Light dawns...

Roger Zoul said:

Honestly, I really wanted to ask the girl out, but
since she's 10 years younger than I, I chickened out 🙁 Maybe next
year.

I propose a rule whereby attractive women can grow older while I remain in
limbo until we're age-appropriate. (And none of this
when-I'm-90-she'll-be-77 [censored], either!)

Bill "dag nabbit" S.

one small tip - which helped me in the learning process:

to properly align the cleats on the pedals:
fix a small thin tape or something on the inner side of the shoe -
which corresponds to the stem of the pedal (in clipped in position) -
basically when clipped in, the tape should like along with the stem of
the pedal.

When clipping in, you can use this tape to help align the pedal and the
cleat. Once you are comfortable, the tape can be removed and you know
intuitively where your cleat/pedal is.

i started off with clipless (never used clips - except for test rides) -
so may be it was me who had issues of locating the pedal.

+ravi

Badger_South said:

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 11:53:31 -0400, "Roger Zoul" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I suggest that you start on the trainer, or if no trainer, in an
|| empty parking lot or somewhere similar. Once you know how to clip in
|| and out, then you can begin to ride.

I did all of this. I spent two hours at teh LBS on the trainer...I left
when the starting making grumbling noises 🙂 But the cute bike shop girl
probably doesn't suspect that I was just trying to be in her presense (well,
that too).

I'm -so- glad you chirped in here, b/c I don't know if I'd have thought of
that, getting on the trainer at the LBS and making sure the shoes were snug
and the cleats adjusted, and that my knee wouldn't be hurting. Don't think
they'll let me go 2 hours....you're kidding right? Either that or you're
exceptionally charming. Anyway, Brilliant!

When I called Performance they seemed puzzled at first, but then said 'sure
you could ride on the trainer'. They had a bunch of bikes on trainers set
up in front anyway. I asked if I could bring my bike in and if they would
swap 'em out for me as part of the package with my current pedals. I'll
have to get a pedal wrench anyway, incase something starts acting up and I
need to temp. switch back to toeclips, and also see how they get the pedals
off. I know it's simple.

I'm going in today. Yeehaw.

-B

B i l l S o r n s o n said:

Roger Zoul said:

Honestly, I really wanted to ask the girl out, but
since she's 10 years younger than I, I chickened out 🙁 Maybe next
year.

I propose a rule whereby attractive women can grow older while I remain in
limbo until we're age-appropriate. (And none of this
when-I'm-90-she'll-be-77 [censored], either!)

Bill "dag nabbit" S.

Thanks to all for your help today. I picked up the shoes and got the pedals
installed.

Shoe: Diadora Geko:
http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product.php?pid=6201

Pedal: Shimano SPD M250:
http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product.php?pid=3225

So it's off tomorrow for a quick pedal around the picnic area in the park,
and learn to unclip, and clip in. Got my little pieces of tape to mark the
side of the shoe (thx ravi).

Did I do good?

-B
without those big toeclip pedals, I bet I trimmed half a pound over the
SPDs.

"Badger_South" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

This wknd I'm gonna drag myself to the LBS to get a pair of clipless

pedals

Quoted message said:

and shoes and at least be able to try it out. I'll bring the bike and ask
the nice guys at Performance if they'll install them for me.

Are you considering a Look-type or SPD-type pedal? Either way, Performance
should be able to hook you up with a house brand pedal and shoe combo for
cheap. I use the Forte Ti SPD and it's just fine. Their Look clone should be
able to give you plenty of float. Of course, you could always look at
Speedplays......

Badger_South said:

Thanks to all for your help today. I picked up the shoes and got the pedals
installed.

Shoe: Diadora Geko:
http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product.php?pid=6201

Pedal: Shimano SPD M250:
http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product.php?pid=3225

MOM!!!! BADGER STOLE MY PEDALS!!!!

*grin*

Yer shoes look a lot like mine too, but mine are women's
Diadora Chili:
http://www.teamestrogen.com/products.asp?pID=10390

Quoted message said:

So it's off tomorrow for a quick pedal around the picnic area in the park,
and learn to unclip, and clip in. Got my little pieces of tape to mark the
side of the shoe (thx ravi).

Do yourself a favor: hold onto a picnic table and sit there
clipping and unclipping both feet for a couple mins. Just
to get the hang of it, before you go plop in front of all
the peds in the park.

Quoted message said:

-B
without those big toeclip pedals, I bet I trimmed half a pound over the
SPDs.

