Secrets of Pedaling
Pro cyclists pedal differently from ordinary mortals. When you’re on the road, you can always tell the well-trained cyclists by the way they pedal.
Some like to stand on the hills, others prefer to sit. Some pedal with a wild, bat-out-of-hell ferocity, others pedal from their center and exude Zen. But strip aside those personal styles and look at their feet. The motion is smooth – regardless of the gears they push, the speed they ride or the assaults of weather in their faces. Efficiency rules.
The pros have a secret. They know how to pedal to get every bit of power possible out of their stroke.
Most people simply push down to the bottom with their right foot, then start transferring pressure to their left. It’s instinctive. But it’s not what the pros do.
When their right foot gets to the bottom, they dig in their heel, as if they were scraping mud off the sole of their right shoe. They hold that power through the bottom of the stroke and all the way back up to the top, when they start again. They do the same with their left foot, holding the power through in a push/pull motion.
Their right feet are pulling while their left are pushing. As one pushs down and scrapes off the mud, the other pulls up and steps into the next circuit perfectly synchronized, smooth as you please. There’s no wasted motion. This slight shift in effort makes an enormous difference. You get a smooth circle of power and efficiency all the way around.
To improve your efficiency, a good coach will recommend you do single-leg rotations on an indoor trainer to practice until this motion starts to feel natural. Once you’ve put in your time on single-leg drills, take your new skill on the road. Before long, people riding toward you will mistake you for a pro!