For the park and ride commute, I wear Diadora touring shoes with a smooth rubber outsole that goes easily into a pedal with a toe clip. I bought them years ago. I forget how many. Because I can walk and drive in them, I can put them on at home and have one less thing to worry about when I get to the parking spot.
When I'm in a hurry, I sometimes tie my shoes too tight or unevenly. I hate that.
On Saturday, I left the house in some haste and disarray. I got to the parking spot, made final adjustments to the load on the bike, and launched down the dirt road. It's basically a continuous descent for more than a mile, with some entertaining roughness and a bend or two.
I noticed that my right foot felt funny in the pedal. Like all walkable bike shoes since the late 1990s, these can be converted to use with SPD cleats, by cutting out a defined patch on the sole. A previous pair of wonderful shoes from Specialized became much less wonderful after the SPD patch on one of them spontaneously detached. I really hoped the Diadoras hadn't just gone the same way.
I had to check. Something was definitely sticking down off the right shoe.
It was the cleat. I had put on my right road shoe and my left touring shoe. I had bought them at the same time and they have nearly identical uppers. I had grabbed the mismatched pair out of the milk crate where I keep my riding shoes, and hadn't noticed.
The worst part was having to ride out in the same mismatched footwear that night. The cleat doesn't fit that pedal very well. At least I did have a pair of beater sneakers in the car so I didn't have to drive with the cleat on.
Mildly amusing, no?
4 comments:
That's why you should have that first cup of coffee BEFORE throwing everything in the car!
I'd already had the morning 28 ounces.
Only 28 ounces?!
That's just to get me to town without having to stop and pee every three miles.
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