I've started riding my bike more often again. While I can't seem to ride the distances I used to be able to do, I am trying to become consistent with my rides again.
I recently had a great chat with my friend JD, and he mentioned Zone 2 training to me. From what I understand, this is basically going long distances without straining your heart too much. This is to build endurance. Now, I don't have a heart rate monitor, nor do I have a high tech bike computer. All I have is a Cateye Velo 9 wired computer my dad gave me, and my adidas Running app on my mobile phone.
So how do I go about attempting this zone 2 training? Basically I try to set a pace I'm comfortable in and I try to maintain that pace and increase the distance I ride. Right now that's around 15-16 kmh around the subdivision. I know I can average over 17 kmh but when I do those rides I'm very winded when I get home.
With 15/16 kmh pace I can get home and I'm not as winded as before. How do I go about riding a slower pace? I try either spinning or grinding on my bike. Spinning is having a high cadence, and grinding is having a slow cadence. Since I don't have a cadence sensor I'm not sure if I'm legitimately spinning. When I do spin I use bigger gears that have almost zero resistance when I pedal, and when I grind I use smaller gears that make me feel the effort when I pedal.
So far I change techniques depending on my mood when I ride. There are days I prefer to spin to maintain my pace, and there are days I like to grind.
Bottom line is that hopefully I can keep this kind of riding up moving forward, and hopefully increase my ride distance back to averaging around 7-8 km per ride. Then go farther.
Out.
