Sure seems strange to me. I mean, how would spinning help me go faster (I know it is better on your knees) if you feel the muscles push down and horizontal, but not up?

Doesn't that mean you are essentially not using parts of your muscle - leaving the remaining parts to do all the work? I know I don't particularly like to pull up, but then, when I first started riding a few years ago, I didn't like regular peddling either - I was just out of shape!

I can spin fast in a low gear (well, 90-105 if I work at it), but I won't be going as fast as spinning slower. And if I push my effort in the next gear or two up, I would clearly be putting a lot more effort into the other parts of the stroke. Apparently that's what I'm supposed to do if I follow all this, but I must be missing something about the purpose of spinning then.