Snazzy new cycling shoes and frozen yogurt bliss

What is it with me and frozen yogurt? In the past 2 weeks, I've eaten at Durham's newest frozen yogurt place - "Local Yogurt" 2 times, and both visits were at 6pm, before I've eaten dinner. I should know better. Eating dessert before dinner spoils my dinner. It's 9:16pm as I write this, and I still haven't eaten my "real" dinner because I'm not hungry. Bad Danielle, bad! Okay, I promise to eat something healthy at the conclusion of this blog entry.



The last time Rob and I rode our mountain bikes, my feet hurt like crazy because I've outgrown my cycling shoes. I used to wear a 42.5 and now I'm in 44's. It was time for a new pair. So Rob ordered me a nice pair of custom-fit Shimano M-230's. They are technically my birthday present, just a little late in delivery, but oh well.

Yes, I know I have big feet! I come from a family of women with large clod-hoppers. I heard that my Grandma was barely 5 foot tall and wore size 10 shoes! Wow.



I went to a bike shop in Brier Creek to have the shoes custom fit to my feet. The process of the custom fitting was really cool. Sorry I didn't take any pics of the process or the machine. First, they heat up the insoles for a couple of minutes. Then you put them back in the shoes, tighten them up, and stand in them for 5 minutes. Then you take the insoles back out again, and then heat up the entire shoe for a few minutes. They were nice and toasty after that! Get back in the shoe, tighten them up, and then put your whole shoe inside this shoe-shaped plastic bag, that was attached to a compressor that when turned on, sucked all the air and your shoes down tight on your foot. The owner of the bike shop (who happened to be a pretty nice guy, by the way!) then massaged my shoes for 90 seconds, which felt really nice! After that, the process was done. My shoes are ready and waiting for me to take them on their maiden voyage this weekend, that is, if it ever stops raining. Guess I'll be riding Duke Forest or Umstead...



These shoes are so snazzy that they deserve to be ridden somewhere really cool for their first ride. I know, you may be asking yourself, "Danielle, you don't race anymore, why do you need such nice, almost top-of-the-line cycling shoes?" Well, I tried on the cheaper version (retail: $119) of this shoe, available in stock where Rob works, and while they fit great and looked good, they had just a tad too much flexibility in the sole for my liking. My old shoes were Sidi Dominator's, a shoe known to bike racers all over the world, and they had a very stiff sole. I know I don't NEED a stiff-soled shoe for racing purposes anymore, but I found it hard to go with the more flexible, I guess, because I've been involved in the sport for so long, and I know that the 3 most important parts of your bike set-up is: Shoes, shorts, and saddle. I'm going to add in Gloves to that list to, and make it the 4 most important parts. Why? Well, think about it, shoes, saddle and gloves - these are the points of body contact to your bike. If you scrimp on those parts and buy the cheaper ones, you'll regret it in the long run.



I tried to snap a picture of Gunnie in the shoes, but she would not let me! But Taylor approves of my new custom fit cycling shoes!