First Ride With Clipless Pedals

The Shimano 105 clipless pedals I ordered arrived in the mail yesterday and I was able to mount them onto my bike and tested it out. Before riding the bike with the new pedals, I put on my cycling shoes and while standing still over the bike and the pedal tension at the lowest, I engaged the pedals and dismounted several times with both shoes. I wanted to make sure that I was able to click on and off with ease before I went on any rides. Once I felt comfortable mounting and dismounting the pedals, I went for a short ride around the block just to get a feel for the new pedal system before I went on a longer ride.

This morning, for the very first time, I went on a nice long ride using the clipless pedals and my new pair of cycling shoes.  The Sidi Laser cycling shoes felt somewhat stiff because it still needed to be broken in but it felt nice and tight and was fairly comfortable. I was surprised how easy it was to click on and off the pedals as I had to stop a few times along the way and click back on to resume the ride.  I took a familiar ride along the Los Gatos Creek Trail near where I live; the trail is mostly leveled, covered in asphalt so the ride was nice and smooth except that there were many runners along the same trail so you kind of have to slow down and dodge them every once in a while.  It was about a 20 mile ride and the new pedals and the cycling shoes definitely improved the quality of the ride.

Los Gatos, CA Aug. 18, 2013