In both cycling and running you will hear a lot about cadence. Cadence is the rate at which your legs turn over. In running it is how many times your feet hit the ground in a minute (ex. 190 steps/min). In cycling it is how many times your pedals revolve (ex. 95 revolutions per minute or RPMs).
If you take a closer look at these numbers you may notice that the 190 in running is counting each foot fall, while the 95 in cycling is counting once each time one foot goes around. Therefore these two number are actually identical. So lets call the 190 in running a 95 of counting every time your right foot (for example) hits the ground.
Most coaches will agree that a cadence of around 95 is what you should strive to achieve.
Ok, so you run and cycle at 95 cadence, so what? Well, as you know, triathlon is Swim, Bike, then Run. In a Sprint or Olympic distance race we swim for 15-40 minutes, ride for 25-75 minutes, and run for 20-45 minutes. Swimming is, in my opinion, the setup for the real race, and cycling is when you position yourself in the race and prepare for the run.
So by cycling at 95 rpm you are doing 2 things.
1) not grinding out a huge gear that will tax your muscles, and
2) Setting up your legs at the correct CADENCE for the run.
When you come off the bike your legs will want to continue going the same speed they were going on the bike. As long as you have been practicing proper form and cadence in training then you are all set for the run!
Not to disagree, but I've also heard another opinion from top coaches that say to bike at a low cadence (softly) so that the higher cadence of running isn't already tiring to you after doing the bike. I think you'd have to try both and see which one you like better. I've done the very low cadence one once and it was definitely not bad.
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