Clipless pedals

This is my first entry, about time too. My task is to transform myself from a lazy student to a cyclist. Thankfully I can still stay in bed until lunch, but now activities involve less maths and more cyling.

It has come to my attention that all top cyclists use clipless pedals. In my opinion they have been named very badly. The pedals have clips on them... My shoes attach nicely so I can pedal without all that wasted energy of slipping around. Great! But what about when you don't want to pedal anymore and would rather stop at a junction say, or local point of interest (pub)? Unclipping seems almost vital. I had been warned that it takes some practice. So I did some practice. When I got my bike home and in one piece I put my left shoe into the clip with a very satisfying click. It felt stable and, more importantly, comfortable. A few minutes later I took my foot out of that shoe to leave it hanging on the pedal. It is fair to say that unclipping wasn't as satisfying as clipping had been. I continued to spend an afternoon in the garage cursing and falling over as a man-cycle hybrid. A couple of days and one youtube video later I have the technique sorted.

I will start to make more frequent posts from now on in the run up to our departure so watch this space! Route planning is in progress, as is the search for sponsorship. If you have not done so yet please give what you can at
http://www.justgiving.com/Will-And-Dan-Do-Cycling
Thank you for your support!