One of the joys of cycling is the feeling you get from getting around on your own power. Knowing that you’re not relying on fossil fuels, aren’t spending anything on petrol and are only limited by your fitness level are all what drew me to cycling in the first place.

Pedalling is what we use to get around on bicycles and although the concept might seem simple enough, there’s actually a lot of subconscious co-ordination that goes on when we pedal.

In today’s lesson we’re going to have a look at pedalling and some techniques to help you feel comfortable with it.

At this point you need to be feeling fairly confident with bicycle balance and have an adequate learning area so I’ll assume you’ve already come this far.

Pedalling is in essence rotating your feet in a circular fashion whilst at the same time maintaining your balance and control of the bike. Without pedalling the bicycle doesn’t go anywhere so it does rank up there as a technique you definitely need if you’re going to ride a bicycle.




1. Safety first

When getting started with pedalling there’s a few safety tips that should be observed until you’re comfortable with the basics of your feet on the pedals.


1. Start with regular pedals – Clipless pedals are a great addition to any bicycle but do come with an additional learning curve of their own. When learning something I believe it’s important to keep things as simple as possible. For this reason I’d highly recommend starting off with vanilla flat pedals.

Going from flat pedals to clipless later on is much easier then trying to master clipping in and out of clipless pedals on top of initially getting used to pedal motion.


2. Appropriate shoewear – You don’t have to go out and buy super strong soled riding shoes but make sure you’ve got appropriate shoewear for pedalling.

Open toed shoes and any type of slipper or thong are out. If you do have an accident and fall a bicycle has a lot of potentially point bits which will make easy work of your upper foot. The front chainring in particular is a potential disaster zone in the event of a crash.

Ideally you want a pair of closed, somewhat flexible but stiff on the sole shoe. I’d also avoid boots as they might restrict your ankles or prohibit you from feeling the pedals properly through the sole.




2. Start off with stationary practice

The easiest way to get a feel for pedals in a safe controlled environment is on an exercise bike. Either you have one yourself, know a friend who does or might have to go down to the local gym to have a play around.

Whatever the case an exercise bike is the easiest way to feel around a bicycle pedal system without worrying about everything else.

What you want to concentrate when approaching pedals on an exercise bike is not necessarily how fast you can go but more what the actual pedalling motion feels like. As you rotate one foot down the other comes up.

Pay attention to where you naturally place power on the stroke. Although much easier with clipless pedals later on your opposite foot from the down stroke (the one coming up), shouldn’t be interfering with the pedals natural up motion at all.

Additionally play around with the positioning of your feet relative to the opposite foot. You should know and be comfortable where your other foot will wind up if you place one foot in the 12 o’clock position on the pedals for example. Likewise you should also familiarise yourself with the 3 and 9 o’clock positioning too.

Standing up off the saddle is also something you should take advantage off while you have access to a stationary bike. Whilst not something you’d normally do unless you were climbing that last 100m or perhaps your bottom needed a rest, standing up out of the bicycle saddle is something every cyclist should be eventually able to do.




3. Find your dominant foot

Your dominant foot is the foot you lead with. It’s also usually the foot your going to put down and rest on later when you come to a stop. For me my dominant foot is my right and it’s the foot I always push off with, rest on when stopped and when coasting feel comfortable leading with.

To determine your dominant foot place your feet in the 9 and 3 o’clock positions on the pedals. Now carefully, try to stand up. One of these positions should be a lot more natural then the other.

Don’t worry too much if they feel roughly the same, over time you’ll naturally develop a preference… most likely without even realising it.




4. Placing your feet on the pedals whilst in motion

After your comfortable with the pedalling motion on a stationary exercise bike it’s time to combine pedalling with motion. To start off with lower your bicycle seat so that you can plant both feet on the ground simultaneously. This is far from an ideal position to pedal with but will give you a bit of extra confidence in steadying yourself if you start to wobble.

To start off with you’ll want to return to the incline that you used to become familiar with balancing on a bike. At this stage you should be comfortable with rolling down the incline and keeping your balance.

At the bottom of the incline bring yourself to a gradual stop with your brakes and familiarise yourself with removing your feet from the pedals and planting them on the ground.

What we want to get used to first is placement of your feet on the pedals whilst the bicycle is moving. Don’t worry about rotating your feet just yet. Instead, place the bike in a relatively low gear (meaning the pedals rotate easily) and  practice coasting down the hill with your feet either at the 3 and 9 o’clock, or the 12 and 6 o’clock positions.

Go with whichever feels the most comfortable and pay attention to which foot you naturally place in either the 3 or 12 o’clock position, as this is most likely your dominant foot.




5. Getting used to rotating your feet whilst on the pedals

Once your comfortable coasting with your feet on the pedals try combining rotating your feet whilst in motion. The easiest way to practice this is to put your bike on a flat surface and then gently push off and try to pedal a few rotations to keep you going.

If you attempt to do this in a high gear the pressure needed to turn the pedal crank (the stick of metal your bicycle pedal is connected to), might displace you and throw you off balance. Make sure your bicycle is therefore in a low gear.

Again when you come to a stop make sure you use the brakes rather then your feet to stop and focus on cleanly removing your feet from the pedals and onto the ground. This should eventually become a fluid motion and something you don’t have to think about.

Getting used to pedalling in rotation and moving is probably the hardest part of pedal practice and might take some time to get used to and be able to do confidently. Remember to keep your seat down while your learning but don’t be afraid to jack it up to a comfortable height as you get comfortable on the pedals.

Eventually you should be able to push off from your dominant foot whilst your other foot is already on the pedal. Then you should be able to rotate a few times and use your pedalling power and sense of balance to keep you going.

Try to think of pedalling as a fluid rotating motion between your two feet rather then one foot going down and transferring power over at a time.

Some people will take to pedalling naturally and others might need a bit more of a structure. If you fall into the latter category try setting yourself distance goals, say 10m then 20m then 50m and so forth. That way you’ve got a real sense of progression and something to work towards.




6. Troubleshooting

If you’re having trouble with the pedals themselves head back to the exercise bike where you can remove the balance and motion components of the pedalling equation. Focus on the pedals themselves and how your feet feel in them. An exercise bike has relatively the same pedal setup as a normal bike (although your centre of gravity will be more laid back), so don’t be afraid to move on from a stationary bike until you’re confident you can handle motion at the same time.

If balance and pedalling is an issue spend some more time practicing feet placement down a rolling incline. Don’t move on to rotating your feet until you can start to roll, place your feet on the pedals, coast down an incline, stop and remove your feet from the pedals comfortably and with confidence.


When people say ‘you never forget how to ride a bicycle’ they’re usually referring to the two most important aspects of cycling, pedalling and balance. By the end of these two lessons you should have a good sense of familiarity of both!

Next we’ll focus on controlling the bicycle as you ride it, specifically on how to turn . Until then, happy riding!


Related posts that might interest you:

1. Teaching adults to ride bikes: Lesson One – Balance
2. Teaching adults to ride bikes: Lesson Three – Turning
3. Teaching adults to ride bikes: Getting started
4. Teaching adults to ride bikes: Initial considerations
5. My craptastic bicycle ride through Westgate Park