Day Two of Clipless
My pedals broke, so I got out the clipless pedals and bought a pair of shoes. I really, really enjoy the shoes. It's probably a good bit to do with my poor form and technique with the toe straps, but I can feel a huge increase in power with the clipless shoes.
Day one I went 22 miles, just my normal weekday loop, and really practiced making "circles" rather than just pedaling. It totally killed my legs, they are so not used to the extra movement and the extra muscles that are being recruited to pedal properly.
Day two I went for a 70 mile loop with my neighbor. He has one of those fancy, new fangled bikes with more than one gearing but I kept up with him for the first 30 or 40 miles, and I led the way a lot too. I always beat him on the hills, and I really beat him this time. But we got to our half way point, refilled our water, and all of a sudden I was just dead. I spent the next 35 miles trying to keep him within site. The tops of my thighs, the part the faces the sky, were in absolute pain.
I'm not complaining, I'm just making sure this is to be expected as I begin to spin in "circles" and not just "push".