Interesting post on flats vs. clipless

[Catrin]

One of the reasons I love my Shimano A530's pedals - platform on one side, spd on the other. I find if I envision walking and or "kicking" (especially when tired) I have a more efficient pedal stroke

You use these on the mountain bike trail?

[Crankin]

I had these on my mountain bike, before I sold it. With my limited skills, it felt like safety insurance. Most of the time, if the terrain was hilly or very rooty, I rode with one foot unclipped.
Sometimes I would forget, clip at the start and then have an "oh s**t moment, when I would get to a climb and realize I was still clipped in and I thought I might have to bail. Most of my crashes occurred when I couldn't get up a difficult hill and I couldn't unclip, either.
Although, the last time I went mountain biking, I just kind of forgot and stayed clipped in the whole time, even up a steep little grade.
So different than on the road. Catrin, I am pretty sure your skills have surpassed whatever i achieved.

[SheFly]

The best tool for improving pedal stroke is rollers. I, too, had a VERY uneven stroke before I spent a lot of time on the rollers. It's smoothed out A LOT now, but was very evident when I first started.

And the thing that really helps me most mentally is to envision my feet tied to pie plates - rather than focusing on an upward or downward stroke, think about making circles.

SheFly

[redrhodie]

And the thing that really helps me most mentally is to envision my feet tied to pie plates -

SheFly

SheFly Pie! My favorite!