Tuesday, April 21, 2009

B'gawk

I seem to be prone to confessing my bike-related shortcomings these days. (Maybe it's that Catholic upbringing.) Anyway, the clipless pedals came in last Friday. So I have them in my possession. I finally went with eggbeaters with a small platform. I kind of like the kitchen-related name -- good call, Sheffy. Also, perhaps more importantly, I've heard they are harder to use at first but ultimately easier to clip in and out of. I kind of think of it like learning to drive a car: I wish I'd learned to drive standard shift from the beginning, rather than 10 years later when I was living in Mexico. (Incidentally, I think my boyfriend at the time teaching me how to drive it was the straw that broke the camel's back of our relationship, but I digress.) But I eventually learned to drive my little Nissan Tsuru all around Mexico and loved it. So I decided to skip the SPDs and go straight for the top. They look amazing... in the box. I've been trying to keep them out of Ollie's view in the apartment, though. You can probably guess by now that I have not yet tried them. B'gawk.

I had nicknamed my friend Ronn "B'gawk" one evening after he refused to drive down the back alley behind my apartment after dinner to drop me off. He was scared of the rats. (What were they going to do, jump in the car?) So I mocked him, perhaps unfairly. But now the shoe is on the other foot: I am the chicken. Have I even taken the clipless pedals out of the box? Negative. I mean, I can't ride with them if I don't have the corresponding shoes yet.... So I suppose you could say the shoe is not even on the foot.

Okay, I'm stalling. I have been avoiding getting the shoes. What can I say? B'gawk. Maybe I'll try them out when I get to Pittsburgh.

2 comments:

  1. Good call with the eggbeaters-- they're not that hard, maybe a few hours of practice. My falls came during long rides, when I forgot that I was clipped in and I tried to dismount while still engaged.

    Oh, and considering the issues you had with the fenders, you may want to let the gurus install the pedals. (I've ripped the threading off not just my pedals but also my crankshaft by trying to do it myself).

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Ibti,

    I had such a great time catching up with you yesterday. I'm looking forward to reading about all of you adventures that you're about to experience. You're motivating me to step up to face some real challenges that are attainable by simply just going out there and doing it.
    Best of luck and take care,
    eddie

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comment! Just making sure this isn't spam.... Thanks for your patience. :)Ibti