We took the bikes down to Queenscliff today for a planned 60k bike ride to Geelong and back. We knew the “back” bit was going to be fun when we mounted our trusty steeds and we were doing 20 kph without peddling! So the out bit was a screamer with a 30 kph tailwind but that came to a halt 6k down the track.
We mastered the clip-on shoes and pedals very quickly but we need to train the brain that we actually have clip-ons and not conventional pedals. I pulled up to cross the Portarlington Rd and came to a halt without unclipping the shoes from the pedal cleats and I suddenly started to lean like that famous Tower except I kept on going. When you get past 45 degrees and you just remember you need to unclip, then it’s too late and Newton’s Law takes full effect.
The tumble didn’t hurt too much except for some shed skin but my new seat came apart and is beyond repair. I managed to do a temporary fix otherwise I was going to have one seat shaft embedded up a very sensitive place and so we rode on. We managed 20k out before the seat started to continually fall off and so we turned around and hightailed it home.
Well, “hightailing it” into the strong headwind probably wasn’t the right word but we battled on with me having to stop a few times to prevent “embedding”. MP decided to have a forgetful moment with the pedals too and joined me with some scrapes on the knee but we made it back okay and a trip to the bike shop is in order with their crappy seat.
Clip on, clip off. Clip on, clip off. Clip on, clip off.
I’m also thinking of moving to clip-on shoes/pedals. What did you think of them?
p.s. Oh, don’t forget to clip-off when stopping!
We think they are great as long as you remember they are on. You can really feel the difference on the upward stroke of the pedal rotation and the energy is expended on a full rotation instead of just half. We have Shimano shoes and pedals and they cost $120 for my shoes and $105 for MP’s and the pedals were $70 each.
Even with training, you have the potential for more circus bear manuevers in front of young ladies, believe me…
I passed a lady and got off the seat for extra effort and the seat fell off. Her laughter wasn’t good for the ego. Is that what you mean?
Don’t they say that the memory is the first to go?
Not with me, June.
Back in 1999, when I was 60 years old, I had a prang on my push bike and for the first time in my life, I had broken bones. Spent several days in the hospital. So be careful there, young feller. When age creeps up upon us, we doesn’t bounce like we used to do.
I heard something go crunch and thought it was a bone but the pain didn’t eventuate so we were okay. For the time being.