Turning a Pedalpusher into a Pedalpuller

I may actually do something I swore I would never do – get clipless bicycle pedals. The idea of having my feet “glued” to the pedals always made me cringe at the idea of stopping, for fear I would forget to loosen my feet first.

I went out on a ride this afternoon with my friend who knows a lot about biking with the idea that he might be able to tell me how to ride more efficiently. Five minutes into the ride he got out his tools and moved my seat back, having noticed that my knees were too far forward when I started to push the pedals down. He also wondered about the possibility of changing the gear ratio on my bike, so I suggested we ride over to Spokes and speak with those guys that always are doing free adjustments on my bike.

The Spokes guys came up with two optional changes that would increase the lower gears on my bike. They fixed something that was loose in the handlebar extender, at no charge of course.

On the ride back after a particularly steep hill, my friend asked if I had ever considered clipless pedals. If you don’t know what these are, they are pedals that your shoes attach to. They do keep your feet from slipping on the pedals. But, more importantly, my friend pointed out that they give you the power of pulling as well as pushing. It makes so much sense that this would help on hills.

This is one of those things I’ve always had a mental block on. Sort of like driving a stick-shift car, which turned out to be a piece of cake once I didn’t have the option to drive an automatic. So I just have to think positively, go buy some bike shoes, and get my pedals changed out. I may also go for at least one of the gear modifications.

I figured I might end up with weight training or something to build up my legs. But instead it’s just a matter of using the strength I have more efficiently. This makes so much sense.

Meanwhile my husband is talking about a bike ride (with a group) from Jerusalem to Eilat. That’s 300 miles on Israeli roads and they are some kind of crazy drivers. It’s hilly and much of it is in the desert. I think I’d better get training...