Thinking further about replicating my experiences with forced pace cycling, I thought I would share with this group that several people have asked for help in setting up a program like Jay's. We're close to starting one here in Seattle with the support of a local hospital, bike shop and good people. I'm working on putting together a template for people to follow anywhere. Is there interest in that?

i'm riding my recumbent but haven't achieved the 30-40min at 80+ rpm 3-4times/week yet and may never, it's not easy when healthy.
i'll be more motivated if another peer reviewed study validates the results of the 1st study.
so far no sig. benefit.

Soccertese, you have a good point about the study. I asked Jay and this is his response: "outcomes have not been replicated yet...we are in the midst of the clinical trial...my gut tells me those that are pedaling faster will do better. so, best answer is replicating these things takes time and this is what we are doing...in the interim this appears to be a program that is effective...the only downside is improved fitness and other benefits associated with exercise (not a bad downside)."

I have also found personally that when I lower my resistance and pedal near 90 rpm, I feel better. Yesterday I did hills, going up and down a 4.6% grade for 43 minutes (4 trips). My rpm wasn't high, but I'm sure this helped my fitness. Now I'm headed out for a 25 mile pretty flat ride; most of it will be in the 85-90 rpm range.

It looks to me that people on recumbents have a harder time keeping high rpm.

Did you see that I sent you a private message?

Nan Cyclist, I would love to hear your ideas about setting up a cycling program. I'd also love to see the poster of Jay's research. Please send it if you can.

I am in San Francisco which, like Seattle, is a a huge cycling city. I have been a cyclist for years. I have to think it helped delay the onset of my PD symptoms.

I do a lot of endurance events. These are typically day long rides with long distances and big hills. My cadence is usually 60-70 rpm on huge hills and 90-100 rpm on flats. I try to keep at 60-80 percent of HR and try to go 60-90 minutes between rest stops during events. Super easy gears are the key to high cadence and mine are about as easy as you can get (I use a combination of mountain bike a road bike gearing).

Based on my own experience, I think the benefits may be highest with a combination of moderate to high rpm plus moderate to high HR plus time plus a consistent pace. The balance aspect of outdoor cycling is probably also beneficial.

I have both arm tremors and a crampy left foot. Once on the bike, they are pretty much non-existent. I do worry that i'll lose my balance and get hit by a car; that's why I like participating in events. The food and companionship are great (and motivating!) and often roads are closed or traffic is light. And since there are cyclists of all levels on the road, you never need to worry about being the slowest one.

Keep pedaling,

Anne

Nan, you have inspired me to ride my recumbent tricycle harder & faster. Instead of leisurely cycling around the neighborhood, I am pushing myself to try & ride faster and longer each day. I don't know rpms but I'm increasing my mph. And I do feel better after every ride.

Jean

Tremorgrrrl and Jean B., Your posts are great. Tremor, you must kick butt going up hills! I'm so glad to hear of others who have that experience of losing their symptoms when they get on the bike.

Re setting up the cycling program. I put a few ideas on my webpage, accessible through pedalingforparkinsons.org That site also has my personal email address. If you want Jay's research poster and/or paper, please send me an email using your private address as the files are too big to post on this website. I'll be happy to send them to anyone. I am working with a local hospital to set up a cycling program as I believe I have mentioned before. It should be ready to pilot by the end of May. At that time the hospital will have developed a full packet of protocols, patient releases, medical forms and ways of keeping track of patients' progress. They are working with Jay to develop these materials. I expect that we will work through a pilot and make adjustments before making the whole packet readily available. In the meantime, if you read through the short checklist on my website, you can get started identifying significant connections you'll need.

Jean, re rpm. You can get a cheap cateye or other computer at any cycleshop and even ask them to install it for you. It will record distance, time, rpm, mph, avg speed, and maybe a couple of other things depending on your model. It is helpful to know your rpm. You can also get heart rate monitors on line to see if you are staying in the recommended zone of 60-80% of your maximum heart rate.

Nan... HMMM I DO have a cateye computer installed.... LOL maybe rpm is there aalready?? I'll look at it more carefully.

thanks

On the underside upper left corner of the cateye there is a little button that will toggle between mph and rpm.

well rats - my cateye does not have rpm as a function! But thanks for the tip - maybe my local bike shop has one and can install it for me... I'll check.

thanks, Nan