In Which I Click My Way to 10 Miles

New shoes on, ready for ride.

Thursday was hill day, but not so many miles. Friday, as it turned out, was more of the same, but something also very different.

I clicked it today—I took out the road bike Argent, donned my new biking shoes. As you can see from the video, I then spent several minutes practicing clipping in and getting out.

A friend on Facebook expressed the idea that clipping in would be easy, but getting my shoes out when stopping would prove to be more difficult. My experience was the opposite—I was a bit afraid of getting my foot out of the clip in time and avoiding a fall, but on this first ride, that turned out not to be an issue at all. It’s a reverse Dorothy move, she clicks her heels together and says “there is no place like home,” while I click a heal away from the bike and say “there’s no stop like a no-fall stop.” The exciting shoe practice movie:



Starting was a little trickier. I have to practice where to place my foot and what motion to use to clip in.

There are plusses and minuses to this whole clip thing. I did the hill ride again because I wanted to practice hills with the new (to me) system, and discovered it did seem to give me a bit more power—I could delay getting into granny gear a bit (although, as a grandfather, I’m not ashamed or embarrassed about my skill at biking up hills slowly in that grandfather-friendly gear).

My legs did feel a bit worn, but that could be because this was day two of hillfest 2018.

Anyway, the shoes were fine. They aren’t terrible to walk in—they are bit like wearing those “earth shoes” that were popular 30 years ago, the ones with the low heels and high toes. The rubber part on my new shoes is so thick that I don’t actually clip-clop like a horse, at least not yet until I wear down the rubber a bit.

And the bike was silent. My old pedals made distinctive snaps and crackling sounds they made, and it was a distinct pleasure to ride 10 miles on a silent bike.

The one downside is that I discovered I fidget quite a bit while I ride—I shift my hands, my butt and my feet. Or I used to. With clips, my feet are locked in place, and honestly, that will take a bit of getting used to.

I only rode 10 miles on the road bike. Later, I took out Clarence to attach the Tag-A-Long and ride with grandchildren—I did four short rides that totaled somewhere around 15 (I tracked it with Map My Ride but feel too lazy to grab my phone and check).

Granddaughter, one of four who rode with CR Biker late this afternoon/early evening.

Those late afternoon rides were cool and sometimes damp. I got sprinkled on, but was otherwise fine.

It was a good day of biking, but I need to get some serious distance rides done. The week was not so great, but here's hoping I'll get many more miles soon.

Cloudy skies on evening rides.