Learn to spin in the 90's on the flats, which is much faster than novices pedal. Get off your bike after the first ten minutes and stretch your hamstrings, calf muscles, and quads. Cool down Go easy the last 10 minutes of your ride to cool down properly. This will wash toxins out of your muscles and allow you to cool down, which greatly improves your perfarmonce the next day. Strengthen At the gym use the leg curl machine to strengthen your hamstrings.
Cyclists tend to overdevelop quads and underdevelop hamstrings, leading to injury problems.
Avoid the leg extension machine. It's not necessary for cyclists, is hard on the knees, and is really only useful for getting extra loft when kicking the cat after you loose a race. See our section on strength training . The bike frame needs to be the right size, you need the right size and rise of stem, size of handlebars, and proper adjustments to stem, seat post and seat rails, and shoe cleat positioning. If the back of your knees hurts, lower the seat.