Heh. You're starting to sound like Fab. *ducking and running*

-km

--
Only cowards fight kids -- unidentified Moscow protester

http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts
proud to be owned by a yorkie

On Fri, 29 Oct 2004 07:46:28 GMT, "gooserider" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

"Badger_South" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

This wknd I'm gonna drag myself to the LBS to get a pair of clipless

pedals

Quoted message said:

and shoes and at least be able to try it out. I'll bring the bike and ask
the nice guys at Performance if they'll install them for me.

Are you considering a Look-type or SPD-type pedal? Either way, Performance
should be able to hook you up with a house brand pedal and shoe combo for
cheap. I use the Forte Ti SPD and it's just fine. Their Look clone should be
able to give you plenty of float. Of course, you could always look at
Speedplays......

What is this 'for cheap' of which you speak?

As you _well_ know, real cyclists(tm) spend no money on food for a week (by
stealing others' pancakes and dropping in just at 'dinner time', etc.) to
save up the $$ for the component they -NEED-.

I didn't look at LOOK - or FROG - but got the SPD-M250. I wanted to have
the guy put the pedals on the trainer and have me ride it, but they didn't
seem to want to go there, though very nice. I felt like I was given a hand
grenade and told to read the instructions on the bottom. lol. Actually the
thing that concerns me is the fine adjustment and not having it mess up my
knees, etc. But, samurai sportsman - I'll try the 'going fer it' method
first.

Didn't get the dual sided SPD reg MTB on on side, b/c (d'oh) too heavy,
man! ;-D

I was heading for the grassy area of the park, but on advices from one of
my instructors - I'm heading for the picnic table. <g>

Catch ya - after morning mail call - later this pm.

-B

the black rose said:

Badger_South said:

Thanks to all for your help today. I picked up the shoes and got the pedals
installed.

Shoe: Diadora Geko:
http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product.php?pid=6201

Pedal: Shimano SPD M250:
http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product.php?pid=3225

MOM!!!! BADGER STOLE MY PEDALS!!!!

*grin*

OK, just wait until I get ahold of you. You tell MOM and there's a mud
sandwich with your name on it, Sis.

Quoted message said:

Yer shoes look a lot like mine too, but mine are women's
Diadora Chili:
http://www.teamestrogen.com/products.asp?pID=10390

Geeze, twins, much. <cringe> or <secret admiration>?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

So it's off tomorrow for a quick pedal around the picnic area in the park,
and learn to unclip, and clip in. Got my little pieces of tape to mark the
side of the shoe (thx ravi).

Do yourself a favor: hold onto a picnic table and sit there
clipping and unclipping both feet for a couple mins. Just
to get the hang of it, before you go plop in front of all
the peds in the park.

You have probably just saved my life. Thanks, bro.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

-B
without those big toeclip pedals, I bet I trimmed half a pound over the
SPDs.

Heh. You're starting to sound like Fab. *ducking and running*

Hah, in a year, Fab will be emulating me.

-B
....more like riding away as quickly as possible, but...

Roger Zoul said:

As you know, I went clipless some time ago this year. As far as my road
bike is concerned, I'll never go back, though I am thinking of getting a
second bike that I can just hop on an ride in street clothes (like the
students on campus do).

Oh, expect to fall buddy! Just remember, you'll very likely fall when
you're barely moving, so it will hurt mainly your pride. As others here
told me, falling is a good motiviation to learn to clip out 🙂

I put the clipless pedals on my bike just a few days ago, and spent a ride
doing nothing but tooling around slowly, practicing clipping in and out.

So what happens the first day I ride for serious on them?

I get to the end, noodle around the cul-de-sac (last two
minutes of warmdown), and where I'd loosen my straps and
ride up the driveway and step out gracefully, instead I
rode up the driveway, tried to clip out, locked up, and
had to stick my hand out and push off my truck to keep
from installing myself compactly in the wheel-well...

I've since figured out that my right foot really wants to
clip-out by bringing its heel in, towards my water bottle,
and my left foot wants its heel to go out.

--Blair
"I think a compound fracture would
cut into my schedule a bit..."

Roger Zoul said:

No, I'm not kidding 🙂 Being nice, smiling a lot, and spending money all
seem to work. Honestly, I really wanted to ask the girl out, but since she's
10 years younger than I, I chickened out 🙁 Maybe next year.

What? You don't need a new water-bottle cage? Patch
kit? Spoke nuts? Cone wrench? XL tube of Chamois Butt'r?

You could be back there every day for a month and not spend
more than 40, 50 grand trying to get her attention.

