Author Topic: freedom ride

sam

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freedom ride
« on: August 29, 2011 »
I went clipless today. Toe-clipless, not SPD clipless, having never embraced that level of intimacy between man and machine. This was brought on by a clip failure which I decided to turn into a full blown experiment by removing the other one and then going on my regular ride unbound.

Most people cycle this way, I told myself. Hundreds of millions progressing without clips and straps or indeed any mechanism to harness additional power on the upstroke. Imagine that. Maybe you can manage the next ten miles without them.

The serrated pedals gripped my shoes well enough. It felt kind of fun at first. I was expecting trouble on hills, though, and got it. The freedom was a liability felt at each turn of the cranks as the job of pushing ended and my feet not only ceased gainful employment but wanted to fly off into space.

Spoiler
The steepest hill defeated me near the summit; a secret so shameful it cannot be posted out in the open.
[close]

I was also loathe to cycle no-handed for some reason (freedom overload?), which is a pleasure not easily foregone and not compensated for by the little tap dances I could now do on the pedals. The relief I felt on replacing the clips was palpable.



See Fashion Victim for an antecedent, and Jason Statham in the first Transporter for yet another reason toe-clips can come in handy.