toot toot, i hear the shoe train a commin'

Its finally time to retire my old'e Shimano shoes. The soles were delaminating, I had sewn the velcro strips back together twice, and honestly I can't imagine that they were helping me get power to the pedals.

Enter the northwave raptor (and no nothwave, no link for you until i get free shoes)

From Drop Box

100% psick and in matching tenderfoot colors. huzzah.

My friends (i use that word extremely loosely. im nothing more than a number to them. anyhoo.) at backcountry outlet.com floated me a super secret pro 50% off coupon that they only give to people who sign up for their free news letter. I took the opportunity to order these little devils. (they actually didn't even ask for my coupon code at check out. that makes me feel a little less special.)

The shoes are much stiffer than my old ones, but more importantly, they have a clicky buckle. Ever since seeing photographs of the Pilgrims landing on Plymouth rock, I have wanted clicky buckles on my shoes. And now I have them (im hoping that this will lead to a massive increase in riding speed.)

Unfortunately, Northwave provides an insole with these shoes that is nothing more than a cruel joke. It's thinner than a saltine cracker. Until I can find a decent footbed, I put my old Shimano insoles in on top of the Northwave ones. So far so good.

My only other gripe with the shoes is the rubber on the tread. I can't wrap my head around why a cycling shoe maker wouldn't use a soft hiking sole. The zytel on the Northwaves is not terrible, but it has room for improvement. I guess I should be thankful that it isn't just a nylon plate with a couple token patches of black stuff like pearl izzume uses on their racing shoes.

Overall I'm quite happy with my new kicks. Hopefully the added stiffness will help during the multiple massive climbs of the 101.

I just stumbled across this blog about riding a 'scoot.' Apparently, its a big deal for this guy to ride a motorized scooter to work in slightly chilly weather. I wonder if scooter guys would find me as weird as I find them.

Nah. Not possible.