Dear CW and readers,

I wonder if you would please give me a few pointers. I have recently converted to cycling from rugby and aim to peak for a sprint triathlon in September (about 14 weeks) where the cycling leg is about 13.5 miles.

I am a 5ft 6" 13 stone mesomorph (most of which is torso) and in training 5 times a week have over 500 miles of easy cycling (up to zone 3) under my belt but am not happy with my recent average speed for this route at 16 mph and just dont think i am converting my natural running speed. I believe the winner did it in about 37 minutes last year. In short I think my strengh/power to weight ratio is poor because i struggle to turn the big gears for any signifficant time. I guess my comfortable top flat speed would be about 20 mph but know this is poor.

Now, my question is, should I squeeze some heavy squats in before the event to build more leg muscle and improve speed or do you think i should focus on trying to lose weight to improve my power?

Any advice appreciated, I really want to improve.

Cheers,
Jason