Shirk

I can remember my first pair of cycling shoes. They were a pair of New Balance that I got on a sale at my local bike shop. The colors were green, black and gray. The soles were made from plastic. I dont remember now how much they cost but it probably was not much.

Those shoes were good at the time. For a beginner, they served their purpose and they did it well.

At the time I did not know the difference between some of the fancier models and what I had. I knew about Time, Sidi and some of the other expensive models. I did not know what made them different/better besides the name.

Since then I have come to realize that the stiffness of the sole converts into energy to the pedals. I probably lost a good amount of my pedaling energy due to my plastic soles. They were stiff plastic yet they would still flex under intensive pedaling strain.

Another key factor in cycling shoes is the amount of airflow that your shoes let in. When your feet get hot they start to fatigue. The hotter they get the faster they fatigue. So to prevent or delay the fatiguing process, airflow is essential.

For a beginner, the type of shoes you get is not as critical. You should really start considering these features when you want to get more out of cycling.

If you are riding in many races a year, or wanting to, this would be the time to consider your present shoe condition.

Another thing to consider in shoes is their weight. When you get to the higher levels of the cycling echelon, weight becomes more of a priority.

The last part of the cycling shoe that should be addressed is the fit. What I mean by this is how well it hugs your foot. Does the shoe fit like a surgical glove, nice and snug, or like an old sock that has lost its elasticity?

Looking back on my first pair of shoes, they were not the surgical glove fit. They would slip on my heel on occasion. I would tighten the straps as best I could yet they still did not fit into the surgical glove category of snugness.

So when youre out looking for shoes remember these points and you should get a great riding shoe for your needs.

www.mycyclingsource.com/cycling-shoes.html - a more in-depth look at sole types and some of the other features covered in this article.

Why ride clipless Mountain pedals? Clipless pedals I believe are one of the greatest additions to Mountain Biking. Many experts claim about a 5% increase in power transmitted to the bike. I would agree with that. The main advantage for me is I feel way more in control of the bike. I am connected to the bicycle at the hands and the feet until I decide to separate. Unexpected bumps, intentional jumps, washboard trail, and many other situations, my feet do not come off the pedals until I make the decision to Bail. Then my feet are instantly disconnected. Starting up a steep hill it is much easier to get into one pedal and then the other while you are pedaling than it is to get into the second toe clip if you are riding with toe clips.

How do I get into the Clipless Mountain Pedals? Most pedals you use a slightly toe down forward push on the pedal and then you put your weight on that foot and you will get a Click. You are in. Most people start by putting the same foot either right or left in the pedal first all the time. Then they start riding and slip the second one in.

How Do I get Out of Clipless Pedals? To release from clipless pedals you pivot your heels away from the bike. To learn this motion you can lean against a wall and click in, click out, click in, click out ,click in, click out. This can take a little bit of time to get used to. I recommend if you have a bike trainer to use trainer and work out with them for a while. Then before you go out in traffic practice in a park or somewhere with a soft landing place so if you fall you do not end up with road rash. If you do not have a trainer you can just put your bike in the living room and practice clicking in and out while watching TV. Most people get it down in a couple of days. Warning: If you have ridden toe clips for a long time and get used to clipless but try to go back to toe clips you will have to learn how to get out of toe clips all over again. And then relearn clipless.

What happens if I cannot get out? When you stop your bike You will fall. This can be very dangerous on steep trails and city streets.

Learn to use Mountain Bike Clipless Pedals Carefully I have been with several riders when they were learning to ride clipless. Most people learn quickly. I do not recommend going on an epic ride right after installing your new pedals. I have seen some painfully slow falls from riders not knowing how to get out.

Practice, Practice. My recommendation is to put your bike in front of the TV and practice getting in and out, over and over for an evening. If you have a trainer put your bike on it and get a workout while you are learning. Then stick to the easy trail---NO STEEP SIDE HILLS OR DOWN HILLS.

How Tight do I want my Clipless Pedals? Many pedals are adjustable as to the spring tension holding the cleat in the pedal. I believe for learning you should loosen the spring to the easiest setting. Only when you start to come out of the pedal accidentally should you tighten the springs. All of my pedals are set on the softest setting and I have been riding clipless since about 1991.

Who makes Clipless Pedals? There are Several manufacturers of Clipless Mountain pedals. Shimano was the first to build and promote them heavily. Many of the Mountain bike cleats are Shimano pedal compatible. The cleats will work in Shimano pedals. I always try to uses the cleats that came with the pedal I am using. Crank Brothers is another major manufacturer of pedals. The Crank Brothers cleats will only work on Crank Brothers Pedals.

