Pulling up on the pedals

[segolene]

You don't really want to think about pulling up or pushing down per se. You want to be making very nice round pedal strokes. The best way to see if you are accomplishing this is to unclip one foot and take it off the pedal - now pedal with one foot. If you have a hitch anywhere in the pedal stroke, you are not pedaling round! You will also feel the "pull up" more cause you have to pull up to get the pedal around.

spoke

Part of my work-out (warm-up) on the trainer last winter included one foot pedalling. Great way to safely focuse on the smoothness of your stroke!

Seg

[Geonz]

I try to think more of "stirring around" as if my foot were a dog on a leash trying to let the leash wear through that tree by running around in circles with the most force...

[Tuckervill]

I know for sure my saddle is not too high. In fact, I have been thinking it could edge up a notch. It's a fine balance because it seems even though I have it secured, the saddles on both my bikes tend to slip down over time (probably because I'm heavy, and underestimating how tight the bolt/quick release is).

I'll try the one-foot pedaling.

Karen

[Bad JuJu]

Re: pedaling in circles--that's how it was explained to me initially, but then the scraping/stepping over images helped me to accomplish the circles a little better. I've also heard the push-and-pull description, and that helps, too.

In spinning class once, there was a young woman next to me who had those pedals zooming around so fast that it reminded me of how cartoonists make cartoon characters look like they're going fast: by drawing the legs as if they're turning in a circle. So now that's another image--a fun one--to help me think about what my feet/pedals are doing.