University has resumed, which means I am working less, but because of my less-than-exciting timetable, between work and uni I have exactly zero (0) days off to mooch, update this blog and do mega-epic km's.
Furthermore, within all this chaos is Le Tour, which just futher nullifies my mind after getting about 4-hours of sleep. Gee whiz, if only we lived in Europe, following the Tour would be so much easier!
Bike setup has really been on my mind recently.
When you think about it...as cyclists we don't pay that much attention to some really important parts of our bikes. While most people will go on an exodus with their LBS in order to find the perfect saddle, the other bike-contact points are often forgotten—what about our handsies and feeties?
Most people choose a bar tape or grip because it will look good on their bike—but what about comfort? We have important nerves surrounding that specific bike contact point that we should look after. I like a squishy cork tape (in a non-daggy colourway) or silicone grip.
But specifically, what have been holding my concentration this year are shoes. That's right, shoes. Those space-aged-lookin' silver doo-dads us cyclists tout on our feeties, carbon-soled, lorica-uppered, three-strap, ratchetted, mesh and air-vented pieces of engineering I spend between 10 and 16 hours in a week.
Bikeradar has even put up a Tour special on the shoes of the peleton (my FAVOURITE part of the tour...no joke) which is here.
Those of us who feature the "Australian" variation of feet (broad forefoot, flattened from years of thongs, coupled up with anorexically thin heels) have probably already experienced the difficulty in finding the perfect shoe that doesn't rape your foot two hours into the ride.
I had found a shoe that did my ugly feet justice, the first of Shimano's heat-mouldable range of two years ago, the M300:
(Shiny and clean...but they don't stay that way for long)
This was all well and great...but by this stage in their lifecycle, two years on, they're looking a little worse for wear:
(I love that the toe is actually peeling away from the shoe. Classy)
(Sole? What sole?)
These poor shoesies have been damn near beaten to death: they have partaken in two National Championships, National Series races, the Anaconda MTB Enduro, two State XC series, About five 6-hour events, and other random marathons and dirt crits. This is not even to mention the trail-riding bashing that they got!
But in the words of a bike mechanic; 'they're dead'. Now I have replaced them with some cheaper Shimano m183 (in a hideous pokemon colour scheme, but alas, I digress...) while I wait for some sweet (and hopefully very comfy) Specialized shoes.
Needless to say, I have a shoe fetish. And not of the Jimmy Choo variety. Specialized, Sidi, Gaerne, Shimano, Northwave...I have been trawling through information at work for weeks to find the perfect shoe. The holy grail of shoes. But none appear to exist. And if they DO exist, it's somewhere in Europe with no Australian distributor. Typical!
In the meantime, on my journey to find the 'perfect' shoes, I will pray that my dead feet don't get any worse with my current clogs.
And with that, I will have a coffee. Mmmm....
