Efficiently pedaling toward my doom
I made another addition to my bicycle today: toe clips. When I broke a pedal on the Trek, the new pedals I bought came with clips. Not wanting at the time to relearn how to ride, I removed them, turning them into normal double-sided pedals, and I later installed them on the Schwinn, since the pedals it came with were clipless on one side and platform on the other, and getting the pedal flipped over to avoid having a big piece of metal poking the middle of my foot was more than I wanted to deal with. The clips fit pretty well into bicycle habits of adding as much junk to the thing without dressing up like a Marvel character (The Lycra Blur, fighting for truth, justice, and stronger emissions laws), so on they go.
Having the clips is definitely going to change my behavior for a little while. I still have a way to go before getting used to clipping back in when I start, especially when starting uphill, so it makes me even more reluctant to stop than before. Maybe I should practice doing a track stand instead of putting my foot down, which would have the added benefit of freaking out the drivers. Cycling is nothing without passive-aggressively thumbing your nose at people in cars, otherwise there’d be no market for those ridiculous shorts.
In other news, I think I may have found a way to keep my pits from stinking. I’ve never been a huge fan of antiperspirants, not because the aluminum compounds might cause Alzheimer’s or ‘nad cancer or whatever it is that they’re supposed to do, but simply because they don’t feel right. I sweat a lot while biking, and turning that off for two points on the body seems like it might not be healthy. However, regular deodorants don’t do the job very well, since I still come out pretty rank even after a ride of just a mile or so. Today I tried something different, Tom of Maine’s deodorant, and so far I don’t stink. Maybe those crazy hippies are on to something.