I’ve been doing quite a bit of riding and coaching at the San Diego  Velodrome lately, and that’s got me thinking about something most  cyclists, but specifically track cyclists think about a lot… leg speed and; legs peed intervals.  Trackies think about  leg speed and  leg speed intervals is that track riders can’t change gears while they are riding.  Whatever gear you put on for a track race, you are stuck with it the whole race.  You have to pick a gear that will allow you to get the top speed required  for sprints, but a gear that won’t leave you in the dust when the group accelerates from 20 miles an hour.  Having good leg speed, or the ability to produce power at high leg speeds, is an important skill for a track rider, because a rider with exceptional leg speed can ride a smaller gear and therefore accelerate more quickly, while still achieving acceptable top end speeds.  Good leg speed is also a great tool in for road racers, as it always good to have one more tool in your tool belt, to be able to accelerate out of that corner, or up to that wheel on front of you without shifting gears. 

A biomechanically efficient pedaler, when compared to an inefficient one, uses less oxygen, and less energy, to do the same mount of work.  For most riders, their biomechanical efficiency goes down as leg speed gets near and above 100 RPM.  I’m not talking about pedaling circles here (pedaling circles is not desirable, but that is an entirely different topic).  I’m talking about pushing on the pedals at the right time, or not pushing on the pedal  when it is trying to come back up and around.  That is a waste of energy, and that’s when it looks like you are “pedaling squares.”  

Some riders are naturally more biomechanically efficient than others.  I know a former pro rider that pedals beautifully  at any RPM… he just looks smooth.  You may not be one of those naturally efficient pedalers, but  you can do drills to work on your biomechanical efficiency….leg speed drills.    People have lots of crazy ideas about leg speed drills, the problem is that the drills people do are frequently not specific enough to   create the neuromuscular response that will cause a training effect that will make them more biomechanically efficient at those high leg speeds. 

Next time:   How to do, and not do leg speed workouts