Will I come out of my pedals when I crash? Usually if you have spent a bit of time getting used to Clipless you will react naturally and click out in a crash without even thinking about it.

Types of Mountain Bike Clipless Pedals. There are basically 3 types of clipless Mountain pedals.

Double sided pedals which will grip the cleat on either side.

Half and Half pedals with clipless on one side and what looks like a regular pedal on the other side.

Platform clipless pedals which grip the cleat in the middle of a large pedal.

I believe if you are going to ride clipless you need to at least learn to ride with double sided pedals. The half and half are ok for around town but if you do not get used to getting out of your clipless under stress you are headed for more falls.

Are Mountain Bike Clipless the same as Road Clipless Pedals? No Road pedals are normally one sided, the other side is minimized to increase the lean angle of the bike. This allows you to pedal as far as possible into the corner before your pedal hit’s the road.

Most Road cleats have a different screw mounting system. They do not mount to the same screws as the mountain cleats.

Mountain Bike Shoes have the cleat recessed into the sole so you can walk without walking on the cleat. Road shoes are much less comfortable to walk in and you walk on the cleat.

Unless you are a very serious Road Racer, Mountain bike shoes and pedals will work better than Road bike pedals and shoes. Many riders use one pair of shoes and get matching pedals for their road bike and mountain bike.

Types of Mountain Bike Clipless Shoes. There are two general types of mountain bike Clipless shoes. I classify them as Comfort shoes and Race Shoes.

Comfort shoes are usually designed to look like lightweight hiking shoes or cross training shoes and will have laces to hold your feet.

Race shoes will usually use 2, 3, or4 Velcro closures to hold your feet. All Clipless shoes will have stiff soles which make it uncomfortable to walk or stand all day but are good at converting your leg energy into pedal revolutions.

The Comfort shoes usually have a little bit more flexible sole than the race shoes. Many people want to use their shoes as both biking and hiking shoes. This does not work well. If the shoe performs even reasonably well on the bike, the sole will be way too stiff to work well hiking.

I normally recommend that Most Cyclists should buy Mountain Bike Race shoes. The recreational walking type of bike shoes still aren't good for walking in. The race shoes tend to be more durable and they give you more support while riding.

Road Shoes VS Mountain Bike Shoes Many companies make the same shoe for both Mountain and Road but they use a built up sole on their Mountain shoe.

Where do I mount the Cleats? Most Mountain shoes have 4 holes in the plate on the bottom of the shoe but most cleats only have 2 screws. This allows you to mount your cleats further forward or further back on the shoe. The plate will usually slide front to back and pivot to allow you to adjust your heel so it feels natural during the pedal stroke. Look at the position of your feet as you pedal on your old pedals and try to replicate that.

Do the cleats come with the Pedals or the Shoes? The Cleats come with the pedals and are pedal specific. Many cleats will work with the Shimano SPD pedals but I like to use the cleats that match the pedals that came with the pedals from the same manufacturer.

Rick Kern

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As GPS technology gets better and better and smaller and smaller it will be able to be used for many things? For instance at the World Series a baseball hit into the third level will be able to be recorded by GPS as to exactly how far it was hit and its trajectory to formulate where it would have actually landed had the stadium been flat. Thus we will be able to tell who was the greatest homerun power house of all times, perhaps even who is on steroids based on their body mass, speed of pitch, GPS data and haptics (body movement and form). Wouldnt it be cool to be watching the World Series on TV and instant information about a homerun appearing on the bottom of the screen? Sounds like a whole new potential betting arena, not only how many homeruns a person will hit, but exactly how far they will hit them?

A football kick would be immediately known the exact yardage, every play near the sidelines would be instantly called in or out of bounds and there would never be any question as to if a football actually broke the goal line. I can hear the referee unions screaming foul already as they will no longer be needed or have jobs? Ouch? Soccer balls, off sides, out of bounds? Yes all possible via GPS data.

With sensors getting smaller and GPS units being used in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles of smaller and smaller size for Micro Air Vehicles and RFID imbedded chips, this technology believe it or not is ready for golf balls as well? All you need is a little imagination. So there you are Tiger Woods with a PDA device in your hands which measures the exactly where the ball is, how far to the next hole, picking up the data from inside the golf ball itself and the flag in the hole. Way-points are displayed also as to where the sand traps are, lakes, edge of fairway and the rough surrounding the green.

