Soooooo......

[Ghoulish Delight]

I've given myself a 90% chance of not crashing today, my first day ever riding with big-boy bike pedals/shoes (i.e., the kind where the shoe actually clips onto the pedal*)

So far so good. I did some practicing in the parking lot on Saturday when I got them installed. I almost fell only once, and was able to get my foot out in time on that occasion, so I'm feeling pretty confident. It's really not that difficult, it's just a mental thing. It feels weird knowing that I'm attached to the thing. The biggest risk I think is that for 6 miles I'm on a bike trail where I never have to stop pedaling. So when I exit the trail, I'm at risk of having zoned out and forgotten when I get to the first traffic light.

But I'm sure the muscle memory will kick in soon enough. Meanwhile, the increase in pedaling efficiency was definitely noticeable. I'll found out tomorrow which new let muscles I'm using.


* Paradoxically, they are called "clipless" due to the fact that before their invention, there were "toe clips" which aren't really clips so much as straps or rigid cage-like things on the front of the pedal that your toe slips into