Or something like that.
Moving the cleat position on my shoes has changed my riding position.
I tried to compensate by moving the seat a bit forward; moving the cleats back means my feet are further forward on the pedals.
After about a hundred miles, things still don't feel quite right.
I'm gonna try and leave the cleats where they are for now:
Ooops! That's a turkey sandwich and a pickle. Here's the cleat:
As you can see, I'm on the rear set of attachments, but not all the way back yet. I used to be on the front attachments; cleat position was on the balls of the feet. Now they are slightly behind, closer to the arch. I'm going to move them a couple of millimeters back.
The strange thing is, positioning my foot forward on the pedals, did not result in a change of seat position. I tried it, but moved the seat back to it's original mark.
This is easy to keep track of for the seat rails are marked:
You wouldn't think so, but just two millimeters makes a difference in how the seat feels and how it feels when you pedal. Moving it up two spaces felt strange; I gave it a hundred miles of so before moving it back.
Oh, I just remembered. I did move the seat post up about a quarter inch after moving the cleats back. That seemed to help.
Boy, I really dislike fooling around with my position on the bike. I mean it takes time to find a position that feels right, especially on long rides. Stopping in the middle of a ride to adjust things is not my idea of fun, but I guess it's required.
My hands have also been taking a beating. Although I have bar ends and can change my position on the bars, numbness has become a problem.
Yes, it's probably core strength; as I get fatigued, I tend to lean on my hands.
My neck also gets tired so I'm going to try and move my bars up a bit:
New position, about an eighth of inch higher:
Again, changes like that may not seem like much, but believe me, they make a difference. In fact, minute changes can totally change how you feel on the bike.
There's tons of resources on the webs on position, enough to take each with a grain of salt. You just have to try and see what works for you.
Why am I doing this?
Remember yesterday?
That's right, Summer is here and as soon as work is done, I'm getting on my bike and riding off into the sunset.
Forever like.
Okay, not really.
I do want to take some longer epic rides this summer, so I figured now is the time to fool around with my position on the bike.
Hopefully, I'll make the right adjustments.
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