NOTE: Don't forget. MidSummer's Eve Night Ride Monday, 2 August. 8:00 PM. Fredrick Brown Amphitheater, Peachtree City.
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This one is recent, not a reminicence at all, and it has a lot of humor attached, but it carries a couple of good points.
When: This past Wednesday evening, about 7:40.
The Scene: Bicycles Unlimited’s Wednesday Evening Path Ride.
The Back Ground: The ride leader has chosen to ride one of his fixed gear bikes for this ride.
The Set-Up: The group has just hit the unpaved section of the paths, jokingly called pave’. As usual, the leader (me) hits the power button and blasts through this section. After all, it’s a lot of fun that way. This opens a big gap on the group, and this is a “No Drop” ride. So after passing through the section, and crossing the street at McIntosh, the leader slows to a near track-stand to allow the group to catch up and reassemble. The group catches up, and bunches up. All are present and the leader begins to roll out. But there is a bit of traffic on the path, so it is necessary to get the group into single file. To assist this, the Leader stands and begins to accelerate the fixed gear bike.
And that’s when it happened!: Just as the leader (I) was bringing up the power and getting the bike rolling again, beginning to build RPM… The left foot was descending on the crank, pushing down, the right was rising up the back, pulling up hard. And…
Whaa-HOO!! The right pedal let go of my cleat! This event is sometimes called a “false release,” because the rider had no intention of releasing from the pedal.
Picture this: I am on an accelerating bike. My right leg has just been pulling up, when it is, abruptly, freed from the pedal, my let goes down, and… There’s no coasting on a fixie! So as the leg hits the bottom of the crankstroke, the pedal drags it right through the bottom, and back up! The right foot touches the gound, only for a moment, as the bike swerves wildly to the left and off of the path.
I rode it out. I let my left leg stiffen and carry me back up into the top, as I brought the bike under control. Then, as the crank kept turning, I found the saddle, sat down, and brought the flailing right foot to the pedal and clipped back in.
The gyrations were surprising and amusing to the crowd behind, and startling to those innocents on the trail ahead. I laughed it off.
Now I’m pretty sure that some of my loyal readers are thinking, “Serve him right. That’s what you get when you mess around with all that weird fixed gear stuff.” And, while I’ll admit to the possibility that you may have something in that, there’s a lesson or two to be learned from all this.
The Lesson: After the ride, I did some forensic work. Turns out my cleats were pretty badly worn. I use Shimano SPD cleats and pedals. The cleats are made from really good, very hard steel. They don’t wear fast, but they do wear. Worn cleats don’t work right.
While I was about it, I took a look at the pedals. There was a bit of gunk built up around the springs, so I cleaned and lubricated them, and then set the release tension a bit higher.
Embarrassing as it is to admit it, I can’t tell you when I last inspected those cleats. It should be a weekly check. (Count on it, it will be for me, from here on out.)
Don’t know what to look for in cleat wear? Here’s a suggestion. If you don’t know, likely yours are worn. Bring your shoes by the shop and ask us about them. We’ll tell you what to look for.
While you’re at it, you should have a spare pair of cleats handy. That protects you from the problem of not finding a replacement. Inevitably these things “suddenly” wear out, just before a big event, and no one has them in stock then. Do it now, while you’re thinking of it, and it isn’t a big deal.
Special Fixed Gear Corollary Lesson: Fixies are different. Pedals are designed to self-tighten on “normal” cranks, under “normal” use. But we fixed gear riders do some abnormal things. We do something called “adverse pedaling. That means we apply power in the opposite direction. This can cause pedals to loosen on the cranks. This should be checked on a regular basis. There’s nothing fun about ripping a pedal out of your crank.
Skills Lesson: It is a very good idea to practice bike handling skills on a regular basis. At least part of the reason that my little dance was only funny, and not serious, is that I do some frequent handling exercises. Controlling the bike under unusual attitudes, and recovering from odd situations is a “second” nature kind of thing. The only way to make that true is to practice. One suggestion, roadies get on a mountain bike and play in the dirt. Skills picked up on a mountain bike will stand you in good stead some day.
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