failing like never before

Over the weekend I managed somehow to lose the cable that I use for locking my bike up. I could have sworn that I brought my bike, cable, and padlock into the room before it started to rain again, but for some reason I just cannot find my cable. So of course, I haven't been riding my bike lately since I can't afford to leave it unlocked outside of my classroom. And since one of my roommates leaves his shiny new Trek 1.7FX in the room at all times, all my other roommates have been getting a little annoyed by the presence of two bikes in the living room, which was never that large to begin with. Today, I decided to just borrow one of roommates cables, and use it until my cable decides to show its ugly mug. So today was the first time I have ridden my bike in several days. But on to something a little more exciting...

Almost two weeks ago, I got out of class and it was pouring rain (unusual weather for lovely Southern California, even in Winter). The padded seat on my bike was soggy with absorbed water and my cheap Wal-mart brakes were squeaking like mad canaries. I wasn't on my bike for even a minute before I realized that one of my toe-clips felt a little loose, and a closer examination revealed that one of the screws holding the toe-clip to the pedal was missing. Figuring that it wasn't too huge of a deal, as long as I kept excessive force off of that clip, I remounted my bike and continued on my way. About two minutes later, the second and last remaining screw on that toe-clip fell off along with the little metal bracket. Even better, the straps that went with the toe clip were rotting through and the metal buckle for adjusting the straps were rusted completely solid, which meant there was no way for me remove the straps and clip from the pedal without some pliers or a pair of scissors. Apparently the fates were against me on that day. And so, I pushed my bike all the way back to my room, in the pouring rain, with one of toe clips flapping around and dragging against the ground.

I ordered some strapless toe-clips from Amazon (my roommate was ordering a few things, and needed a few extra dollars to get free shipping) a few days after my toe-clips debacle. Full toe-clips are nice for riding longer distances without stopping, but I've found that they're a pain in the butt to get in and out of while riding through town. I figured that some strapless toe-clips would give me a little more power then riding with just platforms, while allowing me to avoid some of the annoyances of full toe-clips.

The strapless toe-clips arrived last night, and I've spent a few minutes in them already. They seem fairly effective at allowing me to put a little more power in, and they're fairly easy to get in and out of. I'll write a little more about them once I've given them some more street time.