I’ve had two-sided pedals (platform on one side, SPD clips on the other) on my bike for a couple weeks and I finally made it to the store, bought some cycling shoes, and tried the whole clipping-in thing. And it worked! I was slightly terrified going into it because I’ve heard so many stories of falls … and more falls … as people get used to clipping in. Five miles later, I still haven’t fallen. I almost hope I do soon, just to get it over with. But everything seems to be working okay.

After work (and buying the shoes and installing the cleats) I walked my bike over to the park and found a low-traffic area to get started. I leaned against a tree first, sat on my bike, and figured out how to clip in and out. Then a slow roll with just one foot clipped in, then out, then the other in, then out. Then I made up a lot of “drills” to do – ride, then move over to the curb, clip out, foot to the curb, then get going again, and things like that. Different gears. Uphill and downhill. I’m thinking that muscle memory is the key to this: my feet need to just need to know automatically what to do, without waiting for my brain to process and relay the “oh, stop light coming up, time to clip out” information.

Pedals: Shimano PD-T780

Shoes: Gira Petra VR (on sale at Paragon!)

Next up: More practice this weekend, then bike commute on Tuesday?