Look Mom, No Bodily Injury!

The true mark of being a super-cool cyclist wasn't my ride, and it wasn't my spandex tan line, it was my bike shoes. The super-cool cyclists are the ones that swagger into the bar or the spin class with that up-toe clickety swagger that comes from wearing bike cleats. I couldn't wait to get a pair.

I got myself a pair of Pearl Izumi Race RD, mostly because they looked cool, I got a good deal, and I didn't know what else to get. Then I went down to Modern Bike, my friend Andy's bike store on Euclid (east side!) and got some cleats. I found the 4mm Allen wrench and the promptly let the whole shebang sit on top of the microwave for about 3 weeks.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, told me I would crash when I tried to clip in. Or, they told me about their crashes. Or the sent me links to websites with ridiculous crashes. Or, they told me to go practice in a parking lot like a 14-year-old drivers ed student, but then I would still crash. I had crashing on the brain. And, I wanted to keep crashing away from my brain. As brave as I try to be, I am easily intimidated, especially when that intimidation comes in the form of dental damage.

Finally, finally, after many, many self-pep talks, I got up to the courage to strap on those bright white babies and I hit the road. Problem one: clipping in is harder than it looks. I don't clip in a flash. I clip in like the beery-sweaty messes I see leaving AK O'Connors, whose clips sound like shot in the night and genuinely seem to surprise the cyclist.

Problem two: fear. I practiced clipping out. It didn't seem like a problem at all. The real issue was being scared of forgetting to clip out, being scared of deer dashing out on the trail, fear of jacking up my knees through mis-clip placement, fear of sudden stops, big bumps, railroad tracks, rainstorms, raccoons, etc. All of the things that would normally made me nervous, filled me with fright knowing I couldn't jump off my bike like a squirrel on a live-wire.

But, I made it. I rode all the way up to DMACC, mostly clipped in, nearly never crying, and without crashing. I almost crashed, but an almost crash is not a crash. And, I made it home. And, I made it up to Big Creek and back, all without tragic bodily injury.

And, the benefits are amazing. Being clipped not only makes me cool and gives me some bike-street cred on the trail, but it also helps me go super fast. I love the new efficiency.

As for the crashing, I am trying to resign myself to the possibility. When I bicycle commuted in New Orleans, I just accepted the fact that it wasn't IF a car hit me, it was when. I am trying to gain that same sort of zen when it comes to clipping in. Until then, feeling really cool will have to suffice.