I’ve taken to watching the videos of a young Korean woman who does a lot of cycling around the country. I like her for a few reasons (other than she’s quite cute). First off, she goes to a lot of interesting places, and actually explores a bit when she rides. This is right up my alley, as finding new things is one of the funnest parts of riding in Korea. I also like that she speaks my language — not that it’s in Korean, but that it’s in “bike.” But it’s kind of the easy-going chatting you’d hear on a ride. “This hill is hard.” “I don’t like to go where the gravel is too rough.” “There’s a strong headwind.” That kind of stuff. So it’s easy to follow. And the videos are well done and contain a lot of subtitling in Korean and English.
But one thing really bothers me about her rides. Every time her shoes “clip” into the pedals. I hate that “big pedal” has roped her into clipping in. Especially with the amount of time she spends off the bike.
I started riding flat pedals last year. One of the recommendations I heard was to mix flats and clipless pedals, riding a few months a year with each kind, but I absolutely can’t go back. Not only do I not have to worry about the fit of the shoes (I can just wear the. shoes off the shelf if I want), I can get off the bike and walk around quite comfortably.
And I did wear shoes off the shelf — a pair of Solomon trail runners that my son left behind. But they weren’t quite winter shoes, so I recently invested in a pair of Adidas Five Ten shoes, and I’m liking them quite a bit. I got them off of the Sierra Trading Post (now just “Sierra” I guess) site for about $80 — which is quite a bit less than any clipless shoe that rides with any kind of comfort for me. I can’t say that they did much about my winter riding problem (frozen feet — which I solved with chemical toe warmers which last over six hours), but they’re a stiffer-soled shoe that gives a bit more power on the pedal, they’ve got good room in the toebox (for the warmers), and they walk just fine.
In all honesty, I’m into the biking for the sheer enjoyment. Of course I like to have good equipment (I still want to get a Niner steel bike), but I make due too. I’ve worked on my own bike enough that it’s quite a bit different (and honestly, much more comfortable) than when I first got it, and it’s been fun (my next project will probably be to build new wheels myself). I can’t get into the gonzo riders who average 18mph and above on their long rides (I’m down around 12). I can’t figure out how they can actually see anything interesting at those speeds (they certainly aren’t stopping for many pictures) And I can’t get into “Team Rapha” (as Joon would say) — those who are in it for the fashion. And that’s probably why I’d never be able to convince this Korean girl to go with flat pedals. Big pedal have captured her.
Such a shame.