Shoes That Are Sweet for Hot Feet

We all know that for practical bike riding, normal shoes are the rule, not the exception. No need to change into special cycling shoes for a short trip or commute. Until today I had not tried a very normal shoe for hot weather, the sandal. I have read about them for a while from cyclists who love them. Some ride them in hot and cold weather. It has been plenty hot the last few days here in SoCal, so this morning I put on some plain old sandals and rode in to work. They did great, and the feet stayed cool. Not sure how they would do on a long ride, but for the commute they were fine. After riding for a few years in clipless pedals with special shoes, I am finding that riding with regular pedals and regular shoes to be quite refreshing. I must admit that I got passed up by a racer type biker, but I think that was more to do with me riding an old Trek mountain bike-turned-commuter setup with a trunk rack and back pack. Anyways, speed ain't the concern when riding in to work!

An Almost Perfect Commute

The ride in to work this morning was nearly perfect. I had a slight tailwind with cloudy skies and cool temperature. It was just cool enough to be comfortable riding, but not sweating too much by the time I arrived at work. I guess the only thing that would have made it better was if I could have kept on riding, instead of having to end the ride at the office.

We Have It Good Here

If you live in a city like San Diego, consider yourself lucky in respects to bicycle riding. I just returned from a trip to a city near the east coast, a small city, and it really made me appreciate what we have here. I saw absolutely no bike lanes, none. The roads have NO shoulder whatsoever. One simply cannot ride safely on the roads. These are roads where people regularly drive 45 to 60 MPH, and no one is looking out for cyclists. They are just not expected around the area. There was one really nice bike path running along a river, which would be great for leisurely recreation cycling. It is of no use for practical transportation. So, with our many, many miles of bike lanes and roads with nice, wide shoulders, be thankful.