I've been riding on my Time Atacs and Shimano SPD pedals for at least 12 years now. Never had a problem, never had a worry. UNTIL five minutes before the start of yesterday's time trials at Jewell Park. One of the toughest courses around, which was enough to give me the pre-race jitters. I was ready to go, decide to do a quick jaunt out of the parking lot to get warmed up. I go to clip out and my foot is stuck. Foot turned sideways but wouldn't clip out. What the? Finally I yank my foot out and look underneath my shoe. I was missing one of the two screws to hold my cleat in! No way! Well there was no way at Jewell that I would race like that, I was already having flash forwards of myself toppling sideways down the course because I couldn't unclip my left foot. Decision made, I would take out the left cleat completely and ride solo. Or call it riding dirty if you will, because I'm sure that's how it looked on the course. Everytime I tried to climb, my right pedal would make the revolution, while my left foot just slipped off the pedal. And standing during climbs? Near impossible because my left foot would just fly forward or backwards. The rhythm of the pedal stroke was gone, leading to a quick loss of momentum. Halfway through after frustration, I decided that jumping off and running the bike would sometimes be easier. GRRRR...not how I wanted to start the race season!!!Todd flew by me early in the race, but was a great motivational help by telling me to push on when he would see me throughout the course. Thanks for the words of encouragement Todd, it helped. Todd finished 5th in the Cat 3 open, I finished 11th. Not last, so I'm happy with that result considering my BS situation. Results can be seen here.
Todd hungry!
Buddy Alex and I at Jewell watching Cat 1 racers
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