In an effort to discover some "secret" that might translate to better performance for us mere mortals, much has been written and said about anything and everything that Lance Armstrong does. The most conspicuous difference between Lance and the rest of the pro peloton is, of course, his cadence.

Even before Lance’s third consecutive Tour de France victory, several members of the MVW peloton began increasing their cadence. Perhaps you have noticed. If not, take a look around and study the cadence of some of the more successful riders. (You will find two of Eric Snider’s favorite workouts below.

The basic trade-off with a high cadence is more work for the heart and lungs and less work for the muscles, which carry the load when one pushes a large gear. This is the basic formula that the MVW Founding Fathers preached way backundefinedyes, before Lance Armstrong was born. To ensure that everyone got it, Mark Tyson and Gary Dauer were the purveyors of gear limits in the early season club races. A 76-inch gear limit was followed by an 81-inch limit before we got in the big ring in mid-May. (Imagine that, you gear mashers.) Of course, Lance spins that same gear that we mortals can barely push. So if you wanna be like Lance, try matching his cadence, not his gear.

Dave Teall