I'm a diesel. Always have been. I ride pancake flat 99% of the time. And alone that same 99%. Lately I've been pedaling 52/16 into a headwind, or jra, and 52/12 for the downwind stuff. And sometimes just to feel my legs burn. Slow cadence; very rarely get up to 80, again except for short stretches downwind. My knees like it, as does my back--my two weak links. In the summertime, it's too hot to be out for more than a couple hours at a time. We'll see how things change come wintertime, and longer rides. I ride toes clips and sometimes mtb pedals with the little spikes on them, so I can pull back, but not up. I've been lately trying to concentrate on the top and bottom horizontal part of the stroke.

Edit: I've never paid any attention to this stuff in the past, but my 66 years have recently demanded I do.