Tonight I headed down to my bike shop to get fitted with shoes, pedals, cleats and a proper bike fit. I've been dreading getting this done for weeks, not because of the price, but the whole "I'm scared of cleats and I'll fall off and break another bone" thing. It came time to have a bowl of harden up, and get into it!
I was fitted with Specialized Sport Rd shoes in beautiful black. I'd originally wanted tri shoes (one velcro strap instead of three or four) but they don't come in "short foot" size (I'm an 8, which by normal standards in this country is on the big side). So, I have road shoes instead. It's okay - the velcro still fastens fairly quickly, although it takes a bit longer to get the shoes off, so my bike to run transitions will be a wee tad slower. I think I can cope with an extra 15 seconds at this stage!
Next up were "real" pedals. I was struggling with trying to choose between Shimano and Mavic. I really and truly liked the Shimanos, but to be honest I originally thought the Mavics looked like darth vader's helmet. It was after a second look that I realised that the Mavics were on sale (and were almost half the original price) and thought "screw it, take me to the dark side". Good choice, I like the science fiction look.
By this time, my bike was up on the Dialed in Motion trainer and it was time to saddle up and ride off into the sunset. Well, almost. I was stuck to my bike, which was stuck to the machine. A few minutes later, it was all go. My bike was set up for me and I was out the door and off home for a quick ride.
I got home, got the bike out of the car, got on and rode out to the kerbside...then promptly fell off into the road due to having no momentum and trying to clip in while stationary on a road bike. What a clown...I got up, got back on and rode off down the street. I figured I'd do about 5km but 17km later I was home and well happy with my updated bike setup. Nice work, Nick the bike man!
More later, I'm pretty tired yet exhilarated at the same time, so best I go to bed! I'll leave you with a photo of my cleats:
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