Cat Dailey wrote:
:: Hi all...just wanted to give you an update after our interesting
:: posts about how far apart feet should be spaced. After receiving
:: lots of replies telling me that my seat was too low, I had the
:: brilliant idea of emailing Lennard Zinn at Velonews. His reply to
:: me was that most women should have their cleats set so that their
:: feet are as close to the crankarms as possible without rubbing. He
:: didn't give me the why, as it is evidently a subject he is convering
:: in his upcoming book.
::
:: SO....I moved my feet inboard a bit. I actually moved the cleats
:: out about 4mm or so (which as you know has a big impact on foot
:: position.) Lo and behold, NO KNEE PAIN and I rode another century
:: today just to make sure ; And as an added benefit, my feet felt
:: better, too (and that's at about 93 degrees today).
::
:: The funny thing is, I had already moved my feet in closer early in
:: the season and ended up moving them back out a bit again. I think
:: it was just too early in the year and I wasn't feeling "one" with my
:: bicycle as I am now. I think the farther out position had me
:: rolling my feet outside a bit on the downstroke. I had a lot more
:: power at the bottom of the stroke today.
::
:: I think I have about another 3mm to spare yet. Now the question
:: is, do I move them even further together? (I think Lennard would
:: say yes). Perhaps I will wait a week or so before I experiment
:: again.

As someone who apparently can ride centuries any day of the week without a
moments notice, it's clear that you must be at "one" with your bicycle. I'm
green with envy....

You rock.