Winter Riding

Lucky Run Trail in Arlington VA that was given advance treatment to slow development of ice

This is the bike trail near my house, which is treated to slow development of ice, largely for cyclists I suppose but also helpful for people on foot. (Alas, as a dog owner I am less enthusiastic about this.)

I took this while riding a bike with studded tires, however, so while it is nice, I prefer that extra insurance against falling down. Today is Sunday and I'm not riding, but I am thinking about whether to ride the bike with studded tires or my regular commuter bike tomorrow. The Mt Vernon Trail will almost certainly have some icy spots.

I don't much like falling down. I guess I said that.

Cycling Winter Shoes

After Christmas I decided I needed some new cycling shoes. I saw these online "Giro Alpineduro MTB Shoe" that were $199.99 (or in other words, $200) for a closeout price of $95.99 (or half price, more or less).


No, these don't look like 200 dollars worth of shoes, I guess

Which doesn't include the cleats (the brass thing that attaches to the bike on the sole of the shoe) but I have a bunch of extras, so I didn't have to buy those (for an additional 20 bucks . . . ). And yes, one pair of shoelaces are orange and the other black. They give you two pairs of shoelaces in two colors and the shoes arrive with two different colors of shoe laces on them, so you can swap out one color if you like. Or not.

It will be nice to be able to have a pair of cycling shoes for winter that are OK for walking - the cleats are recessed so it just like walking in a pair of low boots - OK, a pair of low boots that have very stiff soles, which is good for cycling but a little unpleasant for much walking. Still, better than regular road shoes for walking.

Also, it is possible to wear these when riding my winter bike with studded tires that has regular metal platform pedals without taking the cleats off the bottom of these shoes.

The sizing of bike stuff that is sold with European sizes for which the online sales outlets give US shoe size equivalents are amusing - as in, wildly inaccurate. Fortunately people make comments about the items and give good analysis of the sizing problems so I was able to figure out the right size to order - and was lucky that they had any in that size at all since these were a closeout item.

In the 1890s during the so-called bike craze, 100 dollars was a typical price for a good name-brand (say Columbia) bicycle, but then the craze collapsed after 1897 or so and the prices fell considerably. Today if I go to a box store, I can still buy a bike for less than 100 dollars, which is incredible, but it uhm won't last very long - not surprisingly. (And weighs 50 lbs, give or take.) But if I want some good winter road shoes, I consider myself lucky if I get them for the same price that I can get an entire bike for!

Well, sort of. Crazy world.