Jim,
I think what you are talking about regarding "pulling up" on the pedals is the same thing as what Pergolizzi was calling keeping constant pressure on the pedals. One legged drills are done at the track in a fixed gear as one of the excercizes from some coaches.
Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA
I've often wondered about this seemingly contradiction. BMX riders who are some of the fastest accelerating riders in the world almost all ride 175mm cranks. But in the track riders' world, short cranks are the rule. Some of us talk about getting on top of a gear but I think it is in our minds. When blind folded, riders have no idea about the length of their cranks even when they are not the same length. Vic Copeland who holds numerous master track records spent part of a season riding with cranks that were not the same length. Finally someone spotted it and asked him about it. Turned out he didn't know.
I have often ridden fixed gear bikes on the road and they're fun. I doubt they help my pedal stroke much. When I'm serious about working on pedal stroke, I use my Computrainer and do one legged drills. We all talk about pulling up, but no one really exerts any force on the upward part of the pedal stroke. The best we can do is get the one leg that is going up out of the way of the other leg pushing down.
Jim Cushing-murray
Del Mar CA