Clipping In

O.K. guys, so I know this is not, like, huge news. But it's been a week since we had a posting and while we wait for the "scouting party" to show us the goods, I figured I'd tell you all about the "fitting" I had today at Back Bay Bicycles with BBB general manager Tim Libby.

My bike--which rides like fresh butter melting over a stack of Hootie's blueberry pancakes--had a couple of interesting issues. First, it was custom adjusted to fit the previous owner, David, who's not tall but has a long torso and extremely long arms. This meant that in order for me to reach the bars and the brakes, my back was extending over too far, causing strain during longer rides. Second, it had "Look" clipless pedals that were difficult for me to unclip from, given my wonky leg situation.

Tim helped me a lot with the fit: he fine-tuned the position of my saddle, adjusted the angle of my handlebars to a more upward position, switched out my "stem" to a shorter one and added some "spacers" to my "headset," all to create a much greater level of comfort for a long ride. He also helped me overcome my fear of clipping in by installing those shimano pedals (pictures above) and putting the new cleats on my new shoes. Then, he let me practice on the trainer until I achieved a basic "muscle memory" of how to get in and out of the clips. What a difference it made!

Also, I should tell you that I invested in a new pair of shoes after trial and error with another pair. There are a lot of nice cycling shoes out there, but what no one told me was that the ones they call "road" shoes (as opposed to "mtn" shoes) tend to have very little or no traction built into the sole. Who cares? Well, as I discovered after trying to ride Rte. 16 to Lynn last weekend, trying to step off your bike in traffic and put your foot on the pavement with shiny-smooth hard plastic on the soles of your feet can be kinda scary--at least for this novice. My new shoes are more of the "mtn" variety and have plenty of tread to help me not slip and slide around like a fool.

This has been a learning process but now I feel like I'm better equipped for this Memory Ride and for thousands of miles to come...hopefully.

(for a complete guide to all the gear-head bike jargon contained in this post, check out the diagram below or go to: http://www.casanovasadventures.com/catalog/bike/p2016.htm)