The World Think Tank recent discussion and brain storming session digressed from GPS navigational devices to sports and we came up with the idea to put GPS Sensors in golf balls, so you could find your golf ball if you have a nasty slice or heavy winds taking it off course. Part of our discussion also came from another recent think tank discussion on putting GPS sensors on Locusts Swarms in order to track them.

The idea of putting GPS sensors on Locusts is a noble idea, yet who will pay for this technology, as the locust is small and cannot carry much weight and still keep up with the rest of the swarm, which of course would throw off the reading? Our thoughts were to let the golfing community pay for it. After all if the locusts see such a green area of grass they would eat it all up.

As a kid I use to run on the golf course and saw balls way off the ranges and fairways. Some of these golf balls were custom, with people's names on them? Ouch adding insult to injury, I could immediately tell who the bad golfer was? With the new GPS WTT Golf Balls you could never lose your golf balls, because you would know their exact location via a set of satellites and that data would be displayed on your wireless PDA device. This PDA wireless Tracking device would be with you and you could carry it in a zipper pouch on the golf bag or on the steering wheel of your golf cart. Now then on the poles and flags of each hole would be another sensor so when you set the ball on the "T" for the next shot you would see the exact distance.

We went one step further and figured out how to integrate a mini-weather station system on you golf cart. It will be a slight modification of the Climatronics Corporations TACMET System. For those who liked to get a work out, it could be integrated into the golf bag with a small external periscope;

http://www.climatronics.com See the TACNET System.

By integrating the GPS System with known GIS Golf Course Topography and exact weather readings from the TACMET System into the wireless PDA, the golfer would have all the data needed to make a perfect shot provided they had the skill and pre-cognitive ability to make it so. Our system will also be able to suggest the best club to use based on the ability of the golfer from previous courses, wind, distance and punching in of the golfers present fatigue factor based on a 1-10 scale.

A Sarasota Company, Great White Shark Entertainment is already busy installing WiFi and GPS systems such as golf shot distance measurement and course information which includes a Golf Cart mounted system and handheld PDA wireless mobile display. These systems will become great revenue enhancers for Golf Clubs and for the serious golfer who likes all the bells and whistles and has the money to afford them. There system is quite perfect to add to our idea or vice versa, check it out: The Inforemer, this information available at their website. GPS Industries is making it all happen.

http://www.gpsindustries.com

The Our WTT GPS Golf Balls will be more expensive than normal balls but well worth it as the system teaches the player to shoot a better game. The golf ball could be the same weight? As any normal PGA Golf Ball.

A future thought along this theme would be to eventually have, thru special internal parts and shape shifting techniques, the ball if it got close would simply roll over to the hole and fall in. This would mean no one would ever have to give them a free put or allow someone to feel bad who fudged the score. This future idea would be great for the player who understands he is not anywhere near a scratch golfer but occasionally might like to play with a few. Or for the player who goes to the course simply to look cool, but has not brains or talent?

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

Being a good golf player goes way beyond having a below 80 handicap. Of course, skill at playing the actual game is commendable, but to get your game to take off you need a holistic view to fully achieve a well-rounded game.

Here are the three vital areas to concentrate on:
- Fitness,
- Practice,
- and Etiquette.

Fitness
- Keeping ones body and mind in good shape is a key element to becoming a good, if not great, golfer. Looking after your body and making sure its in tip top condition not only gets you to perform better on the course, it also ensures you that you can enjoy golf even well into your years.

- Achieve bodily fitness by eating right and exercising regularly. Maintain cardiovascular fitness and muscle tone that suits the game of golf. Some indicators of physical fitness are your blood pressure and your BMI (body mass index). Consult with your doctor on what levels are right for your age and body type.

- Mental fitness is also just as important. Find ways to relieve yourself of stress. Develop a regular meditation time alone or with family/friends. Keep your mind sharp by exercising it with reading or with puzzles like crosswords.

Practice
- Develop a regular and consistent practice routine. Many find themselves wanting to play more and practice less when, just like any other sport or discipline, it is the opposite that gets better results as far as scores go. By practicing more, you develop techniques and muscle memory that will carry well into your game.

- A good play to practice ratio is 1:2, that is, for every hour of golf you play, you will do 2 hours of practice. You don't need to do this all in the same day, just schedule alternate practice and play days so as not to work out too much.

