Physics does fall into the realm of science, right? For those of you who take cycling seriously, I don’t have to convince you that there is a lot you can do with your pedaling to improve your force, and therefore, speed. For those who do not cycle, I think you’d be surprised how much physics there is in pedaling. One of my themes for this winter is to get faster on the bike (along with endure the swim and run on the forefoot), and so I want to study the pieces to the biking puzzle. No better place to start with the simple motion we learned when we were three years old.

I came across this website, and they have this great article on pedaling. I knew there was something to pedaling – something more then getting into a fairly uncomfortable seat, bending in a strange position for several hours, and just pushing DOWN as hard as I can on these tiny little pedals. Well, striking down is exactly where I was doing wrong.

The article’s main point is that the additional leverage you get by striking forward and down (think 45 degree angle) is MUCH more powerful than striking down. It sounds confusing, but check out the diagrams in the article. Read it over a few times because I definitely had to study the diagrams to get a better understanding of what the author meant with additional distance / force from more leverage. You have a longer length to push when you use your pedals this way, which gives you more time to generate power. That’s why longer crank shafts give you more leverage and can generate more power.

The other key takeaway from the article was the pull up in the back half of the pedal (the part where you’re clipped in and the force of the pedal pulls your leg up – yeah, that’s NOT how it’s supposed to work). The article says your leg weighs about 15 pounds, and if you’re not pulling your leg up, then your other leg has to compensate for that on the push forward/down, meaning you have to overcome 15 pounds just to get to the zero power threshold. If you’ve heard of trying to make your leg feel weightless, this is what the article is talking about. You should at a minimum be pulling up  your leg so that your other leg doesn’t have to work for that.

In addition, the area from 2 o clock to 7 o clock is a key area of power output. Here, the leg should almost be straight, and the feeling should be like wiping dirt/gum off the bottom of your shoe. Surprisingly, this swipe of the foot will account for about 25% of your power output. Crazy huh?

To summarize, here’s how your power breaks down:

• 65% on the downward push
• 25% on the swipe from the bottom to the beginning of the backswing
• 10% of the pull up (and mostly just to offset the weight of a free leg)

So how do you work on this? This is what I’m going to do

• One legged drills on an indoor trainer – get the feelings/leg positions right. The feeling should be smooth without jerkiness
• One legged drills while riding, but leave the other foot clipped in and just make it feel limp. In this position, don’t get jerky – it’s so easy to do
• Simulate the feeling in 2-3 mile intervals with both feet. In one interval, focus on the downward push with both feet. In another interval, focus on the scraping off gum feeling. In another interval, pull your leg up. The key is putting these all together, which is where the one legged riding comes in

If you know of any other good cycling articles, pass them on! I hope this one helps you get faster on the bike.