I don't know... if mashing is really bad.

Men seem to have stronger connective tissues, joints, and muscle then women. So what is okay for men may not really apply to us.

I look at some top male riders and many of them are mashers. Look at Jan Ullrich of T-mobile. He was mashing gears while Lance kept a much higher cadence. Lance learned to spin more with help of Miguel Induran (sp) wasn't it?? And there are other male riders who consistently use big chain ring even when climbing cat2 hills...

And even if you to mash the pedals, shouldn't you still be putting power into your pedal at the top (pushing the pedal forward), back (pulling up on the pedal) and at the bottom (pushing the pedal backwards)? My quads, hamstring and glutes get a pretty good workout.

Any trainers out there with thoughts??

For the record, as I get older, I prefer to spin cause its easier on my knees.

Shawn