I'm experiencing some pain in the bottoms of my feet when riding that I can't explain. Perhaps it's the insoles wearing out. Perhaps it's pushing harder than I should. Perhaps it's something more serious. I'm looking for ideas.

The discomfort usually doesn't start until I've been riding 30-35 miles so I don't notice it on shorter rides. I'm on a touring bike, riding rolling pavement at around 17 mph average. I don't stop much on my rides, just 60 sec or less every 10-15 miles for water. I use old-fashioned toe clips and wear cycling shoes with no cleats I've had since 1993. (Yeah, I'm a frugal old guy)

The pain goes away after I get home, shower, and relax a bit.

Am I alone with this?

In case it matters I'm 56, 142 lbs, 5' 6", and have been riding for 50 years. I've been absent from this forum for a dozen months of so but came back tonight to query the group wisdom.

Feet swelling will makes shoes too tight.
Toe clips for me.

My first step would be to see if things aren't too tight when your foot starts to hurt - as 10 wheels said, feet swell. I solved excruciation pain by simply loosening the laces and that was with modern clipless shoes.

Then I'd try a new innersole just to see if it is just your old shoes wearing out.

Seeing you've been riding this way for so long, it's probably just something wearing out (not your feet is it?).

I converted to toe clips a couple of years back after pfaffing about with clipless and SPDs for a couple of years. I much prefer them for the riding I do and no, I don't get foot pain. It's hard to get decent shoes that haven't been built to take under sole clips - I wear BMX shoes, but skate shoes also work. The massively hard sole you find on modern shoes is mainly there to support the undersole clip, as evidenced by the shoes I wear - the clip version has the hard sole, my version has simply a stiffer sole than a normal shoe.

Richard

I didn't think my shoes were too tight, but I'll loosen them a bit more next time and see what happens. Today was a rainy stay at home day.

I didn't either but it turns out I needed those shoes to be loose at the start of the ride. Thick socks can also do it apparently. Feets is funny things.

Richard

I had an issue for a while with the outside of my right foot getting painful. It went away shortly after finishing the ride. It wasn't until someone commented that I discovered that I was kicking my knee out at the top of the stroke, but only under heavy load. I never realized I was doing it until then. I've learn't to stop doing that now and the problem has gone away. I'm sure there are many other explanations for your issue but this was the one I had.

OldBrit

I experienced foot pain like you describe when I switched to carbon sole shoes. They were much stiffer than my old shoes. What was most interesting to me is that the guy who does all the fittings at my local LBS suggested I move my cleats back a few mm's. I did, and the pain was gone.

As above, and you might change out the insoles and try some Superfeet Yellow beds.

Dang WL, your new avatar is so small I can't make out what it says. Is this a vision test?

At your (our) age, arches start to collapse and foot gets a bit longer, usually. And your shoes are really old. As noted above, check tightness and at least try some new insoles. If it was me, I'd just get some new shoes.