Toe pain!
 

I've recently developed nasty stinging pain in my right foot's second and third toes (mostly the tips) about 35-40 miles into a ride. It happened today (42 miler) as well as a week ago (58 miler). I've never had this happen before. Same bike, shoes, everything. With the first episode, I thought it was because my toes were hitting the front of the toe box as I'd put on the shoes on uneven ground (gravel) and that they weren't all the way back in the shoes. So, today I made sure my heels were back before doing the straps but I had the pain again. The only thing diff now is that it is/was very hot weather-wise on those rides. What is behind this? How to remedy?

Maybe you're tightening the straps down too much? I like to make mine just a touch looser than snug.

IMO you have a bad case of swollen feet. The only way around that is to get bigger shoes. Probably half extra number will do the trick.

call the toe truck

No need to but new shoes -- just yet. In hot weather, your feet will get hotter and will swell on longer rides. Try: Loosening the shoes, move you foot around in the shoe and retighten -- not too tight. Or, wear thinner socks. Here are some that I'm using now:

http://www.amazon.com/Swiftwick-Perf...wiftwick+socks

As a last resort, try riding without socks. You'll be surprised how much cooler your feet will be.

While you didn't mention it, if your shoes have carbon fiber soles, they absorb heat from the pavement and are uncomfortable in the heat. If you buy new shoes, you might try some without carbon soles.

Try not tightening the middle strap.

Do up the ratchet and use the front strap only.

I had a wierd little pain (in my foot not my toes) and a podiatrist suggested that...worked a treat for me.

new shoes. get them a little bigger and dont strap them down so tight. had the same problem and both of these that I'm recommending solved the issue.

I also agree with the dont tighten down the middle strap. this will allow your foot to spread out.

your feel swell while riding - I typically loosen my shoes at about 30-40 miles. If that doesn't work, try shoes that fit better

When I started riding I had this problem, turned out that I scrunched my toes up in my shoes when trying to maintain a high cadence.