It's surprising, isn't it? You read enough posts by idiots on the other sections of this board and you'd think a fixed gear just plain doesn't work unless it's totally flat. Start riding one and you find out that it actually works just fine in the hills and is quite enjoyable.
We used to have a published author that was into looking at road riding fixed with some depth that isn't usually devoted to the subject, but this forum just wasn't mature enough to handle it. These are good links to start with.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...d-Gear-Bicycle
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...d-Gear-Century
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...d-for-distance
With respect to your questions:
Your body just gets stronger and the lower cadence becomes more natural the longer you do it.
Learning how to descend is sort of the same. Your body gets used to your feet spinning around and the hop eventually goes away. It is useful to recognize the different pedal strokes since some are better for super high cadence.
Originally Posted by
carleton
There are several pedal strokes, believe it or not. Each pedal stroke work better at different cadences and/or situations. Such as:
- Mash, mash, mash (crowd favorite)
- Mash down + Pull up at the same time (for applying instant power)
- Pull, pull, pull (great for going up long steep hills)
- Full circles (great for high speeds on a big gear. Really effective.)
- Push-Pull shuffle (forward/back) (Similar to mash-down pull-up, but horizontal instead of vertical. Great for maintaining super-high cadences)
- Float (applying no pressure. Similar to coasting on a freewheel. Basically move the feet as fast as the cranks want to move to avoid putting positive or negative pressure)
To take advantage of these, you have to have a proper fitting bike and do LOTS of drills and/or riding in order to get your legs to fire efficiently. That's what makes people look smooth and polished.