siulonbow

Hi,

If you have follow my stories, I have bought my bike for about 2 weeks now. Everyday after work, I took my bike out to ride at least 30 mins to enhance my physical condition (bike riding) and endurance. I asked a lot of questions and have collected a lot of information from a lot of experience riders here, I have tried to push myself to ride longer. I have ride a little bit faster and longer distance this week, I am happy that I am making progress. Next, I am going to find a hill to practice on my endurance. This is my plan for this week and next. I hope that I can achieve that goal.

While I was riding my bike yesterday, I have a couple of questions related to riding technique.
1) When I pedal, after one leg push down, should I lift up to assist my other leg while pushing down?
2) Should I use my knee to cooperate with my thigh? What is a better technique in pedaling?
3) What gear should I use? I have tried to shift to a higher gear recently on a flat road to practice riding on uphills. however, my speed in riding higher gear is only 1-2 mph faster than 2-3 gears lower. How should I determine what gear to ride?
4) I have seen a lot of bikers pedaling continously, but when I ride, I will pedal a few times, then I stop and let the bike roll. The reason I did that is because the pedal has become light, and I feel like i am stepping on air. There are a coupe of times that I have to shift to a higher gears, but then it will become harder. So I want to know how can I find a gear that I can keep pedaling?

Thanks for your help.

tollhousecookie

There is a ton of info on this.... but my two cents is....Find a flat road. Find a gear that you can spin in. Practice making circles with your feet, it's not a push and pull thing.

StephenH

While I was riding my bike yesterday, I have a couple of questions related to riding technique.
1) When I pedal, after one leg push down, should I lift up to assist my other leg while pushing down? I think the theory is that you pedal all the way around if you're clipped in. Seems like people have mentioned doing 1-leg drills to help with this. On platform pedals, lifting the alternate leg helps, but is not something I do all the time- mainly on hills.

2) Should I use my knee to cooperate with my thigh? What is a better technique in pedaling?
I don't think I understand the question here. You can't very well pedal without using your knees.

3) What gear should I use? I have tried to shift to a higher gear recently on a flat road to practice riding on uphills. however, my speed in riding higher gear is only 1-2 mph faster than 2-3 gears lower. How should I determine what gear to ride?
4) I have seen a lot of bikers pedaling continously, but when I ride, I will pedal a few times, then I stop and let the bike roll. The reason I did that is because the pedal has become light, and I feel like i am stepping on air. There are a coupe of times that I have to shift to a higher gears, but then it will become harder. So I want to know how can I find a gear that I can keep pedaling?

Ultimately, you use whatever gear works best for you. Keep riding, keep experimenting. If you find yourself spinning like you describe, try upshifting only one gear and see how that works.

thirdin77

You may want to take a class or course to receive instruction on when to shift and how to shift.

My question is- are you using clipless pedals, the kind that mechanically attach to the bottoms of your shoes?

In any case, here are my answers to your questions:

1. instead of just pushing down with one foot and then the other, you want to "spin" the pedals throughout their entire rotation; you push down, then pull back, then pull up, then pull forward, all in one smooth, fluid motion.
2. your whole leg, from hips to the bottom of your feet, should be acting on the pedal, not only your hips.
3. you need to read about cadence, and you want your cadence to be about 90 revolutions per minute (rpm)
4. if you feel like you're pedaling on air, then shift into one higher gear so you aren't pedaling much too fast or much too slow.

pilam99

Start to keep track of your pedal rate, i.e. "cadence". How many times per minute you rotate the pedals. 90 RPM is a good target. You can buy a gizmo to tell you the exact # or just watch a video of cyclists and you'll get a feel for what it is like, timing wise. Get on a flat, ride at 90 RPM. Shift gears until you are comfortable. As you get stronger you can do it in a higher gear. One way to practice the motion of pedalling in a circle is to ride with only one leg, best accomplished on a trainer or stationary bike with your free foot out of the way. You should be pedalling continuously unless you are bombing down a hill. And you should be shifting gears to keep your cadence fairly consistent depending on how hilly it is.

siulonbow

As for my cadence, I usually ride about 70 or so when i am at a lower gear, and when i shift higher, I am at about 50 range. Am I pedaling slow? Usually now I ride about 7-10 mph on a flat surface.