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I'm a fairly new RPMer/spinner and have gotten very addicted to the classes.  What I have found, however, is that while I love the hills and mountain climbs, I often have trouble with the racing and speed work.  Perhaps my endurance is not there yet.  When climbing a hill, the red knob gets turned and turned - I just love the grind.  But when we go to racing in tracks 4 or 6 I often struggle if we are racing for more than 60 seconds, unless I add more red knob and slow down.

 Any suggestions on improving?

Yep, keep at it. :)

You'll note that in newer releases there aren't any periods of racing or aero-racing any longer than 60 seconds.  I'll have to defer to Dan on this one but I speculate that this is because any longer and people tend to turn down too far and bounce/spin free.

My personal advice - keep the load on(ish) during those periods, put on as much speed as you can but don't necessarily go for the beat straight up - sneak up on it and you'll feel better when you reach it!
 

Hi gbabb!

Welcome to RPM! While we ride the beat in tracks 3, 5, and 7, tracks 4 and 6 are more individual. That means you ride at YOUR top pace. You're on the right track by adjusting the resistance and slowing down your pace. You'll need to experiment a little to find what's the right resistance and pace for you at this time. Some things to think about the next time you're in class...

1. Control. Our mantra, "Never sacrifice control for speed." Stay in control of the bike. If you're bouncing around in the saddle, you are not in control. You are in control when your upper body is relaxed but stable and your hips are firm in the saddle. We stay in control with proper resistance, strong core muscles, and great technique.

2. Perceived exertion. You should never be maxed out at the end of a track 4 or 6. Theses are primarily recovery tracks to get yourself ready for the intervals and mountains. Uncomfortable or moderate open mouth breathing is where you wanna be at the end of track 4 and 6.

3. Pace. As your fitness increases, so will your top pace. As your technique improves you will ride more efficiently, which will increase your top pace. As your leg muscles get use to the higher cadences, guess what? Your top pace will increase. Basically just be patient and keep on riding!!!!

Hope this helped. Keep us updated on you progress!!!

-Mark 

Yep, stick with it. The way I coach it is to get a pace you can keep and are comfortable with making sure it is still giving you a constant workout. As you get used to it, try and increase the load but keep the same leg speed. Get a base resistance where you are pushing the wheel round rather than feeling the wheel starting to drag you round! Then think of gear changes, each one being a 1/4 turn of the resistance control!

 
I love the speed tracks myself, but it's one track that most participants find hard in my classes. More so than mountains!