--Blair
"At least you'll have a nice
stable of Bianchis if she says no..."

"Blair P. Houghton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]..

Quoted message said:

So what happens the first day I ride for serious on them?

You fall on your ass at the very first intersection you come to. :-) You
might fall a couple of times; I fell a grand total of three times. But then
you get used to them and can't imagine riding without them. And when you do
ride a bike with out them, it feels really weird.

Cheto

Blair P. Houghton wrote:
|| Roger Zoul <[email hidden]> wrote:
||| No, I'm not kidding 🙂 Being nice, smiling a lot, and spending
||| money all seem to work. Honestly, I really wanted to ask the girl
||| out, but since she's 10 years younger than I, I chickened out 🙁
||| Maybe next year.
||
|| What? You don't need a new water-bottle cage? Patch
|| kit? Spoke nuts? Cone wrench? XL tube of Chamois Butt'r?
||
|| You could be back there every day for a month and not spend
|| more than 40, 50 grand trying to get her attention.

That's funny. Every time I go in there I get her attention. She is very
good that way, which is part of the reason I wanted to ask her out. But you
know how that goes....I ask her out and then I get the cold shoulder...or
just a polite "oh, i've got plans that night..."

Roger Zoul said:

Blair P. Houghton wrote:
|| Roger Zoul <[email hidden]> wrote:
||| No, I'm not kidding 🙂 Being nice, smiling a lot, and spending
||| money all seem to work. Honestly, I really wanted to ask the girl
||| out, but since she's 10 years younger than I, I chickened out 🙁
||| Maybe next year.
||
|| What? You don't need a new water-bottle cage? Patch
|| kit? Spoke nuts? Cone wrench? XL tube of Chamois Butt'r?
||
|| You could be back there every day for a month and not spend
|| more than 40, 50 grand trying to get her attention.

That's funny. Every time I go in there I get her attention. She is very
good that way, which is part of the reason I wanted to ask her out. But you
know how that goes....I ask her out and then I get the cold shoulder...or
just a polite "oh, i've got plans that night..."

So every time you go back you get her professional attention.

But if you keep going back for trivial reasons you'll
get her attention attention.

--Blair
"Man. I gotta do everything for
everyone around here."

Cheto said:

"Blair P. Houghton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]..

Quoted message said:

So what happens the first day I ride for serious on them?

You fall on your ass at the very first intersection you come to. :-) You
might fall a couple of times; I fell a grand total of three times. But then
you get used to them and can't imagine riding without them. And when you do
ride a bike with out them, it feels really weird.

I ride stationaries for cardio warmup at the gym all the
time, and have been in and out of straps since I was a kid,
so that's not much trouble. Probably also why I haven't
fallen yet. I'm used to doing something to disengage.
But I know that yanking my feet out of the straps is
instinctive by now, so the first time I have to do an
emergency exit I'm probably going to end up taking the
bike over my ass.

--Blair
"Just asking to pretzel a wheel..."

Mon, 1 Nov 2004 21:02:43 -0500, <[email hidden]>,

Roger Zoul said:

|| You could be back there every day for a month and not spend
|| more than 40, 50 grand trying to get her attention.

That's funny. Every time I go in there I get her attention. She is very
good that way, which is part of the reason I wanted to ask her out. But you
know how that goes....I ask her out and then I get the cold shoulder...or
just a polite "oh, i've got plans that night..."

Ask her if she'd like to hear how she saved your life.
They'll get curious if they care you're alive.

I credit three beautiful bike savvy young women with saving my life.

Uli was at working at the LBS when I went to look for replacement
scooter wheels. The bike shop smell was right but I didn't recognise
half the equipment. Nor did I recall young women wearing tee shirts
proclaiming their proclivity for doing dirty things being your
traditional bike shop employee. I went home that day and started
rebuilding my road bikes. When I needed a part, I went there and she
sent me to OCB!
.. . .where Jennifer worked. I thought I'd walked into Tank Girl's
bike shop but they had my obscure part. I went back to OCB!, sometimes
twice in a day, several times per week for the first few months while
building up the joe-bike from their used parts and to openly drool on
her shoes. I ended up volunteering there. We've exchanged lots of
information. We've danced and drunk together she's shown me most of
her tattoos.
And Amy, everybody is in love with Amy.

and Erica and Jane and Sarah and Cara and Ashley and Kelly and Jessica
and Jennifer and Lisa and Laura and more, all about half my age.
We ride, we dance, we flirt, we laugh. It's fun.
--
zk

