First clipped-in commute today. In the spirit of Doing It All Wrong, I decided to wear my new MTB shoes and give it a shot even though I haven't gotten a chance to practice clipping in and out. I do have Shimano 524s with big platforms around the clips, so I found that it was really easy to ride unclipped, like riding on platforms. But I haven't ridden on platforms since last summer, so that was an odd feeling in itself--very disconnected and insecure at first.

The first 5 miles of my ride is a bike trail, so I had time to play with the clipless there. I found it's actually really easy to unclip, actually a lot simpler than getting my old running shoes out of the toe clips when I'm strapped down. Clipping in was a much greater challenge, because I didn't understand how it was supposed to feel--I was trying to get the pressure to hit where I thought the cleat was, in the middle of my foot, but because of the angle and stiff sole, I felt it most on the ball and big toe of the foot when I hit the clip the right way to get in.

But, man, what a difference! It's not just the locked-in feeling on the pedals; I should have bought cycling shoes years ago. The stiff soles made a HUGE difference. It felt like pedaling effort was greatly reduced. I'm a believer, although I still rode unclipped through most of the traffic areas in town.