furiousferret

When I ride, specifically when I hit a sprint and go all out, I notice that I 'curl' my toes inward. I've tried to stop doing this but its just something my body does when I'm concentrating. I'm not sure exactly why I do it, my best guess would be to keep my feet steady in the shoes on the upstroke. Should my feet be so tight in my shoe I can't do this? Anyone else do this?

botto 

i'm curious as to how you notice this malady when you "go all out"?

bigskymacadam

i would never notice this sprinting. however, when i do it i relax the foot and concentrate on spinning circles again.

oboeguy

Once the effort is over, OP realizes that toes are curled. Duh! Is it that hard to figure out? FYI, I find myself doing the same sometimes. Weird, I agree.

botto 

obviously you have never really gone "all out".

my toes are the last thing i'm thinking of after an intense effort. breathing is usually my first concern.

oboeguy

LOL. The point is that I doubt the OP notices while going all out, because, by definition, that wouldn't be all out. However, if every time the OP goes all out the toes are curled afterward, it's not much of a stretch to say that the toes curl during the all out effort. I do it more when I tense-up on the narrow GWB bike path than anything (having been hit by an errant, fish-tailing cyclist there I have a right to be squirrely!).

furiousferret

Okay, you got me. I notice it when I'm riding at a speed where the baseball card in my spoke really gets noisy my toes curl up.

CyLowe97

Ha!!!! Comeback of the week.

I find myself tensing up my toes, as well, during rides. I concentrated over the winter while I was on the trainer to keep my feet as relaxed as possible. My feet are still 'learning' to stay relaxed, but I find myself tensing up the toes more infrequently this summer.

Like any instinct, it has to be be concentrated on before you can forget you're doing it.

marqueemoon

Weird. I notice myself doing this all the time when I ride. My shoes fit fine too. It's just one of those weird nervous habits I think.

brianappleby

i do it too... I figure it can't hurt much. Sprinting isn't about efficiency, so curl away! Just make sure you're working to hard to notice it.

Snuffleupagus

Relax your face, the rest of your body will follow.

I'm not kidding...it helps. I used to get all scrunched up and angry looking during a hard effort (see avatar ), but after switching to an almost sleepy countenance I find I can push harder with more of my body staying relaxed, and conserving energy.

oboeguy

You know what, I think you're on to something.

KevinF

You're just trying to hard to generate speed. There was some study done amoung elite sprinters (the running variety). Their times when they went at a perceived 90% effort were faster then when they went at 100%. You have to learn to relax certain muscles -- otherwise the muscles that are suppossed to be working are working against the ones that are suppossed to be relaxed.

Much easier said then done. I sincerely doubt that there's one "trick" that works for everybody. You just have to experiment and find ways to relax during intense efforts.