Quote Originally Posted by Catrin View Post
I have one pedal up and one down,
This implies there's a skill you haven't had to learn yet. For some reason I refer to it as "pedal discipline". It's about being aware of your ground to pedal clearance at all times, and raising pedals to clear obstacles. Catching a pedal on something as you ride past will likely lead to a wreck.

This is needed a lot when MTB'ing, but also applies to road riding: You might be forced to ride right next to a curb. If you spin the cranks in a full circle, the curb side pedal will strike the curb. The solution is to coast or do short back and forth pedaling motions. Also, in a high speed turn you might be leaned way over. Unless you know the inside pedal won't hit the ground, you want to raise it and coast for safety's sake.

This reminds me a mountain path hereabouts: To the left are railroad tracks, to the right is a down slope. The narrow path makes one ride six inches from the ends of the railroad ties. Every now and then, the ground dips forcing the rider to raise her left pedal to clear the tie ends. And then suddenly up ahead on the right there's a mini retaining wall of boards held in place by metal rods pounded into the ground. Tie ends on the left and metal rods on the right! Eeek! Luckily I know I can coast through with the pedals held level.