Do you drop your cadence when doing low-intensity recovery workouts? I’ve been doing my high intensity workouts with an average cadence of around 95 rpm. During the cool-downs, I find it hard to maintain that cadence because it feels like I’m pushing against…nothing. My pedal stroke winds up getting slightly erratic/choppy as a result. Should I just drop my cadence to something like 75 rpm, or is that a bad habit to form and I should push myself to stick with a cadence above 90 rpm, even when there is hardly any resistance?
If you’re in a recovery valley then cadence doesn’t matter as much. If anything, it gives you a break both mentally and physically when doing intervals. So there’s no harm in dropping your cadence within reason, I wouldn’t be down at 60s though. Whatever feels natural and comfortable then bring your cadence back up before the next interval. During a full recovery ride I’d go by feel. If you’re not in the mood for a higher cadence then again, do what feels natural. If there are cadence drills built into the ride text I recommend doing those.
During vo2max or threshold intervals I’ll be recovering at around 85rpm, I don’t like to drop down too far. For specific recovery rides like a sweet spot or something at like .65IF I’ll ride at about 90. When I race (triathlon) I typically ride at about 94-96. I’m still figuring everything out but that’s my situation at the moment.