Blair P. Houghton wrote:
|| Roger Zoul <[email hidden]> wrote:
||| Blair P. Houghton wrote:
||||| Roger Zoul <[email hidden]> wrote:
|||||| No, I'm not kidding 🙂 Being nice, smiling a lot, and spending
|||||| money all seem to work. Honestly, I really wanted to ask the girl
|||||| out, but since she's 10 years younger than I, I chickened out 🙁
|||||| Maybe next year.
|||||
||||| What? You don't need a new water-bottle cage? Patch
||||| kit? Spoke nuts? Cone wrench? XL tube of Chamois Butt'r?
|||||
||||| You could be back there every day for a month and not spend
||||| more than 40, 50 grand trying to get her attention.
|||
||| That's funny. Every time I go in there I get her attention. She
||| is very good that way, which is part of the reason I wanted to ask
||| her out. But you know how that goes....I ask her out and then I
||| get the cold shoulder...or just a polite "oh, i've got plans that
||| night..."
||
|| So every time you go back you get her professional attention.
||
|| But if you keep going back for trivial reasons you'll
|| get her attention attention.

Okay....I'll try that. 🙂

Zoot Katz wrote:
|| Mon, 1 Nov 2004 21:02:43 -0500, <[email hidden]>,
|| "Roger Zoul" <[email hidden]> wrote:
||
||||| You could be back there every day for a month and not spend
||||| more than 40, 50 grand trying to get her attention.
|||
||| That's funny. Every time I go in there I get her attention. She
||| is very good that way, which is part of the reason I wanted to ask
||| her out. But you know how that goes....I ask her out and then I
||| get the cold shoulder...or just a polite "oh, i've got plans that
||| night..."
||
|| Ask her if she'd like to hear how she saved your life.
|| They'll get curious if they care you're alive.
||
|| I credit three beautiful bike savvy young women with saving my life.
||
|| Uli was at working at the LBS when I went to look for replacement
|| scooter wheels. The bike shop smell was right but I didn't recognise
|| half the equipment. Nor did I recall young women wearing tee shirts
|| proclaiming their proclivity for doing dirty things being your
|| traditional bike shop employee. I went home that day and started
|| rebuilding my road bikes. When I needed a part, I went there and she
|| sent me to OCB!
|| . . .where Jennifer worked. I thought I'd walked into Tank Girl's
|| bike shop but they had my obscure part. I went back to OCB!,
|| sometimes
|| twice in a day, several times per week for the first few months while
|| building up the joe-bike from their used parts and to openly drool on
|| her shoes. I ended up volunteering there. We've exchanged lots of
|| information. We've danced and drunk together she's shown me most of
|| her tattoos.
|| And Amy, everybody is in love with Amy.
||
|| and Erica and Jane and Sarah and Cara and Ashley and Kelly and
|| Jessica
|| and Jennifer and Lisa and Laura and more, all about half my age.
|| We ride, we dance, we flirt, we laugh. It's fun.
|| --

In your mind or in RL? 🙂

On Mon, 01 Nov 2004 20:48:13 -0800, Zoot Katz <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Erica and Jane and Sarah and Cara and Ashley and Kelly and Jessica
and Jennifer and Lisa and Laura and more

You've been listening to too much Beautiful South, haven't you?

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

"Roger Zoul" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Blair P. Houghton wrote:
|| Roger Zoul <[email hidden]> wrote:
||| Blair P. Houghton wrote:
||||| Roger Zoul <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

||||| You could be back there every day for a month and not spend
||||| more than 40, 50 grand trying to get her attention.
|||
||| That's funny. Every time I go in there I get her attention. She
||| is very good that way, which is part of the reason I wanted to ask
||| her out. But you know how that goes....I ask her out and then I
||| get the cold shoulder...or just a polite "oh, i've got plans that
||| night..."
||
|| So every time you go back you get her professional attention.
||
|| But if you keep going back for trivial reasons you'll
|| get her attention attention.

Okay....I'll try that. 🙂

Yeah, either you'll get her attention attention, or she'll report you as a
stalker.

I think you should get the hint -- she's being professionally polite to you,
but she's Not Interested.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

Blair P. Houghton said:

Cheto said:

"Blair P. Houghton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]..

Quoted message said:

So what happens the first day I ride for serious on them?

You fall on your ass at the very first intersection you come to. :-) You
might fall a couple of times; I fell a grand total of three times. But then
you get used to them and can't imagine riding without them. And when you do
ride a bike with out them, it feels really weird.

