Riding MTB with clipless pedals

Back in 1994, biking to work all the time, I saw people on MTB bikes...sort of like now with everyone driving off-road SUVs in the city...and wondered why people bought them. Was lucky enough to go to Martock that summer for the Canadian MTB Nationals and see Alison Sydor (top-ranked CDN MTB racer).

Quite enthused, I bought a used MTB racing bike from a kid in Falmouth..and a few weeks later was racing in a snowstorm around Spider Lake with home-made studded tires and toe-clip pedals (photo below).

Yes, that's current helmet. I still have the bike, jacket and gloves.

​ I raced MTB (Novice & Sport) for 3 years, switching to clipless the first year (still have the scars and bone chips to prove it). If you race MTB, it sucks up your life, even more than 10Km road-racing...and I had to stop. Switched back to toe-clips to use the bike to commute to Dal in winter.

Still have and use the same MTB bike a few rides a year...but the toe-clips disintegrated. Today, I figured out enough tools and torque to wrest the old pedals off and put back the clipless pedals.

To say this makes me happy would be an understatement. Been riding in Spider Lake area the past few years...and the toe-clips just don't do it...there is a reason why clipless pedals were invented. Now I can do my scouting trips clipped in...trying to find trails north of Lake Major and towards Three Mile Lake (where we have been working on the DNR cabin the past few years).

Of course, it is 25 years later, so the variables have changed. I'm older, so the chances of getting hurt are higher. We have a lot of technology, so knowing where I am is much easier...as is letting others know where I am...or hoped to be.

Been 20 years since I used these shoes and pedals on my MTB bike.

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