do very short flat rides.

Otherwise, as others suggested. Either join a spin class for a few sessions a week, but make sure it's a good one, the quality varies massively. Some of the PTs at my gym seem to enjoy it and put some thought into the session. Others are just there because they have to deliver so many classes a week as part of their rent agreement with the gym.

Or just ride one gear lower than is.confortable and don't let the cadence drop going uphill (the trick is to develop power at the higher cadence, not just spin). Do it in definite blocks of say 10min on a flat section and repeat it three times. Aim to be spinning fast enough that being that inefficient makes it hard work to keep up your normal speed.

The reason everyone's cadence drops uphill is the muscles can't switch on/off fast enough to be efficient, that's what needs to be trained not just the ability to spin at 120+ RPM.

Think about moving your feet in circles rather than up and down.

20 average is acheivable if thats a goal you would like to work towards. But it will require:

A relatively flat route with minimal or no stopping or even slowing due to road hazards. Every second below 20mph requires time above 20 to balance out. As air resistnace is proportional to speed squared, this gets progressively harder.

Short rides i.e. continue doing your 19 mile rides rather than building up the distance. If you are time poor and just like the feeling of getting out, this could mean its a worthy goal, compared to say trying to work up to completing a century.

A pre and post ride warm up and cool down, either on or off the bike.

Proper road bike (and tyres!) and kit. Sounds like you've got this already.

For the original question, ride at a speed you are comfortable with on a road with no or constant gradient, and just try switching to a gear easier and maintaining your speed (even a bar mounted phone will give fairly accurate speed these days). Keep this up for a few minutes, then swap back to your prefered harder gear - making sure to maintain speed - for a break.

Would echo comments above about getting a cadence meter (its hard to time anything youreslf while exercising hard) and checking your saddle height. Both too high and too low could mean you naturally favour power rather than spinning, for different reasons.

And possibly, don't worry too much about it. Pauline Ferrand Prevot is probably the most decorated and versatile female cyclist ever; and also one of the most "trained". And she has a very low cadence that is immediately obvious when you see her riding next to anyone else. Different people have different natural styles. the theory that 90rpm is the most efficient in all situations for everyone has been debunked.

For me, none of the drills, spin in circles etc worked at all.

What did work was getting a really good bike fit. Compared to the last fit I had, my saddle dropped a lot, which meant that my cadence has increased naturally.

To me, start there and then don't think about it, just ride regularly.

Starting from the fitness level / lack of riding that you claim, you're not going to be averaging 20mph on the open road any time soon. Not unless you really select a flattish course with zero traffic lights, junctions etc like round and round a park. 20mph average is quick - the sort of "gosh this is really hard work" kind of quick where you're blowing out your arse and if you've only done 2 rides this year, putting in any sort of effort like that will hurt a lot and last about 3 minutes.

Cadence - I wouldn't try anything special. You have to consciously focus on it unless you've got a sensor and then to think "does this feel right?" or are you only trying to increase it cos all the books say "you should spin at 90rpm" ?

SS / fixie can be good for cadence drills but in the real world where you have uphills as well, they can suddenly turn into very draggy, grinding cadence!

I managed 20+mph over 10 miles on a 78 inch fixie on tubs but that was 50 yrs ago. Yesterday I was quite pleased with 16km in 43 minutes on the Landes trails. I reckon cadence is all about use of gears and I'm currently trying to persuade the Mrs to change gear more often to sustain cadence.

Get a cadence meter and till then give it no thought.

Anything that makes it feel more like a chore that something to enjoy might be a set back.

Completely this.

Start slow and keep going relatively slow, build up your fitness slow and try and get out to enjoy it rather a target of 20mph or higher cadence.

However absolutely a higher cadence will bring you benefits. It was getting my first turbo trainer with cadence sensor many years ago that got me spinning in the 90-100 range. At first it felt very alien, now it just feels normal. Without anything to measure your cadence its going to feel very wrong and you will risk spinning too quickly, or still not spinning enough.

Watch a few GCN 'Zone 2' YouTube vids, I would say thats a good place to start.

If you are serious about getting fitter it might be worth purchasing a bit of kit, but Zone 2 stuff is fairly ok to follow given the just being able to talk rule

If you want to focus on cadence, you need a cadence sensor, simple as that. Obviously it's a metric on the turbo, but on my 'outside' bikes I've no cadence measurement at all. I used to on the road bike but that died and turned into a gravel bike and since my old Garmin 810 also died, I've ditched seeing any metrics on the bars completely for just getting out there and riding. Never bothered with all that on the MTB anyway.

