Mind your cadence

Dear Miss Spoke:  What is the proper cadence etiquette on the bike path?

-Concerned in Concord


Dear Concerned:  I'm so glad that you have asked about this little-known etiquette issue.  I'm embarrassed to say that I myself was unaware of the proper cadence for many years. Much like a man blissfully unaware that his fly is down, I blundered along the path with the wrong cadence, offending my fellow cyclists left and right, until some kind soul brought it to my attention.

I remember it like yesterday (probably because it WAS yesterday).  As I rode along the path in the gathering darkness of evening, a fellow cyclist passed me and said these four words - "work on your cadence" and then disappeared into the distance.  Much like a cryptic message in a fortune cookie, these words mystified me and I pondered their meaning the rest of the way home.  Was my rear light blinking at an annoying interval?  If so, how would I "work on" that?  Was the man on the phone to his marching band and I just happened to catch that phrase as he passed me?  Like so many who have faced such questions before me, I turned to the Internet for help.

I was fascinated to learn that cadence is actually a thing in cycling, while I had been cycling for approximately 35 years without knowing anything about it.  I learned that there are different schools of thought on the "optimal" cadence and that one should avoid being a "masher" pedaling slowing in high gear or a "spinner" pedaling quickly in a low gear.  As a bike commuter, my pedaling philosophy has always been centered on getting home as fast as possible while expending the least amount of energy.  As it turns out, this probably makes me a masher, which can apparently be painful for more expert cycling enthusiasts to witness, not to mention my own knees.

Feeling very contrite about the offense I must have caused over my many years of cycling, I have determined to follow the proper cadence etiquette from this point forward and I urge everyone else to do the same.  And so my dear Concerned in Concord, if you are a masher, pedal faster and if you are a spinner, pedal more slowly.  If you don't know the optimal cadence, I suggest you consult some of the several research studies in this area, or possibly, a fortune cookie.