We all learned to ride a bike when we were kids...or did we? There’s more to biking well than balancing on two wheels and making the bike go forward.

I’ve spent a lot of time on bikes. At one time, I felt I was an adequate recreational cyclist.

Then, in 1998, my best friend David Shedd began biking seriously. He currently races for Base36/MyRaceWorld.com, a competitive sponsored team in Maine, and has won a bunch of races and a Maine state mountain biking championship, and finished the Mount Washington Bicycle Hillclimb (a climb of 4,727 feet in 7.6 miles) three times in three tries. As he’s improved, I’ve stolen a few of his secrets and become a better biker myself.

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FITTER FIT According to Shedd, “Competition-level bike fitting is a science; if you want to pedal your best, get your bike fitted by a pro. But for recreational riders, the most important dimension on a bike is the easiest to adjust: seat height.”

Most casual bikers pedal with the seat too low, which is inefficient and leaves you open to knee-stress injuries. Here’s the fix: Adjust your seat so your leg is fully extended  with your heel slightly down (about a half inch below level) at the bottom of the pedal stroke. You naturally pedal slightly toe-down, which prevents overextending your knee. Just make sure you aren’t rocking your hips side to side to reach the bottom pedal. They should remain perfectly level as you pedal.

PEDALING IN CIRCLES Not even Lance Armstrong applies optimum force throughout the full arc of pedal movement, and most recreational riders push down on one pedal at a time, which is only one part of an efficient pedaling motion.

Shedd’s prescription: “Pay attention to how you apply force at three points of the pedal stroke: pull back at the bottom, lift up through the back of the stroke, and push forward in a strong transition over the top. This dramatically increases your pedaling efficiency.”

To learn, Shedd recommends pedaling your bike on a cycling trainer or on flat ground using just one leg at a time: “Focus on learning the unnatural moves of pulling back and lifting up, and you’ll make huge gains. Pushing forward over the top and then down are more natural.”

Ideally, you should be attached to your pedals via clips or cages. That connection keeps your foot in optimum position (directing the major, downward force under the ball of your foot, not the instep) and helps you maintain a smooth application of power through the full circle of motion. When you again use both legs, you will find it easier to simultaneously pull back on the bottom pedal as you push forward on the top pedal, and to lift the back leg as you push down with the forward leg. That’s pedaling in a perfect circle.

THAT SHIFTY CADENCE Watch bikers riding up a hill. If their pedaling slows markedly or they are standing to push harder, it’s often a sign that they aren’t using their gears correctly.

“Your goal in shifting is to maintain a steady cadence,” Shedd advises. Too high a gear will force you to slow down, which strains muscles, pressures knee joints, and reduces efficiency. Too low a gear and you’ll feel like you are chasing your pedals. Shoot for 90 revolutions per minute as you learn (15 full turns of the pedals in 10 seconds). “Start on a flat in an easy-to-pedal gear,” Shedd says. “Practice moving up and down through the gears at different speeds until shifting becomes second nature. Then take to the hills and anticipate changes so you shift up or down to comfortably maintain your pedaling speed.”

Even in the right gear for your speed and the slope, hills are a challenge. It’s natural to want to slow your cadence as you grind up a long or steep hill, but pushing too hard on the pedals wears you out faster and risks knee damage. Instead, find the gear that keeps you moving forward while spinning your pedals almost as fast as you did on the flats. There’s no shortcut to learning how to shift—it takes practice and concentration—but get it right and you’ll pedal farther and faster.