[upNdown]

(or actually, grab the wrong shoes)

I think I'd ridden trails once in the previous 4 or 5 weeks, so I was dying for some dirt. My wife had to be somewhere, so I only had about 90 minutes of riding time; maybe two hours if I pushed it. I thought I'd be riding alone, but I met up with some guys in the parking lot, and as we rolled to the trail, I noiced I couldn't clip in. I instantly realized I'd grabbed the wrong shoes - they're a pair of cycling shoes I use with toe-clips on the trainer in the basement - no cleats on them. Well I gave it a shot and ended up about 2.5 miles out before I turned around and rode the same trail back to the parking lot. Round trip of 5 miles, and very little of it at all amusing.

They're my favorite pedals, but riding on EGGBEATERS is no fun without cleats.

 

[JohnnyTooBad]

I did that once last year. I brought 2 left shoes and my road shoes use SPDs as opposed to my eggs on my MTB. No way could I ride w/o them, so I had to go home and get my other MTB shoe. Sucks!

 

[*rt*]

i just ziptie or duct tape my feet directly to the pedals and off i go.



rt

 

[hansfranz]

If you're not overly concerned with weight, get a set of mallets. Then you have a built in backup plan

 

[upNdown]

If you're not overly concerned with weight, get a set of mallets. Then you have a built in backup plan

I actually have a set of mallets on my DH bike, but that didn't do me any good, as it was sitting at home.

RT, if I had duct tape, I would have tried it. I probably would have hurt myself in the process, but I'd have given it a shot.

 

[neveride]

What I do:

Many moons ago, a friend and I drove an hour and a half to a new riding spot. Turns out he left his cycling shoes home. So we called info, found the nearest bike shop (about 15 minutes away) drove over and he bought some cheap plastic pedals, which they were kind enough to install. We also got the low down on the better trails, this being our first time.

But since then, I've always kept a spare pair of flat bmx pedals in my car, with a cheap pedal wrench. I keep them with the spare tire. This way, if anyone forgets their shoes, they just use these.

A friend of mine who habitually forgets things keeps a spare pair of shoes in his car. But they only fit him.

What do you do when you leave your front wheel at home, though? A buddy of mine met me at the trail, and as he was unpacking his bike, realized he left his front wheel back at home on the curb (roof rack). Oops. It was gone when he got home.

 

[connie]

We usually bring the whole tool box when going on a ride any distance from home, which contains a set of spare platform pedals.

 

[Don Juan]

Real men ride barefoot.


...on Suntour platforms.

 

[*rt*]

RT, if I had duct tape, I would have tried it. I probably would have hurt myself in the process, but I'd have given it a shot.

LOL. i have a picture somewhere of me with my feet duct taped to the pedals of a stationary bike. i was doing a LT test (bike had a power meter) and really needed to be able to use the full pedal stroke. solution: duct tape.

oh, and as a serious answer to your original question, the 1 time i forgot my shoes (for a group roadie ride) i turned around and went home figuring it was a sign that i probably shouldn't ride. unfortunately a friend of mine immediately convinced me to grab my shoes and ride with him. complete disaster. had one of those days where going 8 mph on flat pavement required all the energy i had. should have just called it a day when i forgot my shoes and bailed on the group ride.

 

[*rt*]

What do you do when you leave your front wheel at home, though? A buddy of mine met me at the trail, and as he was unpacking his bike, realized he left his front wheel back at home on the curb (roof rack). Oops. It was gone when he got home.

hope that someone else has a spare that you can borrow. a couple years ago we planned an epic ride at some trails about 3 hrs from my house. left at the crack of dawn, got there, unoladed the car and my friend said to me, hey where's your front wheel? uh...yeah, that would be the front wheel we left in my garage. doh! we were no where near a bike shop so going in and buying a cheap wheel wasn't going to happen. luckily one of the guys we were riding with had a storage unit near by (ok 45 minutes away, but closer than the nearest bike shop) and he happened to have a spare wheel in storage. saved the day.

we then promptly got completely lost and a 5 hr epic turned into a 12 hr deathmarch.

rt

 

[noslogan]

back in Dec 05

We were riding down Noble Canyon and a guy was coming at us on his dh rig, flat pedals and "slaps"! That's beach speak for flipflops, er sandals.