eghaley said: I use regular sandals with either smart wool socks or bike socks.  It’s great.  I tried the clipless systems years ago and it was comfortable but I’m a daydreamer while biking and sometimes forget to unclip when stopping.  And then you know what happens ;0))

Since I’ve had total knee replacements, I don’t lift up when pedalling.  Don’t really need to since the new knees are powerful even with a slow cadence uphill!

Happy that you’re doing well, eghaley!  Keep those  new knees a’churnin’!!!

What I remember most about toe cages is the pain they caused! 

I take ONLY one pair of shoes on RAGBRAI, sandals of course.  I wear sandals all year, no socks in the summer, wool socks in the winter and Goretex oversocks when it is cold and rains.  Keen sandals have been my choice for the last three years but I have an old pair of Shimano two strap in reserve and for deep backup I have a pair of three strap Shimanos that I have cut the center strap off making them two strap.

RIDE RIGHT

Sandaltan said: I take ONLY one pair of shoes on RAGBRAI, sandals of course.  I wear sandals all year, no socks in the summer, wool socks in the winter and Goretex oversocks when it is cold and rains.  Keen sandals have been my choice for the last three years but I have an old pair of Shimano two strap in reserve and for deep backup I have a pair of three strap Shimanos that I have cut the center strap off making them two strap.

RIDE RIGHT

Time to update your Avatar photo??? 

hopalongatc- I never used them myself, but I have a friend who swears by Power Grips.  They’re a strap that hooks diagonally across the pedal.  They are supposed to be a little more user friendly than toe clips.

Sandals, sandals sandals.  There are many things you can wear on your feet while riding, but only wear sandals on RAGBRAI!  NO socks, no shoes to get wet in a rainstorm (always on THE RIDE).

I have NO idea why anyone would wear anything but sandals on Ragbrai!
Only 2 weeks till route!  DIMICNW?

Well a few things for TurtleMom to think about as she reads through the post and makes her choice.

First off, RAGBRAI does involve riding a bike for a few hours every day for a full week. As a result your choice should be dictated by 1) comfort (you want to be comfortable with your choice) 2) safety (getting in and out of your pedals) 3) effeciency (less energy used on the bike leaves more energy for off the bike) 4) budget 5) fashion.

The stiffer soles of cycling specific footwear (sandals/shoes) will help spread the force of your pedal stroke over a bigger area. Thus you avoid potential foot pain you might get with with running shoes.

While lots of people seem to guarantee you will fall because of clipless pedals it really is not a given. The clipless pedals are simply not that complicated or hard to learn. As you evalaute your choices also think about how easy it is to engage the pedal as starting out in the crowds you really need to pay attention to the riders around you and not your pedals. Easy to get in are platforms and clipless. Harder to get into with more wobbles and danger to others would be clipped or powergrips. The final safety issue to think about is crashing and the importance of disengaging your feet from the bike so you dont twist any joints. Once again the winners are platform and clipless.

Lets face it, you will see all kinds of bikes and all kinds of riders. No need to suffer because of your choice of bike/pedals. Being engaged with the pedal allows you to ride more efficiently. You can spin at a higher cadence (rpm) which is more efficient and leaves you less fatigued at the end of the day. With clips or clipless you are not pulling up on the backstroke, what you really do is unweight your back foot. The advantage you get being engaged is as you enweight your foot does not move around and you are ready to begin applying power to the pedals as soon as your foot comes over the top of the rotation.

From a budget standpoint someone mentioned the cost of cleats at $25. This is not an extra expense as nearly all pedal systems include a set of cleats when you buy the pedals.

The recessed cleats last quite awile too, when I used the road shoes with Look cleats I had to replace then every 1 to 1/12 years due to walking on them. I even had one break out in Penn. Either a flaw in the plastic ot I was just pulling up to hrad, snapped in half where the 2 bolt holes line up across the cleat.
Plus I was always losing a cleat cover, seems like I had to replace them almost as often.

Yes Mich, I should update my Avatar.  Maybe this fall after RAGBRAI.

 Kitty is correct when he says that you need not resign yourself to falling.  I don’t clip either foot in until I am up to 6 or 8 miles per hour.  I unclip well before I have to stop and unclip when in a crowd and unclip at low speed.  The last time I fell was probably six or seven years ago, turning a sharp corner on a side walk and traveling about two mph.

I have done RAGBRAI several times in tennis shoes and once in saddle shoes, influenced by Offenberger, a very poor choice I might say.  Stiff soled bike shoes with a recessed cleat are far superior to any other foot wear for the biking, walking and standing encountered on RAGBRAI.  Consider this question; how many hours a day will you spend pedaling your bike?  The rest of the day you will be standing, walking or sitting on a curb next to Mich.

KittySlayer has a lot of great advice.  Think of your priorities when choosing footwear, especially the first three KS mentioned: Comfort, safety, efficiency.  Once you choose the order of importance, you’re good to go.

Well, I think I will get the two sided pedal. Then comes the fun part, every lady loves to shop for shoes. Some really good deals on Bikenash. Sadly I cannot go on Ragbrai this year but do have some rides planned. My daughter and I are doing a 2 day trip on Raccoon River Valley Trail and I just found out I will have the opportunity to ride the Mickleson Trail in SD. Sounds awesome, has anyone rode it?

I love, love, LOVE my Keen commuters!! Very comfy both on the bike and off.

turtlemom said: Well, I think I will get the two sided pedal.  My daughter and I are doing a 2 day trip on Raccoon River Valley Trail and I just found out I will have the opportunity to ride the Mickleson Trail in SD. Sounds awesome, has anyone rode it?

on the platform/clipless how are they weighted? which side is always the up side or is there a side that naturally comes to the top?

2 day RRVT trip nice, have done that from Clive to Yale self contained and Waukee to Jefferson.
The SD trail we looked at doing part of it north of Custer back in 95 but decided it was too, “rustic” for the road bikes. Don’t know what the surface is like now though.
Out route took us through Spearfish, Deadwood, past Mt. Rushmore & Crazy Horse, opted for road through Custer /Wind Cave Parks instead of trail in that area, then on to Mammoth/Hot Springs on 385

Quote from review “The nice thing about this product is that the pedal doesn’t swing much and therefore the right side can always stay up whether its the clip side or the plain pedal side.” Everything I have read about the trail says it is not too hardcore, not paved but fairly easy riding. Really looking forward to it.   We will be taking the cushy route on the RRVT, Bed and Breakfast!

Last fall I bought a pair of clips and set of pedals. I’m looking forward to learning how to use them. You bet I’ll be wearing my helmet, gloves, maybe knee pads and bandaids in the bike bag.  If we go south this year, I’ll be very glad that I’m able to use the clips.  This will be my 3rd year of RAGBRAI.
is it summer?