Riding cues #4

04/04/26 18:02 Filed in: Riding

I used to have this cue printed on the long sleeves of my coaching clothing. If you want to go faster you have to pedal harder. While it is an obvious truth, it doesn't always occur to people in the moment. I remember riding up a hill with a friend on a ride and he kept shifting trying to stay with me on my singlespeed bike. The reality was, he had to do the work regardless of chosen gear. He just needed to pedal harder. (Incidentally, he rode his singlespeed the next time we went out and at that same hill he had no issues keeping up.)
To go faster on a bike requires either pedalling the same speed in a higher gear or faster in the same gear - either one is the "harder" I refer to.

The genesis of the saying was last minute advice to a rider going into a windy criterium race. At one point he thought about what I said, pedalled harder, and won. And so it became my thing.

In DH racing, sometimes to go faster you have to use the brake less. But that's a different cue!

Michael Hanslip Coaching

If you want to go faster, you have to pedal harder

Riding cues #4