Techniques to increase average cadence for endurance-riding? According to the Wikipedia entry here:


  Recreational and utility cyclists typically cycle around 60–80 rpm.
  According to cadence measurement of 7 professional cyclists during 3
  week races they cycle about 90 rpm during flat and long (~190 km)
  group stages and individual time trials of ∼50 km. During ∼15 km
  uphill cycling on high mountain passes they cycle about 70 rpm.1
  Sprinters can cycle up to 170 rpm for short periods of time.[citation
  needed]. The professional racing cyclist and Tour de France champion
  Lance Armstrong is known for his technique of keeping up high cadences
  of around 110 rpm for hours on end to improve efficiency.


What are the techniques to improve cadence? I am not targeting this question to touring or long-distance but for endurance-riding, meaning training for longer-distance with higher HF and higher speed. I like to do short repetitions for about 10 minutes with high rpm above 120 but I am not sure whether it is ideal and I am not sure how much resistance I should add during such periods. What kind of exercises do you do? The exercises do not necessarily need to be even on bike, as long as they meet the goal to train endurance-riding with higher cadence over longer time.

I am not sure what the last sentence in the wikipedia means actually: to improve efficiency through cadence? Anyway, I am looking for ways to improve average cadence &mdash; perhaps it will improve my efficiency also, not bad thing at all.

Some Perhaps Related questions or Useful Info


How can I improve my stamina?
A-bit-fuzzy and targeted-to-runners article about "faster running and better long-distance results" (using short sprints with hills) but perhaps good training also for cyclists, here
Perhaps helpful about endurance and speed, also about running, question here targeted to younger audience. Not sure whether relevant to improve the cadence.
In running, they have a trendy thing called "barefoot running" or "neutral running", this answer here claims that it can improve the cadence at least for running, no idea whether something like that could work in riding a bike.
If you want to change your cadence, just change it. Take your cruising gear on your bike and calculate what your current cruising cadence is. Let's say you usually cruise at 16mph and your typical cadence is 75. If you want to be at 90, go into a lower gear and try to keep the same speed. This will increase your cadence.

The benefit of a high cadence is that the higher the cadence the more aerobic you are (more cardio, less muscular). This will naturally increase your lung capacity providing increased stamina at any cadence because your vo2 max (google this) will increase with regular cardio sessions.