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Clipless pedals

02.21.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 9 Comments

As I mentioned earlier, one of the bike upgrades my wife made on the advice of her training buddies was to go to clipless pedals. (It’s an unfortunate name, since you wear a special cleat on the sole of your bike shoe that clips into the pedal – but it’s called “clipless” because it is not one of those old-fashioned toe clips that attaches to regular platform pedals.)

After her first ride with the clipless, she raved about her ability to add power to her pedal stroke by pulling up as well as pushing down. Less happy for her was the nagging feeling that she’s permanently attached to the bike. When riding, she’ll try to time upcoming stoplights so she doesn’t have to disengage her cleat at the corner. Instead, she’ll slowly ride up to the light and try to hit it just as it turns green. When she gets home, she pulls the bike onto our lawn to stop and disengage, so that if she falls, she’ll hit soft grass instead of hard concrete.

I was persuaded by her experience that clipless was a necessary addition to my bike. I bought a set from Nashbar, the large online bike shop. They have their own branded pedals, which are cheaper than all others I’ve come across. I had them installed at a local bike shop when the bike was in for other servicing, attached the cleats to my new bike shoes (Exustars – a relatively cheap Chinese brand also sold by Nashbar), and went out to practice. After clipping in and out on both left and right pedals (there – I used “clipping” while talking about “clipless” pedals. It’s awfully hard not to) I went out for a ride on the Veloway – a 3-mile paved bikeway about 3 miles away from my house. They were terrific. I instantly felt that additional pulling power on the upstroke. I can’t prove it, but it felt like I was going faster than usual. I returned home feeling good about the purchase.

pedal-2.png pedal-1.png

Two views of the clipless pedals on my bike.

Then, I turned into my driveway, slowed, tried to disengage – and did the famous “clipless fall.” That’s what happens when you don’t twist your heel out to the side firmly enough, and the cleat doesn’t come loose from the pedal. Still attached to the bike with both feet, you feel yourself slowly tipping over, past the point of recovering your balance, and wind up on your side on the driveway, still straddling the bike. By then, the cleat has come out of the pedal. Swell. On the plus side, since your speed is zero, the road rash (or “driveway rash”) is not as severe as if you fell out on the road.

Since then, I’ve had only one more clipless fall, (edit: make that two) and have learned that it’s a rite of passage all new clipless riders have to go through. I guess with only two to my name, I’m doing better than a lot of cyclists. I’ve become more adept at disengaging, and am diligent about doing it as I approach stoplights. My remaining clipless problem has to do with clipping back in once I get the green light. I can never seem to get the pedal in the right position. As the picture shows, its normal resting position is with the rear down, toe up. The trick is to guide your toe over the pedal, which pushes it forward, and allows the cleat to click in. it’s a trick that takes practice, and I’m still not good at it. As one biking acquaintance said, “Practice, practice, practice.”

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Categories // Bikes, Components

My riding inspiration

02.21.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 4 Comments

So how was it that I decided to get into biking, after never really considering it much before?

My wife.

She’s president of a professional organization that sponsors a local charity ride, and figured that as president, she’d better be a visible participant in the project. It’s a well-organized ride, and provides training rides four months before the event. They start small, and work up to substantial mileage.

At the beginning, six-mile rides left her huffing and puffing. By the month of the ride, they were after work pick-me-ups. On the weekends prior to the ride, she rode 25, 28 and 28 miles.

The effort is all the more impressive because of her bike. She rides a 15-year-old Trek hybrid. It’s heavy and slow. But she learned a lot during the training rides. She bought padded bike shorts and a jersey, and a friend “demanded” that she ditch the styrofoam helmet she owned since the early ’90s. The ride trainers also suggested she swap the knobby tires on the hybrid for narrower, smoother tires. And last but not least, she got clipless pedals and real bike shoes.

Her sister came down from Dallas to be at the finish, and the two of us drove out to the park where the riders would come in. On a narrow county road just before the park, there she was – her red biking jersey really stood out. But she was walking her bike, not riding. We pulled up alongside, and she told us she had fallen at a water crossing a few hundred yards back. She couldn’t disengage her pedal cleat fast enough as she approached the water, and went down. Injuries were minor–a few bruises and some “road rash,” and as we pulled our car into the parking area, we could see her get back up on her bike for the finish. We parked the car, grabbed the camera, and hurried to the finish line, but by the time we got there, she was already in the finishing chute with a big smile on her face.

Pat on Bike
Nearing the finish.

In the finishing chute
In the finishing chute. Her friend and ad hoc trainer, Scott, is right behind.

The ride was undoubtedly the most athletic thing this middle-aged woman had ever done in her life, and it left her with a great sense of accomplishment. It also proved to me that with a little effort, I could get there, too.

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Categories // Rides

A summertime ride

02.20.2008 by Ray Niekamp // Leave a Comment

In early summer, 2007, I had ridden the Trek mountain bike several times, simply as an alternative exercise to jogging. But I realized that the Trek was slower than I wanted, so I pulled out the Raleigh, and started riding it instead.

My helmet was one that I had bought 15 years before. It was the old-fashioned styrofoam kind, with a cloth and net cover. I had a pair of mountain bike riding shorts, with a padded bottom, but instead of a biking jersey, I wore an old t-shirt.

Not far from the house is a major 4-lane divided highway with wide shoulders–great for biking. A brief trip through neighborhood streets gets you to the highway, and a right turn onto it starts you on a small downhill stretch that lets you build your speed. From driveway to driveway, the route is almost exactly 13 miles, and in the summer of ’07, that was a good ride.

I was starting to learn the idiosyncracies of the Raleigh. Its narrow road tires indicated a maximum pressure of 100 lbs. Pumped up that high, the tires rolled with minimal resistance. But about halfway through the ride on a warm July day, a loud bang interrupted things. The rear tire had blown.

I was at the farthest point from the house on the ride. I didn’t carry a spare tube in my saddlebag. I could only start walking the bike home. It was more than three miles by the most direct route. It took more than an hour.

That weekend, I took the bike into a local bike shop to buy a new tire and tube. Since I was there, I figured they could mount the new tire for me. The mechanic beckoned me over.

“This wheel is an old one,” he said. “It doesn’t have lips to clinch the tire. If you want to keep from getting flats, I recommend you don’t inflate it more than 70 pounds.”

It seemed to ride okay at the reduced pressure. But there would be more flats. From this point on, though, I would be able to handle them.

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Categories // Bikes, Rides

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