Sojourner wrote:
- we have to have spinal rotation to generate good power
- there should be a sensation that the body is being pulled up at all the joints, like a marionette doll
- the tension should be stabilized from the core such that you feel so smooth it could make you think the same amount of power is being generated at all parts of the pedal stroke if you didn't know better
- all of the muscles should have some sort of cyclical tension/relax phase to them
- on the upstroke it feels as though energy is moving up the lateral portion of the leg starting from the outer area of the ball of the foot up the calf crossing the knee to the quad then crossing to the glute up the back to right behind the ear
- on the downstroke the energy returns down the spine from the ear out to the center of the quad around 12 o'clock
- as the pedal goes down the energy spirals towards the inside of the leg, with even the adductor magnus adding a slight twist and more down/back force between 3 and 5ish-o'clock
- eventually the energy leaves towards the inside ball of the foot
- the shoulders and arms will mirror the legs to a large extent in that the line of energy or tension spirals up and down, with a good example that you can see being alberto contador climbing out of the saddle. the sensation is similar while seated, but much more subtle so it's difficult to see in others if you haven't already felt it yourself
- probably the key checkpoint is to feel that everything is lifting in a way to make it feel as if you're floating, because when that happens the body is generally moving the best it can.
- the sensation of the energy coming up to and then returning from the area near the ear is one worth chasing if you haven't felt it before. it feels rather like your foot is almost stepping on an imaginary ground at the ear level in the sense there is no compression of the body between the ear and the foot. not sure how else to describe that right now.
holy crap. its a bike. the pedals go in circles. smash pedal for more force/speed/power. why do triathletes over-complicate and hyper-analyze everything?