First thing you should do is just get out and ride more, it'll increase your fitness and naturally increase your cadence. Personally I found I'd rather push a bigger gear at my natural cadence (80-85) than a lower gear at the mythical 90rpm, but then, from the turbo I know my leg's won't spin like Mark Cavendish's on the Champs de Elysee - they just don't like higher cadences.

serious cadence (237rpm average!)

i once hit 229 (a while ago now)

Re: pedaling in circles / drills

The science/physiology behind it only half works.  You cannot develop any meaningful force on the upstroke or TDC/BDC.  There aren't the muscles available to do it,  Your legs are built for pushing.

What you do need to do is build up the muscles and nervous system so they're firing in the correct places.

e.g. doing 1 legged drills doesn't teach you to pedal in circles, but your brain is better at switching the quads off if it's pulling on the hamstrings even if only slightly. It's about minimizing the power lost by subconsciously pushing both pedals at the same time.

The other neglected facet of pedaling dynamics is core strength and the glutes. Most people put far more power out through their quads and not enough through their glutes.  In simplistic terms Quads develop the power ~1 till 4 o'clock in the pedal stroke, and the Glutes work 2 till 5.  Which is one reason why some people have what looks/feels like a very choppy pedaling dynamic.

Part of the reason is  your quads can do it almost in isolation as the leg just pushes against itself, your glutes have to work against your pelvis/core so if there's inflexibility or strength deficiencies there, or you're just stuck in an office job and the brain just doesn't have a good connection with the glutes as a result they can be really ineffectively recruited. The only way to really address that is to do some stability and core work on non-biking days (planks, but squeeze your glutes, superman's, dead bugs, reverse supermans), and on biking days, use a resistance band to do Glute Kickbacks for a few sets to get the glutes firing properly.

i once hit 229 (a while ago now)

I can/could hit 240 on a spin bike, but only for about 10s before blacking out 😂

I do know most crank based cadence sensors top out at 160 though which is borderline low enough to be an issue when doing drills !

Fixed wheel or (shudder) single speed, with gear chosen accordingly. 20 mph at 90 RPM is approx 90 inches, or 48x17 or 50x18. You can always select that gear and NOT change, just concentrate on spinning. You can lock the rear derailleur using limit screws to force the issue. Fixed makes this a trivial exercise as you cannot coast. Spinning classes are fixed wheel workouts so serve the same process.

I'll bet you are faster than 60 RPM already, get a cadence (cheap) or power meter (expensive) to monitor.

Take the big ring off your double.
Or use the limit screw on the front mech so it won't engage.
So your looking at 34 -11 on a super compact.
It's fine but it's definitely slower , but you will have to peddle alot faster .
I broke a front mech and used this to get me round a hilly century ride which I finished but not at 20mph.
20mph is a fast average speed on public roads , not many club riders can do a sub 5hr century.
That's probably cat 3 or cat 2 race pace I think, someone will be along to correct me hopefully, it's been years since I did club road rides or centuries

That’s probably cat 3 or cat 2 race pace I think

Not even close. My last Cat3 race was 28.3 mph for an hour! A good club rider should manage a sub-hour 25 mile TT (likely in an aero position) on a flat course without traffic/lights. Typical average for a decent club rider just riding along is 18.5-22 mph depending on traffic and route. I normally average about 19 mph on my own without seriously pushing on. Group rides will be at the top end. Races a notch up again.

Focus on cadence not speed.

Thanks for confirming, a good club riders who races cat 3 will usually average around 19 mph out on their own on open roads.
Averaging 20mph over any sort of distance with traffic lights, junctions and other cars / cyclists is good going.

thanks for all the replies a lot of info to take in and try 🙂

i totally agree about just getting out and riding first for enjoyment and regaining base level fitness and plan on just getting out and riding my bike for my mental wellbeing/seeing nature/landscapes and fitness. the most important thing about riding my bike is that i love it (is also my only transport).

i live in devizes wiltshire so it is both flat and hilly here.

my main goal atm is just to get out and ride 2-3 times a week to start with.

