HI everyone, this is NIkki a friend of mine. She’s a strong rider from doing Spin Classes but has never ventured too far on the road, She too has a great journey in front of her, in 2022 she plans to ride up Alp D’Huez – my Stage 12 finish.
When she found out I’d be riding with the THETOUR21 team, she asked my advice on how to get used to cleats having never used them before. So I took some time today to help her out.
Here are my tips for riding with cleats for the first time, in 4 easy stages
- We started with Nikki wearing trainers
- Then a cleated shoe on the left foot, trainer on the right
- Then a cleated shoe on the right foot, and a trainer on the left
- Then cleats on both feet
This method gives you practice clipping in and out knowing that the foot in the trainer is free to come off the pedal for balance.
Well that couldn’t have worked better, and considering we had 22 mph winds today, Nikki did amazing and rode here first 15 miles with both feet in cleated shoes. Nikki and I will meet up again for more Blogs as she helps me prepare for THETOUR21 and I help her prepare for Alp D’Huez.
