Do you know that sound when you climb a serious mountain? That sound that stays so close to you during the whole climb? As if you can not leave it behind. No matter how hard you try, it seems you can’t shake it off. It accompanies you on your way to the top:
The sound of a cricket.
The sound that crickets make is often called chirping, but the scientific name is stridulation. It is a myth that the cricket chirps by rubbing its legs together. The chirping sound is created by pulling the top of a wing along the bottom of another wing.
A wonder of nature: cycling chased by chirping wings.
Crickets chirp at different speeds and frequencies depending on the type and temperature of the environment. Most species chirp faster as the temperature rises. And that’s a welcome support when you sweep your way up.
The rhythm of the chirp supports your leg tempo. The faster the chirping, the higher your cadence! Crickets to motivate us to go harder, longer, faster and higher!
But the summer is not infinite and the temperatures are falling. Soon the familiar sound slowly ebbs away in the golden yellow glow of autumn. What to do now with our pace?
Thank God, there is music!
We all know the feeling that an upbeat song can get you excited and ready to go, helping to get the best out of yourself on your bike.
The music not only distracts you from the fatigue and discomfort of struggling and sweating on your saddle. The right tunes will trick your brain! They can make a workout feel less hard and also motivate to do more work without an increased sense of effort.
Research from Dr Karageorghis (Brunel University’s School of Sport and Education) explains that it all comes down to our evolutionary relationship with music. People respond favorably to rhythm which is embedded in our DNA. Like Kiki Dee already sang in 1974: I’ve got the music in me!
Sounds like another miracle on top of that of the cricket! Trick you’re brain and enjoy the psychological benefits while listening to one of you’re favorite songs. Murk knows all about it and reveals one of his secrets:
And Frank also selected a wonderful song to let our ego grow on the bike:
But that’s not all. If you listen to the right beat and synchronise your pedal rate with the music, it enhances efficiency. According to the same research less oxygen is required in order to perform the same amount of work, and the efficiency gain can be 6-7%. Like the cricket wings.
So if you go for a ride on the indoor-bike, you can select the right tracks on your playlist adapted to your training goal. What sort of cadence you’re looking to ride at? To push a big gear and do strength-endurance efforts? Or are you looking to spin your legs in a smaller gear? The advice for the ideal tempo is to ride to is:
Take your pedalling cadence in RPM (rotation per minute) and doubling that number to the BPM (beats per minute).
If we check out some of the favorite numbers of our alohahell-cyclists, we can say something about their pedaling cadence:
Giso shares some up tempo house beats with us and this may explain his high RPM (102).
The beat goes on for almost 12 minutes, with a little break in the middle. An ideal high cadence song!
Just listen to the good old ‘eye or the tiger’ and find your flow, according to
Rogier. Isn’t he the guy with the lowest cadence with 77 rotations per minute? Yes he is! Well, the rhythm of the song explains his predilection to push a big gear and do strength-endurance rides.
Maybe he should try a song Levi tipped, to try a smaller gear and find a new secret high-cadence-froome-flow!
And some of us just meets in the middle and stays with his head in the Italian atmosphere, like Erik. Low beat, high gear, heavy sweating and lots of endorfine!
For now we can only add a final message:
I don’t like cricket, I love it!
