an INCH??? wow.

I don't actually have any trouble on the bike. I've used Look-style pedals, and toe clips before that. Before I learned about all this stuff, I put the intermediate Specialized arch supports in my shoes, just because they were available and I had custom orthotics in all my athletic shoes; but in my first incarnation as a cyclist, I didn't have any arch trouble or arch-related knee trouble. It's likely I still put more weight on the second met head on the bike, but it doesn't seem to cause the kinds of trouble it does for me on the ground. But the difference in length in my metatarsals isn't near what yours is.

Knot, I really want to make barefooting work. I know it won't happen overnight, but I've struggled for almost a year now in Yoga. In all the standing poses, they're talking about "four corners of the feet" and "creating the arch with your big toe mound" and meantime, I can have my ankles in neutral, or I can have my big toe mound on the mat, but not both at the same time, no matter how hard I try. I can't even take my hands and force it down to the ground without my ankle caving, it just doesn't reach. So that's why I asked about stretches.