- Continue your education on the game. Not just because you know how to play means you already know everything there is. Remember that there is always something new you can learn so either enroll in a class or take a lesson or two with a more advanced player. Read golf magazines and books to keep you up-to-date with the latest ideas and techniques. One excellent source of instruction is given below. Constantly wanting to level up your golf skills shows your dedication to become a better player than your were the year before.

Etiquette
- Being a great player on the course and on the practice field is nothing if you are not a good person to play with. While golf may be a solitary sport, it does not mean that rudeness is condoned. As a gentlemans game, an attitude of respecting others is of utmost importance.

Follow these simple rules and you will see your game improve faster than you thought possible.

For further help I recommend you visit: http://www.fortresspublishing.com/bettergolf.html
Mervyn Love.

Mon 7/2/07 In the Mood for Something Different

We will be in the mood for something different today under the Aquarius Moon, but we may go a bit overboard this morning. There will be a tendency for impulsive behavior through late morning. Today will be a good day to throw the schedules away, because things will probably change. We will be ready to break out of our ruts, and our actions could be rather abrupt. People will be cheerful and cooperative tonight, and we may find ourselves craving an evening snack.

Tue 7/3/07 Freedom, Individuality, and Logic

It will be an important day for personal freedom and individuality. We will find it easy to detach from our worries, and our thoughts may be a bit unconventional, but still very logical. Our emotions will become more confused and fearful as we approach late afternoon. There will be a tendency for emotional abuse or feelings of low self-esteem through this evening. We may want to get projects done early, and keep expectations low through early evening. But, later tonight our senses will return, and we may participate in some enlightening discussions.

Wed 7/4/07 Compassion and Susceptibility, and Excitement Tonight

We will probably find ourselves feeling more compassionate and intuitive towards the people around us. Our emotions will be very susceptible today, and we may had a tendency to lean towards our additions to deal with it. Be sure to drink in moderation on this American holiday, and watch out for the drunken driver. Our minds will be alert this afternoon, and we may find that others are willing to listen to what we have to say. We may also find ourselves feeling rather nervous or excited this evening, and the fireworks tonight could be quiet a spectacle. Happy Independence Day!

Thu 7/5/07 Creative, Spiritual, and Sentimental Day

We may find ourselves compelled to help the less fortunate today, and some of us may get the extra help we need. We may also be feeling rather creative and sentimental today, and people will be gentle and kind most of the day. But, watch out for daydreaming and becoming rather self-indulgent. We may be dealing with some high hopes or unrealistic goals late this afternoon, so try to keep grounded. This evening will be an excellent for prayer, meditation, and connecting with the spiritual realm.

Fri 7/6/07 Ready for Action and Maybe a Bit Restless - Start Something New!

It will be a good morning for routine tasks or working alone, and there may be some emotional problems for us to deal with if we are up early. But, by late morning we will be ready for action. We may find we have a new enthusiasm for life, and our imaginations could become powerful and keen. We may be ready to start something new. We may be feeling a bit restless late this afternoon, so guard against acting impulsively. It will be an excellent evening to put ourselves first, and we may want to spend some money or time on a personal project.

Sat 7/7/07 New Projects, New Ideas, and Maybe a Few Arguments

Set the alarms and get up early this morning, because it will be a very optimistic morning. It you are planning a trip, get started early, because travels will become adventures. We will be ready to start new projects today, and we may have lots of new ideas popping up in our minds. Some of us may be a bit feisty and argumentative today, and there may be a conflict with the opposite sex early this afternoon. Our imaginations may become very creative late tonight, and our intuitions will be more accurate. It would be a great night for ghost hunting.

Sun 7/8/07 Romance, Beauty, Friends, and Happiness

For those of us up early this morning, our imaginations will be strong and we may have romance on our minds. But, around mid morning we may lose our focus. We may want to spend the rest of the morning in quiet contemplation. Our focus could turn to beauty and possessions early this afternoon. Romance will be strong all day. It will be an excellent day for redecorating, shopping, or just listening to music. We won't be in any hurry today, and we may want to spend just a little more time conversing with others early this evening. It will be an excellent day for friends and happiness. Enjoy!

Janet (Sparrow) Moon is a professional psychic and astrologer. You can visit her web site for more articles about upcoming events in astrology, and to order a personal reading. Sparrow has a free contest and a free advice column. (This article can be reprinted freely online, as long as the entire article and this bio is included.) http://www.sparrowmoon.com/