Zero-torque pedaling

[beige_alert]

I don’t tend to think of myself as an especially fit or fast cyclist, since I get passed regularly by roadies and I watch the Tour de France riders do things so far beyond what I can do that we are not even doing the same thing. I’ve operated motor vehicles that are slower than those guys. Nonetheless, I may be a bit fitter than average. It doesn’t surprise me that some people ride slower than me, but the ones who look like they are pedaling away vigorously but who somehow fail to move vigorously do sometimes surprise me.

Today, on the way home from work, I was briefly behind someone who was standing on the pedals, like a sprinter, or someone climbing a steep mountain grade. I followed mostly by coasting. There was a slight uphill section on which I pedaled, though in a very high gear since I was putting out so little power that my usual 90 to 100 RPM cadence would be silly. As the road leveled out, I resumed coasting. Just ahead the stand-up pedal pounding continued. Is there some training tip that involves standing on the pedals but putting out no power that I’m unaware of?

A few years back, I followed a pair of cyclists down a long, shallow grade. The pedaled continuously. I coasted. Eventually, I’d start to fall slightly behind, and I’d turn the cranks over three or four times to catch up, and perhaps brake slightly if I’d been too enthusiastic. Then, more coasting. Ahead, continuous pedaling. These were generic mountain bikes, not fixed gear bikes.

Going slow I can understand. Zero-torque pedaling I don’t. Any ideas?

Comments

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

When you're riding for aerobic exercise (as opposed to either for fun or to get from point A to point B), you supposedly get the best results if you're pedalling constantly at the fastest cadence you can comfortably maintain.

[beige-alert.livejournal.com]

Now we get to the other thing I keep noticing: people in absurdly high gears, apparently believing that if they are pedaling slowly it must be easier, even if they are tiring themselves out and messing up their knees.

In any case, the people I'm referring to are doing roughly the same thing as taking their chains off and coasting downhill while slowly turning the disconnected pedals over, which is not the route to aerobic fitness. Either that, or their brakes are stuck on, which you'd think they'd fix, but maybe not.