Sunday, November 16, 2008

Out of the Fire and Onto the Sidewalk

The Pasadena Marathon was cancelled this morning due to the poor air quality caused by all the fires in the area. I woke up at 4am, didn't see any email (it wouldn't arrive for another nine minutes), took a shower and shaved, then checked the email again and saw the announcement. Bummer. What to do with my day now?

Time to get some clipless pedals.

I was going to get them at Bicycle John's but they're not open on Sundays so it was off to Montrose Bike Shop. The fellow waiting on me was very helpful, explaining about the shoes and figuring out that I really wasn't looking for high-end stuff. He even hooked the bike up to the trainer so I could get used to working with the pedals and shoes. Good thing, too, because as soon as I got out of my front gate I managed to fall down :-). Like I tell my children, though, mistakes are one of the ways we learn so I got back up and continued on my short shakedown cruise: pedal a bit, un-clip, clip-in, other leg, repeat. No more crashes. Things are looking good for next week's rides.

Gosh. Bike shorts, jerseys, and clipless pedals. I almost feel like a real cyclist. 20 mph average on the loop, here I come!

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