Wait, I was before, too, since I had no clips of any sort on those pedals either...

And now I'm thinking, what was all the fuss about!

After our hilly ride today, which was probably not much to those of you who ride up the sides of mountains on a daily basis, but for me was more than a minor foothill....

Oops, digressing!

We had the bikes on the back of the car on the way home, and stopped at the bike shop (but not my favorite one) and bought pedals for our bikes! We're now "clipless" at my house! Mine are Shimano pedals (M520) -- DH chose a different model. They installed the pedals and cleats for us, setting them up to "easiest to get out of" -- is that extra floaty? And explained clipping in and out, then sent us on our way...

Fast forward to bikes at home, and we played with our new toys, practicing the in and out of those "non-clips." Harder to match the clip and cleat, but indeed like putting ski boots into bindings, just like they told us! We played in the driveway first, then rode around a bit, surprising ourselves with an extra three miles! It was just going to be down the block and back, but then I said to DH, let's go find a little hill -- one that we're familiar with, and see how they feel on hills. I don't know if it was a purely psychological thing, or if it really DID make a difference, but I should have been "tired" after my morning ride with the big hill!

The clipless pedal things are way cool! What a clever invention they are!

Karen in Boise