The Gastrocnemius, Hamstring and the Pedal
I was following a friend up a hill the other day, it had been a solid ride and we had maintained a very respectable pace the entire afternoon. As she got out of the saddle to honk up the last bit of this steepish hill I noted that in the bottom of her pedal stroke her heel continued down past the axis of the pedal.
Now please jump in if you think I’m wrong.... or if you think that my summation is wrong. But this appeared to be a pedaling action defect of some kind.
When we reached a flat section I rode up along side asked if she was aware of what she was doing, She smiled and said “get up this bloody big hill !”
I have in other threads stated that there is a need for (gastrocnemius soleus ) calf strength as the calf is recruited in knee flexion and to stabilize the foot through the pedaling action.
In my early years on the bike I would depend on my hip flexors to assist me when my quads tired. I’d sit and lift my knees in a deliberate action. This however ( I believe ) inflamed a predisposition I had to back pain as I have a loss of natural lordosis and scoliosis right at the base of my spine. I didn’t know it then.
I have since become an advocate of dragging one’s foot through the bottom of the pedal stroke recruiting the calf and the hamstring as a way of increasing power ( in relatively high cadence action ) through a tough section of a hill, even out of the saddle.....because I have very strong calf muscles. At times I feel like I’m going to rip the heels right out of the back of my shoes.
Now I know some of you are going to go on about the merit of a smooth circular action and some are going to denounce it.... my action is smooth...percentage of additional force is not such that it looks any different from observing...
Smooth pedal stroke is in my opinion as much to do with opposing force (what he other leg/foot is doing ) as much as it is to do with the stuff of one legged training. I read somewhere on this forum that most serious competitive riders actually produce more downward force ( percentage wise ) in their cycling action then recreational riders.
Before I start giving advice to another rider, I was wondering what you’s guys think ?
I was following a friend up a hill the other day, it had been a solid ride and we had maintained a very respectable pace the entire afternoon. As she got out of the saddle to honk up the last bit of this steepish hill I noted that in the bottom of her pedal stroke her heel continued down past the axis of the pedal.
Now please jump in if you think I’m wrong.... or if you think that my summation is wrong. But this appeared to be a pedaling action defect of some kind.
When we reached a flat section I rode up along side asked if she was aware of what she was doing, She smiled and said “get up this bloody big hill !”
I have in other threads stated that there is a need for (gastrocnemius soleus ) calf strength as the calf is recruited in knee flexion and to stabilize the foot through the pedaling action.
In my early years on the bike I would depend on my hip flexors to assist me when my quads tired. I’d sit and lift my knees in a deliberate action. This however ( I believe ) inflamed a predisposition I had to back pain as I have a loss of natural lordosis and scoliosis right at the base of my spine. I didn’t know it then.
I have since become an advocate of dragging one’s foot through the bottom of the pedal stroke recruiting the calf and the hamstring as a way of increasing power ( in relatively high cadence action ) through a tough section of a hill, even out of the saddle.....because I have very strong calf muscles. At times I feel like I’m going to rip the heels right out of the back of my shoes.
Now I know some of you are going to go on about the merit of a smooth circular action and some are going to denounce it.... my action is smooth...percentage of additional force is not such that it looks any different from observing...
Smooth pedal stroke is in my opinion as much to do with opposing force (what he other leg/foot is doing ) as much as it is to do with the stuff of one legged training. I read somewhere on this forum that most serious competitive riders actually produce more downward force ( percentage wise ) in their cycling action then recreational riders.
Before I start giving advice to another rider, I was wondering what you’s guys think ?
