Rule #34-Mountain bike shoes have their place-on a mountain bike.
During our very recent Cogal I gained some on-the-road insight on Rule #34. We were on a part of the route I have never ridden on a bike and had no memory of. The pavement was pavé, Maui-style. Somewhere deep down below the surface of the road was primordial road, patched with only scoopfuls of asphalt over the years until the surface is completely dimpled with mango sized mounds of road. This was good and expected. The Roubaix technique of big charinring (ahemmm, errrr, 50 tooth), powering along, keeping the weight on the pedals and handlebars had us making good progress through some of Maui’s most remote country. And it was raining and there was cow manure to ride over…almost Northern France.
I came around a bend and hit a steep berg. The tilted road kept curving right so it was impossible to know when it ended but it couldn’t end soon enough for me. I was quickly in the worst of straits: out of gears, out of the saddle and fully gassed with no end in sight. There were still two people behind me that had to be looking to get by; they could not possibly be going slower. I was unintentionally weaving over the pavé as my complete focus was on keeping the bike up and not hitting a hole or a bump big enough to stop me dead.
Totally redlined on a climb that has no immediate end in sight, these are the worst and best times for a cyclists. If you let your back wheel slip, you stop and the foot goes down, unacceptable. If you just say basta, pull on your brakes and put down your feet, that is worse. I assume all cyclists feel this way. If you are on the Koppenberg someone better have blocked your way. No one gets off halfway up that and says, nah, I’d rather walk. If I have a heart attack trying to ride up something horrible, that might be better than the alternative.
“He wasn’t the brightest, but he didn’t put his foot down”.
It is the best time for a cyclists simply because given all alternatives, there are none, it’s Rule #5. No need to think, better not to think, just keep it going up.
If I did put my foot down on a shiny, wet, steep berg, what then? I have speedplay cleats and those aren’t getting me anywhere if I’m not on a bike. No cleat covers that day so I would be laying down my sweet steed, sitting on this hill while I take my shoes off? That is not going to happen.
The only way my putting a foot down that would not end in a bad nickname for life would be if I was wearing mtb shoes. No one needs that temptation. Looking past the obvious reasons for Rule #34: the mtb shoe-cleat connection is sloppy, mtb shoes look lame on road riders and we are riders, not walkers is the cruel temptation to put a foot down and push the bike up to the top of a hill. This is something no one needs in their time of need.
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@Gotta Ride Today
SPD is the mountain bike pedal interface, do you mean SPD-SL (3-bolt)?
I once got off and walked what turned out to be less then a hundred metres, I lost count of the number of bends when scaling my nemesis that I thought I was known here near the top.
I felt like such a loser and put in an extra 45km to punish myself for being such a pussy. With hindsight I should have coasted back down to ascend it again and teach myself not to be such a weak prick.
It was a valuable lesson learnt, never again will I get off and take the easy way up.
It's the blackout moments when I am are deep in the pain cave and about to cry off that I learn the most about myself, it is exactly what makes cycling so fucking beautiful.
@SimonH
Hey I've done that too. Stalled and taken a rest on a bend that turned out to be the last one before it all levelled out the other side of the trees.
@Wojtek G
First off...beautiful avatar. And you just distilled my ranting into a few beautiful lines. Thank you.
@strathlubnaig
If it had been Scotland there would have been a cozy pub in a few miles with duck pie and pints and I would have gone in there and never come out. So I'm not sure if that would be better or not.
Great photo! Chasing the rainbow...
@Gianni
Is it even an option to ask if you did in fact put the foot down? Totally aside the point, of course. A cliffhanger if I ever read one...
That is the way to sum up what it means to evoke the "V" ! The manner in which we just ride and conquer what ever is around the next corner , just beautiful and in the rain no less. All weather is good weather.
@strathlubnaig
After the Scottish Cogal at Callander I can understand why you feel this way but it taught me that the roads around where I live are mostly in great condition (not as smooth as mainland Europe though). Hope to have the next Cogal around here so you can check them out, sometimes when the sun is out it can feel like the French countryside and we grin for miles. I think it's possibly because you're much closer to Glasgow so there's a lot more traffic churning them up.
@Gianni
Duck pie? Can you deep fry that?