Flats!!!

I'm sure most of the people (all 3 of you!) reading this are looking at the title and either thinking about running or about getting a flat tire.  Well, I'm not talking about either of them here.  As I mentioned yesterday, I got a pair of flat, platform pedals for my mountain bike.  Coming for more of a racing background, I was hesitant at first to try these things.  I mean, c'mon, most people think flat pedals and think of the days when they rode their bikes as a kid-before they became a "real" cyclist.  I'm even guilty of that.  Nevertheless I hooked them up last night and rode them today.  "Amazing" is the only word that I can think to describe the experience.

I was a little shaky at first, but once I got the hang of it, I realized how "freeing" it actually is.  My pedal stroke is very smooth (which I think helped me to transition easily), so I didn't loose much speed, even while climbing. I'm more of a finesse climber anyway, so I was able to just spin my way up the hills the same as I would if I were riding my clipless pedals.  Otherwise, the only other noticeable differences were in sprinting-lost a little power wearing flexible "skate" style shoes-and the fact that you can't cheat when jumping or bunny hopping.

There were a couple times where my feet came off the pedals in mid air, but I soon adjusted and got used to manauvering the bike differently so it wasn't an issue.  Also, being able to dab and powerslide into corners at speed going downhill really makes a huge difference.  It's an art in itself!

While I'm totally geeked out right now on how awesome it is to ride flats, and astonished at how fast and strong I can still ride with them, I'm not swearing off clipless forever.  There's a time and place for both, but I think I'll ride out this flat pedal thing for a while.