Imagine if after pedaling for a short distance, you realized too late that some ill-humored prankster spread quick-drying super glue on your bike pedals. Try as you might to remove your feet, you remain glued to the pedals. First instinct would probably be to find a lush of grass, muddy area or any soft spot that could cushion your fall….that is, if you get lucky.
Glued to my bike…that is exactly the feeling I had when I first used clipless pedals. When my bike fell sideways (naturally!), down sideways I went with it with my feet still clipped to the pedals…with matching shrieks, of course! Good thing, hubby was surprisingly quick to catch me.
On my first look of hubby’s mountain bike (MTB), I took note of its whisk-like pedals, a far cry from the platform pedals I had known during my BMX days. How can you pedal with that kind of contraption? That was the beginning of my education to the world of clipless pedals.
A quick internet search disclosed that clipless pedals got its name from the fact that it does not have the toe clips or straps common on old-type pedals. In the old days, cyclists would have to use two toe straps on each pedal and tighten them down super snug to be “glued” to the pedals. The whole clipless system is designed precisely to keep one’s feet locked securely to the pedal while cycling. To be “clipped” to the pedal, special cycling shoes is needed for you to mount (attach) a special cleat. This cleat is the one that you engage (insert) to the pedal. Once engaged, you are locked-in, get it?
So… you want to be locked into the pedal while cycling. Impressive! Are you a masochist? No? An extremist maybe?
Power, control of the bike, blah blah blah are reasons advanced by clipless users as among the advantages in using clipless. As for me, I felt compelled to shift to clipless not so much for the claimed benefits but for the need to be legit. From the remarks of other bikers, I gathered that one is not taken seriously unless one uses clipless. Clipless separates the men from the boys, so to speak.
Engage…disengage. Clip-in…Clip-out. Easy does it? Or so I thought. After getting my first clipless, a Shimano SPD, I was confident I could go all the way on it the next day. Night before it was practice time. Clip-in…balance….fall down….SCREAM….hubby to the rescue…WHEW!
Clipping out was harder than I ever imagined. Trauma replaced confidence with the knowledge that clipping out is not instinctive. I tend to fall with the bike with feet still clipped in. Panic erases all other thoughts…including clipping out. It is much like learning to put on the brakes or pressing the clutch when learning how to drive a car. These movements are not instinctive but sorts of becomes second nature only after constant practice.
And…practice I did. The door handle, which I used as a brace to balance, suddenly became my constant companion.
The newly opened Victorina Subdivision and the Panaad Park nearby became sought after destinations. Victorina Subdivision is the perfect practice place. Few joggers (to witness my fall), abundance of tall grasses (to cushion my fall) and few vehicles (to allow longer pedaling). To my chagrin, I failed to factor in an overly playful and extremely hyperactive mongrel. Hey, doggie! Avoid my path…ok? Everything seemed to be going my way…pedal…clip-in…twist foot to clip-out (nothing happened)…twist again… freedom! Again…pedal..clip-in…twist…twist…twist….horror of horrors! …doggie focused on me as the object of its pranks….avoid doggie…turn around…twist again…out finally! I had enough for the day.
Fortunately, hubby generously gave me his Look Quartz pedals. Compared to my old Shimano, clipping out now is much more reassuring. Though I still need a bit more confidence to clip-out just a few inches from a stopping vehicle (my immediate goal for the nonce), yet…I know I can do it…soon.
I wonder, is there ever a hope of me turning into a Lance?
Glued to my bike…that is exactly the feeling I had when I first used clipless pedals. When my bike fell sideways (naturally!), down sideways I went with it with my feet still clipped to the pedals…with matching shrieks, of course! Good thing, hubby was surprisingly quick to catch me.
On my first look of hubby’s mountain bike (MTB), I took note of its whisk-like pedals, a far cry from the platform pedals I had known during my BMX days. How can you pedal with that kind of contraption? That was the beginning of my education to the world of clipless pedals.
A quick internet search disclosed that clipless pedals got its name from the fact that it does not have the toe clips or straps common on old-type pedals. In the old days, cyclists would have to use two toe straps on each pedal and tighten them down super snug to be “glued” to the pedals. The whole clipless system is designed precisely to keep one’s feet locked securely to the pedal while cycling. To be “clipped” to the pedal, special cycling shoes is needed for you to mount (attach) a special cleat. This cleat is the one that you engage (insert) to the pedal. Once engaged, you are locked-in, get it?
So… you want to be locked into the pedal while cycling. Impressive! Are you a masochist? No? An extremist maybe?
Power, control of the bike, blah blah blah are reasons advanced by clipless users as among the advantages in using clipless. As for me, I felt compelled to shift to clipless not so much for the claimed benefits but for the need to be legit. From the remarks of other bikers, I gathered that one is not taken seriously unless one uses clipless. Clipless separates the men from the boys, so to speak.
Engage…disengage. Clip-in…Clip-out. Easy does it? Or so I thought. After getting my first clipless, a Shimano SPD, I was confident I could go all the way on it the next day. Night before it was practice time. Clip-in…balance….fall down….SCREAM….hubby to the rescue…WHEW!
Clipping out was harder than I ever imagined. Trauma replaced confidence with the knowledge that clipping out is not instinctive. I tend to fall with the bike with feet still clipped in. Panic erases all other thoughts…including clipping out. It is much like learning to put on the brakes or pressing the clutch when learning how to drive a car. These movements are not instinctive but sorts of becomes second nature only after constant practice.
And…practice I did. The door handle, which I used as a brace to balance, suddenly became my constant companion.
The newly opened Victorina Subdivision and the Panaad Park nearby became sought after destinations. Victorina Subdivision is the perfect practice place. Few joggers (to witness my fall), abundance of tall grasses (to cushion my fall) and few vehicles (to allow longer pedaling). To my chagrin, I failed to factor in an overly playful and extremely hyperactive mongrel. Hey, doggie! Avoid my path…ok? Everything seemed to be going my way…pedal…clip-in…twist foot to clip-out (nothing happened)…twist again… freedom! Again…pedal..clip-in…twist…twist…twist….horror of horrors! …doggie focused on me as the object of its pranks….avoid doggie…turn around…twist again…out finally! I had enough for the day.
Fortunately, hubby generously gave me his Look Quartz pedals. Compared to my old Shimano, clipping out now is much more reassuring. Though I still need a bit more confidence to clip-out just a few inches from a stopping vehicle (my immediate goal for the nonce), yet…I know I can do it…soon.
I wonder, is there ever a hope of me turning into a Lance?
