Foot Position

[SouthernBelle]

I realized earlier this week that I tend to ride with my feet in a toe down position. When I remember to correct this, It corrects other things, primarily staying back in the saddle where I belong and am more comfortable. When I think to keep my heel down all is well. But when my mind goes elsewhere, the foot goes right back to the bad position.

Any suggestions?

[limewave]

Well . . . our spin instructor (who is also a roadie that rides a bazillion miles every year) says to move your foot like you are scraping gum off the bottom of your shoe. That's how I try to ride. But, I'm not sure if that's the correct foot movement for road riding too or if its just for spin class. Anyone else have input???
Thanks!

[Cassandra_Cain]

Hmmm, interesting dilemna, but well worth looking into.

I used to be a notorious ankler when I used to ride years ago. Ankler being what sometimes is used to describe the heel-up/toe down pedal stroke style.

A 6 year hiatus and I seem to be doing much better. Part of it is flexibility in my ankles, which has improved, but also just concentrating and thinking about the pedal stroke.

Mentally, what I think of doing as I pedal is to starting dropping my heel at about the 9-12 o'clock position (so it is level or even slightly below with my toes). Then on the downstroke my heel, and foot, is parallel to the ground.

My advice is to a) try to focus and always stay connected to your pedal stroke, in time it becomes second nature, and b) try doing some slower speed cadence drills and/or one legged drills....those really make you go through the whole pedal and could help keep the heel down.

Good luck :)

[SadieKate]

Greg LeMond is typically the one quoted for the heel down technique. He described it as driving your knee forward at the top of the stroke and scraping off goo from the bottom of your foot at the bottom of the stroke.

According to Arnie Baker, MD, studies show that ankling can actually be a waste of energy.

And, it just takes practice to make it habit. Remember that a lot of improvement in cycling comes from developing muscle memory.

[SouthernBelle]

It's one of those things I had read about, but I physically never felt it before this week. I had certainly had never connected it to saddle position before. I will concentrate on it, esp on my Saturday ride, Maybe put a stickie noe on the stem. :rolleyes:

Isn't it funny how getting one part of your body straightened out fixes something else too!

[Kalidurga]

Since going clipless, I've begun using three techniques to help focus on my pedal stroke:

1) The Lemond knee-to-handlebar/mud-off-foot image. This was especially made clear to me after Floyd Landis' Stage 16/17 rides. His coach compared the two rides on OLN and compared how Floyd's knees snapped up at the top of his pedal strokes all through Stage 17.

2) To reinforce the mud-off-foot idea, I lead with my heel through the bottom of the stroke. This helps a lot to keep my foot level.

3) I picture my feet going around the pedal stroke as the hands going around the face of a clock. This really helps me to keep my stroke circular.

I also periodically stretch each leg out at the bottom of a stroke and pull my heel down hard. It's a good stretch, and just one more reminder to keep my heels down. All of this is, of course, much harder to remember once I get fatigued :o

[pooks]

I just got my Power Grips but haven't installed them yet. Will using them help with foot position, or do you still have to concentrate to get it right?

[Kalidurga]

I used PowerGrips for about a month, pooks. They feel very similar to clipless pedals when you're in them, so yeah, it's still the same issue. Clipless just holds the ball of the foot that much more securely than PowerGrips. The big difference I noticed with both PowerGrips and clipless was not so much in my feet, but in my legs. As for foot position, when the ball of your foot is all that's connected to the pedal, it's still easy to pull the heel up into a toe-down position.

You could try shoving your foot farther into the PowerGrip, but then you'd be pedaling from the arch rather than the ball of the foot and that's not as efficient. I'd think the best solution for this would be really stiff cycling shoes.

[SouthernBelle]

Pooks, I ride clipless and that hasn't changed that issue at all. Attaching yourself to the pedal doesn't seem to affect your toe pointing direction. :o

[Kano]

Wouldn't it be nifty if they made a high-top bike shoe with a wicked stiff ankle area to keep us "off our toes"???

It wouldn't have to be REALLY high, just enough to sort of cut into the achilles tendon if we hit a wrong angle...

Sure would be a great learning tool -- no thinking about it, just pain when we don't do it the way we oughta!

Karen in Boise

[SouthernBelle]

Wouldn't it be nifty if they made a high-top bike shoe with a wicked stiff ankle area to keep us "off our toes"???

It wouldn't have to be REALLY high, just enough to sort of cut into the achilles tendon if we hit a wrong angle...

Sure would be a great learning tool -- no thinking about it, just pain when we don't do it the way we oughta!

Karen in Boise

Aversion Therapy

[neuroticcyclist]

Definitely not toe down. Ankling tends to reduce the activation of your hamstrings that are activated when you push your heel down a bit (we're talking clipless here). The hamstrings and the *** are the biggest muscles in the body, so you might as well use them! If you don't put your foot in the right position, you tend to use more quads, which cuts your power. In fact, if you do the "Lance" hill adjustment and move forward in your seat a tiny bit on a hill climb and pay attention to the foot position, you get even more power.