Gauge intensity with the "breathe & talk" test.

Suppose you don't have a heart monitor or watts meter. How can you judge how close to your redline you're riding when you're sitting on the front of the bunch in a headwind, climbing a tough hill or doing intervals?

Simply tune in to your respiration rate and ability to make conversation.

Try it by riding at a steadily increasing pace up a long hill or into the wind. Pay attention to your breathing and speech. You'll notice three distinct stages:

Stage 1: You breathe steadily and rhythmically. It doesn't feel forced. Conversation is easy. This is the perfect effort level for recovery rides. For long, aerobic training, simply increase the pace a bit.

Stage 2: As riding intensity increases, you become much more aware of your breathing. You notice how you turn the pedals a certain number of times per breath. Conversation is possible but forced. Sentences may shorten to phrases between efforts to get more air. Use this intensity for lengthy climbs, training time trials and fast group rides when you're on the front.

Stage 3: Steady deep breathing turns to panting or gasping. Your quads burn. Talk? Forget about it! (Unless you count whimpers and groans.) This painful intensity is reserved for intervals, hill jams and crunch time during competition.

If you tune in to your breathing as you ride, you'll soon learn to distinguish among these 3 intensity levels. You'll be able to objectively gauge how hard you're going -- and how much you have left before reaching your Stage 3 redline.

Source: RBR