How to Pedal
It might sound obvious, or even a bit condescending to say this, but we'll say it anyway.
To improve as a cyclist, you need to learn how to pedal.
There, we've said it. Not too controversial and it does sound painfully obvious but it is an aspect of cycling that is so often overlooked by people of all abilities.
There's no point in buying fancy bikes and kit or racking the miles up over winter if you aren't even pedalling properly, getting a smooth and efficient technique is a pain and cost free way to improve.
Pedalling should be a smooth, steady motion - you aren't stamping on the pedals, you're getting as much power down as smoothly as possible during the powerful part of the pedal stroke.
See the below video and watch the action of the foot;
To improve as a cyclist, you need to learn how to pedal.
There, we've said it. Not too controversial and it does sound painfully obvious but it is an aspect of cycling that is so often overlooked by people of all abilities.
There's no point in buying fancy bikes and kit or racking the miles up over winter if you aren't even pedalling properly, getting a smooth and efficient technique is a pain and cost free way to improve.
Pedalling should be a smooth, steady motion - you aren't stamping on the pedals, you're getting as much power down as smoothly as possible during the powerful part of the pedal stroke.
See the below video and watch the action of the foot;
Notice that the foot starts to put the power down at around the 5 past the hour position, this continues right through the downstroke until around 25 past the hour where the foot does a 'scraping' motion which gets the opposite foot over the 12 o'clock dead spot. See below;
When the foot gets to the 25 past position, the action. moves smoothly from a downward push to a rearward scrape;
Finally, as the foot hits the 25 to position, the opposite foot has moved over the 12 o'clock dead spot ready to start its own downward push;
Pay attention to your technique while you are riding and look at using a set of rollers to improve your form and pedalling. Picture a smooth pedalling motion such as the below video in your minds eye and try to replicate that when you are riding.
