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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@Gianni
Not while I'm alive you aren't...
@the Engine
If you must fall off, fall to Port.
@the _farmer
Well I managed 6km run in the snowy woods. I passed a guy on his bike out on a back road near here while driving back from Edinburgh airport early today, he looked like he was toiling to stay upright on the snow, so I wimped out and went running instead. Good effort to you lad.
@strathlubnaig
I am training to do the Etape Caledonia and the Trossachs Ton (can anyone spell midlife crisis!) so the torture had to start sometime, spent 20 years not cycling and got back into it in the summer (so called). Only two weeks of torture then I get a week of to go snowboarding though, I will also have to have a word with my coach about fitting in time for this IF we get enough snow in Alba.
@the_farmer
See you on the Cogal that @smoov is organising then
@the_farmer
I can spell it....P..O..R..S..C..H..E
You know what the emoticon is, so I will not debase myself by using it!
@Deakus
Then you've got that Rule #25 problem. Spend the money on a bike old chap - you know you want to.
@the Engine
Can I request that the Cogal Ecosse Est dates are put up for discussion so that I can juggle my offshore hitches to suit ?
I propose sometime in late May to June, the best time of the year lately. Starting in the West End of Dundee riding up to Aboyne stop at a cafe for refuelling and back again. It's about 180km with around 1000m climbing over the Cairn 'o' Mount from both sides. I'll have to find a cafe in Aboyne first, then the recovery beverages should be easy.
Also propose moving this to the Scottish Cogal Article so as not to hijack this thread.
Thoughts?
@Gianni
Correct .... couple of local climbs have been my nemesis on two occasions ....lately been going up them quite comfortably and finding myself giving a wry smile at the top and a self congratulations accompanied by a " fuck you, hill !" comment out load to no-one in particular ..... maybe the cattle in the paddock and the kangaroo in the bushes and the magpie on the tree appreciated my efforts..
its as if the climb is an entity unto its own ... and you are the dragon slayer ..... game on next time too, I say .......... to be continued