once i have some fitness back (hopefully i will def try some spin drills and lower gears/also i will get a cadence sensor for my garmin 820 plus at some point). no zwift unfortunately as don't have a trainer.

i also was being a bit overreaching with 20mph av spd as i can do 15-16 mph when i was fitter and doing 50-60 mile road rides (not all the time i must add doing that distance i wasn't that fit lol).

at the end of the day as others have said forget what my speed is and just enjoy riding my bike-seeing nature that is def the most important thing for me 🙂

Do regular consistent riding first, care about cadence later

TBH, i'd do it the other way round, grinding your way round a ride makes things a lot harder than it needs to be (physiologically). It's a lot easier to spin than grind! And the good thing with pedalling is that the rate is "countable" if you have a timer (your garmin has one). Then it's quite easy to get a feel for how fast you are actually pedalling without a sensor.

A good club rider should manage a sub-hour 25 mile TT (likely in an aero position) on a flat course without traffic/lights.

When i started racing (mid 80's) it was the benchmark time on a road bike, i only knew one person with a TT bike back then, in a club of 100+ riders.

It still is. Positions have changed but aero has not. Some of the positions held by those club cyclists were fantastic. Aerobars have definitely helped riders, of course. But the Road Bike class in CTT sees some fast rides. The national 50 RB category was won on Sunday in sub 2h.

at the end of the day as others have said forget what my speed is and just enjoy riding my bike-seeing nature that is def the most important thing for me

Not even close. My last Cat3 race was 28.3 mph for an hour! A good club rider should manage a sub-hour 25 mile TT (likely in an aero position) on a flat course without traffic/lights. Typical average for a decent club rider just riding along is 18.5-22 mph depending on traffic and route. I normally average about 19 mph on my own without seriously pushing on. Group rides will be at the top end. Races a notch up again.

Focus on cadence not speed.

hmm, I’m not sure about those numbers. Ignoring a tt or group ride/race 19 mph takes a fair bit of effort. I averaged 19mph for around 2 hrs last week with about 50ft of climbing per mile, so definitely not hilly. I averaged just over 3 w/kg.

im firmly in the cat 3 power range ftp wise (3.75) have a very fast road bike, and I wasn’t going easy. For a 20 mile flat blast 20mph isn’t hard, but for longer solo rides on a typical route doing 20mph requires serious effort. My mate rarely averages that and he’s got an ftp closer to 5 w/kg

Some of the positions held by those club cyclists were fantastic.

Yup, hanging on to the bottom of the drops on a slammed pair of 66s on the end of a 14cm stem for an hour to try and crack 25 mph. (I only ever did 3 "proper" 25s. Lots of sporting courses though, some with course records under 25mph!)

20mph on a decent route (i.e. not a 1 hour flat TT course) would put you at the very top end of the Brisk group round here, and the fast group above that has sort of gone invitation only post-covid.  It's pretty quick.

It's definitely achievable without having to do any real structured training, just riding more. But that group tends to be those who ride all year, and doing it 3x solid rides a week (Tuesday TT's in summer, Velodrome sessions in winter, Thursday evening and Sunday morning club runs, plus commuting).  And the people moving up into that group tend to have been doing that for at least a year (i.e. it's those who'll get fitter over a solid summer, then rather than tail off, they'll carry on all winter and just keep getting faster).

I'm not that consistent so tend to work my way up, then fall back again.  Trouble with that is I'm trying to jump from 16 to 18 in July / August, just as their "18mph" rides are probably hitting 20 average as they've all got faster too 😂

20mph on a decent route (i.e. not a 1 hour flat TT course) would put you at the very top end of the Brisk group round here, and the fast group above that has sort of gone invitation only post-covid.  It’s pretty quick.

how fast are the group rides of the brisk group?

how fast are the group rides of the brisk group?

Depends on the ride profile and length, they're nominally advertised as:

Social  13-14

Steady 15-16

Brisk 17-18

Fast 20-22

But that varies, so it's kind of taken that the groups stay the same between rides but the speed fluctuates depending on the time of year, route profile and length. A hilly non-dropping winter ride on a Sunday might be 17mph.  A late summer evening ride to the pub on a flat route with every man/woman for themselves might end up 20+.

