Proper Cycling Form
By Rich Strauss

This is my systems check for cycling form.

Head:
Relaxed and in a neutral position. I will discuss bike fit and comfort in a latter article, but if your bike fit is killing your neck and upper back, then it's also killing your run. Keep your face muscles relaxed, sunglasses help.

Hands and forearms:
Relaxed, don't tightly grip the aerobars. Sometimes I'll put my thumbs on the outside of my bars so I don't grip them, or I'll tap my fingers lightly on the bars.

Upper body:
Unless you are climbing, you should be completely relaxed from the waist up. Any upper body motion is wasted energy, and most commonly results in poor "tracking." Tracking is your ability to ride in a straight line. Ride behind a smooth cyclist and you will notice that his bike travels in a smooth, straight line, with no side-to-side movement. Ride behind a poor cyclist and you will see the bike move from side-to-side. Each movement away from a straight, forward line is wasted energy and speed. Most tracking errors are cause by excessive upper body movement. Try this drill: while you are riding, put both wheels on the white line on the right side of the road. Now try to ride on this line without looking at. Looking at it will cause you to make constant small corrections. Simply ride in a straight line. As a variation, do this drill in the early morning while riding west away from the sun. You should be able to see your shadow and witness any upper body movement.

Knees:
Now look down. Try to keep your knees in close to your top tube. They should almost brush the top tube and look almost "knock-kneed." Your knees create wind resistance, so keep them in. Also, if your knees are stuck out away from your body, the transfer of power to the pedals is less efficient. I try to think about bringing my knees up to my chest, or almost touching them to my elbows, and almost crossing them over my top tube. Watch a slow motion video of the time trials in the Tour de France, and you will see the top cyclists keeping their knees tucked in.

Pedaling:
The most important part. People will often say that you should try to "pedal in a circle." In fact, the most powerful portion of your pedaling stroke is from about 1:00 to 5:00 on the down stroke. The difficult part of pedaling is how to smooth out the direction transitions at 6:00 and 12:00. At the six o'clock position, try to think of it as "scraping mud off your shoe." At twelve o'clock, imagine yourself trying roll the top of a barrel forward with your foot. I think that until you can smooth out these transitions, trying to apply any power on the upstroke with the small muscles of your hip flexors is a waste of time. Pedaling, cadence, drills and cycling power are a very involved subject that I will cover later.

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