Most of us have ridden a bike with a flat or platform pedal. And most of us have had a foot slip off at least once. That’s not a huge deal when riding around the neighborhood so there is no money spent on expensive shoes or pedals to keep it from happening.

For many mountain bikes and road bikes, the rider is willing to accept the expense of special shoes and pedals. It isn’t just to keep the foot from slipping off, though. There is some real advantage to having the shoe and pedal attached to each other when climbing a hill on a bike. You can exert more pull on the back up stroke which helps even out the effort.

With clip-in pedals starting out looks like this:

• Stand on the left side of the bike.
• Position the right pedal at 6 o’clock.
• Put the right food on the pedal and click in
• Now bring the pedal back up to noon o’clock (that’s toward the front). This means I can push off and get some momentum. Speed is my friend (yeah, crazy, but I keep repeating it thinking maybe some day I’ll believe it)
• Now, while the bike is moving (with me on it, sort of) get that left foot up and clipped in
• If the left foot doesn’t clip in right away, pedal normally to keep up the speed (remember, speed is my friend) until I can get that foot clipped in

Now that I’m moving, stopping requires a lot of planning as well.

• Get up some speed (yep, speed really is my friend)
• With the left foot at the top of the stroke (12 0′clock) jerk the shoe out of the pedal clip. I still have some difficulty with this so I start preparing to stop long before I really need to stop. I can walk the bike the last few feet if I have to.
• Now start braking and lean to the left to put the left foot on the ground when I stop
• Then unclip the right foot

In my time on the bike so far, I have fallen 3 times. All have been because I was starting or stopping and had difficulty getting the shoe in or out of the lock. I have successfully stopped and started many more times. I have been reassured that this will become second nature to me.

Drills to handle your bike more confidently.

Riding in a peloton safely.

Riding in a group the right way.

Ways to become a better climber.

This article is going to be no different than any realm of exercise, so don’t think it’s limited to cycling. By nature we are slothful and we need a little ‘push’ out the door sometimes.

This is my story: Several years ago a friend and I got together for dinner. We had met each other at the Red Cross donating platelets and had developed a great friendship over a few years. One night we were brainstorming business ideas and personal goals, and I didn’t think much of it at the time, but a few months later he tells me that he had taken up cycling as a result of that conversation… and he had taken it up full bore… He got the bike, the clothes, the shoes, and had already signed up and rode some pretty aggressive races.

Come that next spring he challenges me to join him on the MS 150, a 2-day, 200 mile bike ride that would finish at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Not having sat on a bike since I was in high school, but feeling up to the challenge, I said I would do it.

My First MS Ride - Me on the left, and Bill on the right

Well, he gave me a 6-month window… then it was 5-months,… then four… and you know the story. It wasn’t until I had 2 months to go that I had the fire lit under me to start training, and I rode every day, no less than 4 days per week, and in those 2 months I had lost 15 pounds and my stamina skyrocketed and I conquered those 200 miles in 2 days and was ready for more (yeah… really!).

Note that until I felt I had crossed a barrier in my mind that “If I don’t start now, I’m (1) going to look like a fool when I can’t keep up with the group (2) going to let my buddy down, (3) lose an opportunity to prove to myself that I can stick to something if I care about it enough. Those were my motivations, and I had to cross a threshold.

So how did I stay motivated? One way was to get accountable… I had to do this not just for myself, but for others in order to get me out of bed early on Saturday or stay up a little later because I had to ride that evening. I joined a local cycling group at the local Y. I signed up for 15 & 30-mile rides in the area. I invited friends to come because if I didn’t show and they did, well, that just wouldn’t be cool.

It’s spring again, and I’ve got the bug. I’ve registered for the 2009 MS Ride and setup my fundraising page. I bought a bike trainer so I can train rain or shine. I setup a blog on my MS Site as well to keep track of my progress and let my friends know I expect to be held accountable.

So what’s keeping your rear in a chair and out of the seat? Find a friend, a partner, a riding buddy that will keep you accountable, and get out there! I’ll see you on the road…

-Anthony

Peloton is derived from the french word for ball. It refers to the main body of riders in a race.  In a bike ride (which is not a competitive race) you will often see the riders in 1 or 2 wide lines. But in a race when there is more jockeying for position it looks more like a bunch and the main bunch (with some leaders ahead and more straggling behind) is the peloton.

Advantages to riding in a peloton include safety in numbers, efficiency due to aerodynamic drag, and sharing the burden of being the head rider who breaks the wind (no pun intended) for the others in the peloton.

It also provides some very healthy accountability so you will keep your cadence steady and your speed up to keep up with the group. This is also true of a ride in a single file line.

This gets back to the point that you should be fitted out for the right fit on a Trek. Once you accept that your leg length, trunk length, and seat height makes a big difference, then you realize that some thinks are harder to adjust in a one-bike-for-all type of world. That’s why there are Big & Tall stores and petite sections for people with shorter legs. The WSD is the same concept.

By angling the seat tube so my weight is balanced correctly over the pedals I have stronger strokes. Making the handle bars narrower keeps my shoulders properly aligned, that’s a good thing. It also means I don’t have to reach as far so I can focus on enjoying the ride instead of being worn out by straining to reach everything.