So you want to be a better cyclist? Perhaps you’re a sportive rider, or a beginner time trialist or a speedy commuter or just a leisure cyclist looking to improve your style. Regardless of what you are, if you want to
- Waste less energy
- Be faster
- Be more aerodynamic
- Optimize your power transfer
- Ride Smoother
You need to be more efficient
To do so you need to focus on your pedalling technique. Think about this, there is only one thing that propels you, one thing that gets you from a to b, and that my friend is pedalling.
Consider a race car. It may have certain rules or limits applied to it, for example it may have a maximum cc engine allowed, or an upper limit on the horse power. Given that everyone in that racing classification has these rules, why are some cars faster than other? Because engines have been made more efficient, the mechanics of the car have been setup to offer the best possible power transfer between the engine and the wheels.
I have read various articles on improving your pedalling style. Some talk about concentrating on moving your feet in circular motions, others break the pedal stroke up into four different areas – down stroke, bottom, upstroke and top. I have tried these suggestions but the fact of the matter is, my brain simply can’t handle thinking about all those things for both legs at 100 rpm! I mean, I think I have a reasonably high IQ but it’s already hard enough to concentrate on breathing, avoiding pot holes, not being run over by cars and so on. All this ever achieved was actually breaking up my rhythm even more and making my pedal stroke quite blocky.
Here’s what works for me. Whilst cycling ask yourself one thing…
How would a Jedi Knight pedal with maximum efficiency?
The answer is simple. He would use the force. OK OK, before you click away just bear with me a second. Now, whilst I do ride a fixed wheel bike in the winter I am not one of these people who harps on about “feeling at one with your bicycle man” (although riding fixed is a great sensation). What I’m trying to say is, rather than breaking the pedal stroke up into sections or even trying to get your brain to tell each leg to make a perfect circle, simply clear your mind and try and get your feet to show your brain what it is to pedal smoothly. The simple fact is, your brain doesn’t know what it feels like, but with trial and error your feet can feed it the information it’s looking for.
Find your inner Jedi
The first time I experienced this was in a spinning class. It was near the end of the class so we were all pretty tired. The instructor made us ramp up the gear for a sprint finish. He asked us to max out the rpm meter. It tops out at 145 (at which point it blinks “stop”). Being quite tired I struggled to accelerate to the pace (I was cursing the instructor for making us up the gears so high). I looked around the class, everyone was red faced, puffing and panting and frantically moving there body side to side to try and make the speed. I realised that even if you can stomp out 145 revs per minute you will quickly fade. I gave one big push to up the speed and slid forward on my saddle (creeping forward in my saddle really helps me go that little bit faster). Rather than concentrating on peddling smoothly or even quickly I tightened in my stomach muscles to support my back and tried to relax the concentration in my legs. Now it should be pointed out that the spinning bikes are fixed wheel so it is easier to maintain a momentum once you have it in place. But suddenly I realised that I was cycling in a perfectly smooth fashion and it was hardly any effort at all. To maintain it I almost had to concentrate on not concentrating (if that makes sense). The rpm clock was blinking “stop” at me and I was able to sustain this until the end of the set. Don’t get me wrong, I was tired after that but I had reached the goal and more importantly I felt what it was to cycle smoothly – I had found my inner cycling Jedi.
Rather than forcing your feet to peddle in a fashion that your brain thinks is right, allow the perpetual motion to carry your feet into an efficient style. If you hit upon this sensation once then it is much easier to replicate because now your brain understands how it feels. Much like jugglers have the ability to keep 8 different objects in the air – whereas a mere mortal would think about which ball to throw with one hand next and catch with the other hand and so on and not even complete two or three balls worth. You cannot make your brain force your body to think about doing stuff but you can remember how something feels.
Practice makes perfect
So how to really nail this? Well, this winter I bought a cheap fixed wheel bike and my goodness it made a difference to my cycling style. I quickly realised that my perception of my cadence fluidity was overrated. My style was jerky and I had the usual dead zones that many novice and intermediate riders have. Let me tell you, nothing sharpens your pedalling skills faster than doing 30mph down a hill on a fixed wheel bike. You either pedal smoothly or bounce around like Pamela Anderson on a roller coaster!
As mentioned, spinning classes use bikes with fixed wheels and regular attendance will improve your pedalling style as well as your recovery rate. They are also much less scary than the aforementioned downhill fixed wheel experience.
Isolated Leg Training (ILT) is also beneficial and will quickly show you your dead spots. Many people advise using a turbo trainer because speeding down the road with one leg flailing around in the air is neither safe nor aesthetically pleasing. However, there is no need to remove your foot entirely from the pedal. Simply allow one foot to do all the work for 30 seconds on a flat road, then switch feet. If anything it’s an awesome workout and will make you stronger.
Let say I find my Inner Cycling Jedi – so what?
Well my friend. Once you have mastered it in training, cycling (especially on the flats) becomes so much more efficient. Less energy is wasted therefore you can go further at a greater speed. There are less dead spots and you bounce around less – this maximises the transfer between the power that your legs are producing and the speed that your bike is moving.
Conclusion
Quit trying to tell your feet how to pedal smoothly. Search out your inner cycling Jedi and use the force. Support your back and allow your legs to spin at a rate which feels maintainable. Let your feet do the talking. Your brain will follow.