My first workouts with PowerCranks

Last week I finally had my power cranks installed. Due to my busy schedule and already existing workouts the bike sat lonely waiting for me for a few days. On Friday sept 21st my coach finally handed me my first workout which was only to get familiar with them. The first 10 minutes were me just trying to figure out how to get a fluid pedal stroke with them. It was not easy, but I was finally able to get them moving correctly. The problem I had was being able to go longer than 30 seconds. It seemed that my abductor longus and iliopsoas were WEAK and just not able to go any longer. I spent an hour working on getting myself familiar. I had also had the cranks installed at 145mm and I think that hurt me as well since my legs felt cramped on the bike.

On Sunday I was assigned another hour long workout by my coach. 24 sets of 2 minutes on, with 30 seconds rest. I was worried I would not be able to finish the workout since only 2 days before I was struggling with 30 second sets. It took about 5-7 minutes of warming up to get into a rhythm, but once I did that I was able to get the 2 minute sets done. I definitely noticed that my legs were BURNING by the end of the 2 minutes. I had adjusted the crank arms to 165mm and put the bike into a harder gear which actually helped me to keep a consistent pedal stroke. When I had tried to use a lighter gear I noticed that I was unable to keep the pedal stroke slow and focused. The lighter gear caused me to spin to a point where I lost control and got out of rhythm.

I will say that the first sessions caused me to realize that I am weak in both a smooth pedal stroke, and strength in the pull up part of the stroke. My coach was quick to point out that this was normal and points to the fact that there are gains to be made in my overall cycling. That was reassuring for sure.

My goal for next season is a slot to Mt Tremblant and I am 100% sure that the PowerCranks are going to be the key to my success. Although the workouts were difficult I am definitely looking forward to the gains in both the bike and run. My weakness is being able to finish with a strong run off the bike and I can see how PowerCranks will help me to be able to run stronger off the bike. Super excited to see gains over the coming months. Happy I started with these now so I have time to get proficient with them.

Below are videos of me using the PowerCranks.

Aero bars

Out of the aero bars