pedaling with my toes down.

[Kayla Marie]

Correction, No such thing as pedaling circles.

Riding with your heels down is incorrect for most people except that it worked for Greg LeMond. It is dead mass below the axis of rotation.

You want to maximize the downward force component (ie impulse) between the 2 and 7 o'clock position of pedal stroke.

Their is a paper by Ed Coyle et. al., that showed that when subjects were matched for physiological attributes (ie vo2 max) that the difference between the state level cyclists and the national class riders were that the national level cycles, had a greater impulse in the downward potion of the pedal stroke. The better cyclists didn't drop the heels or 'pedaled' circles.

Kayla