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by Patrick McCrann

Early season rides are an excellent time to develop new skills, as our expectations (and outdoor fitness) are generally low. A new approach to how you ride can really help take your training – and racing – to the next level.  Single Gear Riding (SGR) is a powerful exercise in learning how to manage our effort level on the road.  Instead of shifting gears on our bike to compensate for terrain changes, SGR will teach you how to use “internal” gears to deal with hills descents and riding on the flats. This year, make it a priority to ride with your bike instead of against it. 

After your warm up spin, simply pick a gear for your main set and stick with it. It’s that simple. To be safe, choose the small front ring and a middle gear on the back cog. Now you just stick with this gear regardless of what the road throws at you.  This is not a time trial workout; I think of this as a variation on a weekly endurance ride of 2.5 hours or more.

Why Do SGR?

SGR is important to athletes because of what it teaches you. As a riding style, it allows you to learn the road and forces you to adapt by removing all the tools you usually use to compensate (gears and brakes). Think of it as riding meditation: no longer are you talking on the cell phone, IM-ing your buddies, and listening to your iShuffle.  This is riding, un-plugged. Old school.  Effective.

What Will I Learn From SGR?

• You will learn how to “roll into a hill,” using your momentum to start the climbing process. 
• You will learn the nuances of climbing seated regularly or seated on the back of your seat. 
• You will learn how to roll up into a standing climbing position and keep your momentum.
• You will learn how to pedal quickly on a descent, sharpening your skills.
• You will learn to recruit different muscle groups…pushing at times with your quads, pulling at times with your hamstrings..

Internal Shifting

The most important thing you will learn is how to manage your internal gears. Since you can’t shift, you’ll learn to moderate your effort based on the terrain, instead of just hammering your way through the ride.  Your first attempts at this riding will be a bit rough (shifting is a hard habit to break!), but as you progress you’ll eventually erase the dead spots in your riding.  There will be no more crushing hills only to die at the top, no more riding only at 80rpms (or less!)

The bottom line is that there are just too many distractions with cycling, and it’s easy for folks to ride with a general disregard for their surroundings.  This early season, focus on learning more about where you are riding and how you are riding and you will learn a new skill set that will pay dividends for the many miles to come.

Happy Riding!
Patrick

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