By Ron Westerfeld

It’s a generic expression of effortlessness: “As easy as riding a bike.” But just how easy is riding a bike and can doing it without thought make it not only more difficult but make you more prone to injury? This could easily descend into a discussion of angles, vectors and anatomy but stay close, remain calm and well get through it with a minimum of physics and maximum of reward. Riding a bike is very simple, but that can describe just about anything done badly. The problem with riding a bike is that turning the pedals is so easy it’s difficult to think of it as a skill that can be learnt and improved. But ask any cycling coach and you’ll find they actually devote training sessions to pedalling technique even for elitelevel cyclists. So what do you need to know about the “skill” of pedalling. There are two points: pedalling action and pedalling speed. Let’s deal with the tough one
first: the action. That something so seemingly simple can generate so many theories and so many words is, of itself, quite stunning but let’s keep it simple. Pedals go round and round but legs tend to go up and down. And it’s here most people make their first mistake. Look at diagrams 1a 1b and you’ll see how most beginner’s pedal, waiting until the crank is well past the vertical before they generate any force. That downward “impulse” of force feels powerful but it only lasts for a moment before the pedal starts to move backwards rather that down. One way of looking at it is to realise pedals spend 25% of their time going down, 25% backwards, 25% going up and 25% going forward. If you only push down you’re only generating power for a quarter of each pedal stroke. To gain more efficiency you need to apply some force to those other vectors. Take a closer look at diagram 1a and you’ll notice the rider’s ankle is extended (toes pointed). This is a great way to make power but it really only lets you push down on the pedal stroke. Look at diagram 2a and you notice the ankle is flexed at the top of the stroke. This lets the cyclist generate a forward force on the pedals but also generate a downward force earlier (2b). It also means the rider can extend the ankle on the downward stroke allowing the calf muscle to actively assist the pedal rather than just splinting the lower leg. This concept of “ankling” started in Europe in the sixties but like most discoveries the early proponents made big promises and took the idea a little far, trying get riders to extend and flex their ankle through its entire range of motion with each pedal rotation. A lot of Achilles tendonitis was the result. A more commonsense approach is to simply allow the ankle to flex on the upward stroke so the heel is low as the pedals reaches the top of the stroke. The small extension of the ankle at the bottom of the pedal stroke then comes pretty naturally. But to get your heel low at the top of the stroke requires a couple of things: first you need the ball of your foot over the spindle of the pedals and that only works when you are using toeclips or clipless pedals. Most novice cyclists place their arch over the spindle and this restricts their ability to “ankle” and consequently concentrates their force on the downward stroke. The other thing you need is the correct seat height. Too high and you can’t “drop” your ankle across the top of the stroke. Too low and it feels unnatural to extend your ankle at the bottom of the stroke when your knee is still quite flexed. Because this technique spreads out the application of force it require less peak
muscle contraction but, when done correctly, it overlaps the application of force from your left and right legs meaning the bike is being constantly propelled rather that pushed forward by impulses. One way to check your technique is to remove one foot from the pedal and cycling with one leg. You’ll probably be surprised how “uneven” your action is when you first try it and you’ll probably notice the huge “dead-spot” that occurs from 10 to one o’clock where absolutely nothing happens. You’ll probably also notice how much stronger one leg is than the other. The other thing holding most novice cyclists back from peak efficiency is their cadence, or pedalling rpm. Most novice cyclists feel comfortable with a cadence similar to jogging, about 50rpm but if you look at elite cyclists very few ride at less than 90rpm and a few, such as Lance Armstrong, rarely drop below 100. Fast cadences work because they require less maximal muscle contraction and you can therefore supply enough oxygen to the muscle for them to produce their energy aerobically. “Mashing” the pedal at a slower speed allows a long maximal contraction of you leg muscles (mainly your quadriceps) and they will quickly fatigue. It also places a lot of stress where your patella slides against your femur. There’s a little of a chicken-and-egg situation here. Is your bad pedalling technique stopping you from spinning fast, or does spinning slower allow that bad technique to generate the most force? Whatever, you’re going to go through a period where spinning fast feels awkward and weak. Find a flat, smooth section of road with few traffic lights, tape over your bike computer so you don’t worry about speed and try spinning faster than normal. It will require an easier gear than you’re used to and it will feel weird, but stick with it. The key is to slowly raise your cadence over a period of weeks, adding a few rpm every couple of sessions. Try to keep it smooth and be aware that spinning faster will be difficult if your seat height isn’t correct, but apart from that it’s as easy as riding a bike.