There's occasionally a debate whether organizers should have posted a speed and stuck with it, or stick with the group names. Most of the experienced guys prefer the names as you know who'll be turning up / how hard it'll be, whereas it tends to be someone new who'll complain that the 17-18 was actually 18.9 even though it was an "easy" 18.9 for most of the group.

hmm, I’m not sure about those numbers. Ignoring a tt or group ride/race 19 mph takes a fair bit of effort.

Did anyone say it was easy? 😀

When I was a regular XC racer I occasionally raced other things and my quickest 25 mile TT was around 1hr and 5 minutes, iirc, with clip on bars and nothing aero at all other than some wheels with slightly deeper section. Riding the Etape in 2000 I got to the bottom of Ventoux - 80 miles - in dead on 4 hours, having gone over 2 x Cat 2 climbs and a Cat 4. Around here in south Wales I'd always be disappointed if I wasn't hitting an average of 20mph on a road bike at my fittest on mid-summer training rides, and these wouldn't be flat, hour long rides. And, as a roadie, I wasn't the quickest in my group by any means, because I wasn't a roadie!

I normally average about 19 mph on my own without seriously pushing on

kinda implies taking it easy!

I’d always be disappointed if I wasn’t hitting an average of 20mph on a road bike at my fittest on mid-summer training rides, and these wouldn’t be flat, hour long rides. And, as a roadie, I wasn’t the quickest in my group by any means, because I wasn’t a roadie!

are these sole efforts you are talking about? If so and you weren’t bursting yourself then you were clearly a very strong rider. I’m not trying to argue that 20 mph solo isnt a piece of piss for a good club roadie, but your average club rider won’t get anywhere near that without really pushing themselves. I say that as I reckon I’m an average club rider who would struggle to keep up that pace for anything over 40 odd miles, and even then I’d by pushing hard. I reckon i’d need to pushing around 3.5 w/kg for 2 hrs to do that, so I’d need an ftp in excess of 4. Your average club rider is not at that level.

riding in a group is obviously a different kettle of fish altogether, 25 mph if you are sitting on a wheel is fairly easy.

kinda implies taking it easy!

Zone 2/3 boundary. 190W (2.7W/kg) on the flat is 19 mph for me on the hoods.  That’s less than my 12h power (200W) on the TT bike.

Cat 3 and E123 race pace is a different league. Even in a group the efforts are much harder.

well i bought a cadence sensor for my garmin and did my first ride with it  (3rd ride of the year lol).

did my usual road route (19 miles) and it said my avg was 59 rpm on strava (i was doing more than that and was happy that most of the time it was above 60 rpm which i thought i was going to get below that). i did get it up to 95rpm when in the low gears. 676 ft of climbing according to strava.

the only way is up as they say lol.

I ride with a cadence sensor on the road, it's an interesting enough bit of data, but honestly not what I would focus on if trying to rebuild fitness, at least not initially.

Keep it simple just have a big fat HR zone field in the middle of the screen that's about the most useful but of information when you're riding and trying to gauge effort/training stress, it tells you how hard you are working, at any given moment, and you can look back at time in zone after any ride to see just how much stress you're putting yourself under.

I'd ignore distance, speed and cadence for now, just keep track of Time and HR. If you're only heading out for a couple of hours you can spend more of your time in Z4+ (Obviously faster, but not as sustainable). If off out for 4+hrs try to manage HR to a more sustainable level Z2/3ish (obviously with dips into Z4/5 as required for hills), basically give yourself more stress/pace on shorter rides, use longer rides to build endurance.

The choice to ride 3-4 times a week is a good one if your routine allows, especially while the light lasts later this time of year, but don't feel like you have to do an epic each time and if you're already a bit fatigued trying to hit a high pace may well not help nothing wrong with a 'recovery ride' if you feel you need it.

did my usual road route (19 miles) and it said my avg was 59 rpm on strava

Is that an average across the whole ride, including freewheeling? Some sensors will remove the freewheeling part of it from the final data.

To really tell you anything useful it needs to be paired with power and speed. High speed / zero (or low) power and cadence = descending and it'll largely ignore that. Low speed, high power and low(ish) cadence = climbing and it'll factor that in.

yes it was an average cadence and it doesn't include the freewheeling etc (is a garmin cadence sensor 2). no heart rate monitor unfortunately.

am just going to try and ride my bike semi regularly and not bother with the data (although i do like seeing it on my garmin).

the main thing is just to ride and get some fitness back again.

appreciate all the tips and i do plan on trying them in future 🙂