Free the toes

I am a sandal person. My regular footwear at work are Teva sandals. It is a very rare day when I put on closed toe shoes. I even wore Teva sandals at my wedding reception, given a pass to do that by The Wife. Up until three years ago about the only time I was in closed toe shoes was on the bike. I would put on the closed bike shoes in the morning, ride to work, change to the Tevas, then reverse in the evening. Then I found the Shimano SPD Sandals. These alone were enough to get me to change from SpeedPlay X pedals on one bike to SpeedPlay Frog pedals so I could ride in the sandals and free the toes. Over time the X pedals on all my bikes got replaced with Frogs and I started riding in the sandals almost exclusively. I have ridden in them on tours, in the snow, in rain, in freezing temperatures, and the only concession I have made is to change what I wear between the foot and the sandal. In wet weather I put on SealSkinz waterproof socks, in very cold weather I may have on two pair of wool cycling socks, and if it is very warm I may let the toes go au naturel.

The sandals have become something of a conversation point. Frequently, other riders will realize I am wearing sandals and ask about them. The usual questions are:

• Q: What about cleats?
• A: Any SPD (2 screw) compatible cleat can be mounted.
• Q: Are they stiff enough?
• A: Define ‘enough’; I have no problems, even on steep climbs.
• Q: Don’t your feet get cold?
• A: Sometimes, but they do in shoes, too. I use socks to regulate temperature.

A few weeks ago, when the Colnago came to live with us, I broke out the SpeedPlay X/2 pedals and the Sidi Energy shoes. That was OK, but on the longer rides my feet started complaining, as usual. Last week I put Frogs on the Colnago for the Sea Otter 100 mile Road Tour, mostly for ease in walking at the rest stops. Today I was conflicted as I went to the garage to go out for the ride: put the X/2 pedals back on and ride with closed shoes, or use the Frog/sandal combination. The sandals won.

I still have two pairs of closed toe cycling shoes. The Sidi Energy shoes I use with the SpeedPlay X pedals are now about six-seven years old, but still holding up. I saved them from the shears of the ER nurse after I got drop kicked (presumably by a motor vehicle) [WARNING: Graphic content if you follow this link] in March 2002. Her excuse was she could not figure out the release. The Sidi Dominators, now with Frog cleats (formerly with Time ATAC cleats), are embarrassingly new looking though they are four years old. Perhaps I should give them more of a chance, but the toes keep screaming that they want to be free.