Cycle pedal perils - up and own in the Chilterns

Putting your foot in it....and taking it out again!


Chilterns in Autumn
Being mainly a Mountain-biker and Tourer I had never bothered with cleats. I thought they were only for ‘proper’ cyclist. However when I started to ride out with the group I found that I was the only one with toe-clips. I could keep up on the hills OK but figured I was less efficient than the others. So I thought I’d better give them a go. I actually had the necessary pedals, shoes and cleats stashed in the garage. To be honest it was partly cowardice that stopped me using them. It’s not a comfortable thought having your feet locked to the pedal with a device similar to a ski binding.

I decided that I would try with just one pedal first. So propped up against a wall I tried to get my shoe and cleat into the binding. Darn tricky, even with a mirror on the ground so I could see where the cleat was relative to the pedal. Disengaging was even more difficult, you have to twist the heel outwards. I found that when I twisted my foot it moved in the shoe and I stayed ‘in the pedal’.

Anyway, after tightening my laces to achieve a vice-like grip on my feet, I decided to give it a go on the street. Off I toddled and things went swimmingly, at first! When I approached a junction I would attempt to release my shoe foot 20m before so, by the time I reached the white line, I was able to put my foot on the ground. But then, after about 15km I forgot all about my clamped foot and the need to twist my heel. I stopped to take a photo and promptly toppled to the ground still wearing my bike. Oh dear, or a less polite equivalent!

With hindsight I should probably have tried my right foot first because I always put my left down first. So I decided I needed to either get stabilisers or revert to clips.

I reverted to clips and confided in Andy, one of the group on the next ride. My Samaritan had the answer. Slacken off the tension! I hadn’t even noticed the Allen screw, doh! So I wound down the tension from what was probably a race setting and had my eureka moment. My foot now popped in and out effortlessly. Why didn’t I think of that?

November in the the Chilterns
So I headed off on a test ride with bindings on both feet. I still needed to remember the twist but at least now I was fairly confident that, even with temporary amnesia, I could extract my foot before hitting the deck!
Heading for the Hills - 54 km
Chiltern bike ride

Up and down
I chose a particularly hilly route, not difficult in the Chilterns. My thinking being that if I was going to have a problem with de-tensioned bindings it would be on the climbs. Made lots of stops to take Autumn photos and practice the dismount. Brilliant day, cold but clear. And, as I reached home, in the darkness .... by George, I think he's got it! Old dogs can learn new tricks! Right, ready for the next Wednesday ride!

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