I ride stationaries for cardio warmup at the gym all the
time, and have been in and out of straps since I was a kid,
so that's not much trouble. Probably also why I haven't
fallen yet. I'm used to doing something to disengage.
But I know that yanking my feet out of the straps is
instinctive by now, so the first time I have to do an
emergency exit I'm probably going to end up taking the
bike over my ass.

--Blair
"Just asking to pretzel a wheel..."

The key to getting comfortable in clipless is first ride at least 30
minutes in a grassy area, for instance, doing a large circle, and clipping
in and out. Pick a tree, or a bush and say 'when I see that bush, that will
be an intersection'. Then you have time to unclip one or both feet, and
then come to a complete stop, lean the bike slightly and step down to that
side.

Then start up, both feet unclipped, or clip one foot in and start up, then
clip the other foot in while pedalling (iow pedal with the shoe on top of
the pedal for a few feet). Once you can get clipped back in within a few
revs (or one rev!), and you feel adept at getting one foot unclipped and
stopping at that representative bush or tree, then you are ready for the
road.

When you first start riding the road, start up with both feet unclipped
pedalling on top of the pedals, and then clip in. Why, you ask? You want to
be sure the drive train is working and that you are in the right gear. If
you are in the wrong gear, you may not be able to pedal, or you may find
you're pedalling way too fast and thus risk falling over.

When you're sure the gear is right, the chain has not come off, then clip
both feet in and off you go.

Now remember, this is just for the first 'take-off' the first couple rides.
After that, when you finish a ride, make sure you're in the right gear to
start (duh) when you get back on the bike the next day. (duh)

Later, you'll just naturally know the bike is ready to go, clip in with one
foot, start to pedal and within one or two revs, clip in the other foot.

During the ride, for the first few times, unclip -both- feet as you come up
to an obstacle or if you anticipate a 'problem' (pedestrians, dog, car
backing out of driveway) and ride the tops of the pedals for a few seconds.
When you pass and all is AOK, clip back in.

Why all of this 'riding on the pedals' and over-cautious 'clipping out and
in'? Well think about it...

Most rides, say in toe-clips, you almost never get off the pedals (if you
ride with the toe-clips loose), so you never really get any practice
loosening and getting out of the toe clips. If you ever got into the
practice of riding with the toe-clip straps tight, it's -much- harder to
anticipate, reach down and release the straps, yada, yada. So most ppl ride
with them loose.

All the clipping out and in during the first few rides, or first week can
build up the muscle and neuro memory of how to unclip, and also teaches you
where you put your foot to clip back in...iow, you have numerous practices,
and you learn to get out and get in smoothly and efficiently. Remember,
during normal rides in toe-clips you may never take your feet off the
pedals from start to finish. If you ride the clipless like that, fine, but
you may have failed to get enough experience with repetitive 'out and in,
in and out' clips. You may be an 'expert' bike handler, but your body and
neuro system just didn't get enough practice attempts to groove out those
brain pathways.

This is why some riders who have been using clipless for a while may still
not feel very comfortable. To get the requisite 'repetitions' if you don't
do it in the first few rides, you'd have to ride a couple months. And the
repetitions wouldn't be 'concentrated', which imo, results in a more
permanent 'groove'.

It's like playing scales on the piano. Groove it in, avoid 'mistakes' in
fingering so you don't groove in a 'wrong' pathway. You also and have the
'successes' of riding in them far outweigh the negative experience(s), if
any, of falling over.

Whew, sorry of for the long winded babble!

-B

Claire Petersky wrote:
|| "Roger Zoul" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
|| news:[email hidden]...
||| Blair P. Houghton wrote:
||||| Roger Zoul <[email hidden]> wrote:
|||||| Blair P. Houghton wrote:
|||||||| Roger Zoul <[email hidden]> wrote:
||
|||||||| You could be back there every day for a month and not spend
|||||||| more than 40, 50 grand trying to get her attention.
||||||
|||||| That's funny. Every time I go in there I get her attention. She
|||||| is very good that way, which is part of the reason I wanted to
|||||| ask her out. But you know how that goes....I ask her out and
|||||| then I
|||||| get the cold shoulder...or just a polite "oh, i've got plans that
|||||| night..."
|||||
||||| So every time you go back you get her professional attention.
|||||
||||| But if you keep going back for trivial reasons you'll
||||| get her attention attention.
|||
||| Okay....I'll try that. 🙂
||
|| Yeah, either you'll get her attention attention, or she'll report
|| you as a stalker.
||
|| I think you should get the hint -- she's being professionally polite
|| to you, but she's Not Interested.

Don't you think I realize that?