Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Second ride

I took Circe out for a second spin after getting home from work last night. I eschewed the W&OD, which was chock full of other cyclists and strolling families, for neighborhood streets and gunned it to the top end of my comfort level. It's going to take a while before shifting becomes natural; since there are no dials at the shifters, I tend to look down at the chain to figure out an approximation of what gear I'm in. Yeah, that's about as safe as it sounds.

I put my hands in a slightly looser position on the horns and saved the thumb/index webbing from further abuse, so that's good. I've wound up with chain grease on the side of my right calf during the past two rides and that's weird. It may be how I'm standing at stops; more research indicated.

Oh, and toe overlap: I have it. In perusing the internet -- because it knows all -- this seems to be a fairly common occurrence with compact frame cycles. It's annoying at very low speeds when I'm steering a fairly sharp turn, but I'm pretty sure I can work around that.

5 comments:

  1. Don't you drop your outside foot when you corner? Thinks it's the only way you'll over come that problem......or chop your toes off. The last tip should be a last resort!

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    1. Heh. I'm not wild about toes, but they do help with balance. ;)

      I do drop my outside foot when I'm at speed and I tend to lean into turns rather than steer into them. It's when I pedal slowly -- about the speed of a medium walk -- that I notice my toe hitting the wheel when I turn the steering wheel. Also, I haven't started using clipless shoes or pedals yet, so it could just be that my feet are in the wrong position on the flat pedals.

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  2. Like you say, the clearance could well improve if you start using clipless shoes and pedals..When using flat pedals most people seem to have their feet to far forward.
    I would certainly try clipless before chopping your toes off..Ha...Ha
    -Trevor

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  3. Your not using clipless shoe's? Girl you gotta go clipless! I swear it's scary for only a minute and a tip get universal clips go to a gym and use them in a couple spinning classes. It's going to make you faster and save wear and tear on your legs. As for the gears dang it took me a while, it's so different than a MB! I love reading about your first rides, brings back great memories.

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