Originally Posted by jonestr

I am honestly surprised that you are a toe down rider as you seem to be an elder statesman around here.

Good luck getting used to dropping your heal. It really made a world of difference for me in staying with fast crits, flat road races, and TTs as before I would just try and survive between hills.

Originally Posted by roadwarrior

Just like very other sport, there's a learned technique. However, in this sport few bother to learn what you just learned. They just sort of pedal and muscle the bike.

Your foot will drop to the bottom...if you pull, which is what you are basically describing, now you are using more of the circle. Presto...more power. Me...I am pulling from about the 4 o'clock position.

Think of it another way...try to visualize the bottom of your foot parallel to the ground the whole way around. It won't be that way, but you'll start pulling backward more...the old adage about scraping mud off your shoe. I can't get the mud off the back of the shoe if my toe is the only part that touches the ground. Try it. Try pulling with your toe downward. Then with your foot more level to the ground.

When I am standing, my heel comes up more. I can get more pull that way. Look at a video of Lance climbing at those high RPM's.

Most people just push downward and that's it.

There is a new DVD series out by Joe Friel. One of the parts is on pedaling technique. There are a lot of folks that buy tons of expensvie equipment and never spend time on their technique. This is the time of year to do that.

Ride fast!