Ridden by my new owner!

Today PhattKatt finally got the feel of its new owner. Yes, today the gears were shifted and the seat was sat in, and the wheels rotated with my wife at the helm.

My wife is a stoic of sorts. She is a wonderful lady who cares for me as no other could or even would, and I love her dearly for that and much more.

Anytime a trike was mentioned in the past, one would have to know her to know that the thought appealed to her. Today, learning how to shift and pedal, even though it was very cold outside and a short ride, was telling merely in the fact that nothing at all was said. Yes, this kind of joy needs to be held within. That tell-tale trike-smile did come through in glimpses. PhattKatt is a great fit for my wife... and the fitting continues.

First thing this morning was a trip to Performance Bicycle. We needed shoes that could be converted to clipless. Not knowing her true foot size, and the current sales, it seemed a good idea to see what was available.

Found was a pair of Diadora TrailBlazer Women's Shoes... that were $99.99 on sale for $19-! WHAT A DEAL!... and they fit like a glove. Needless to say, the ride today was NOT with clipless pedals since that is a day of learning on its own.

When we got back from the short cold ride, I decided to follow the instructions of the sales lady at Performance on fitting the cleats to the shoes. I offered my wife the fitting of the SPD that came with PhattKatt or the Crankbrothers Egg Beaters that also came with PhattKatt. She choose the SPD probably because they are also platform compatible. Next came the fun part...

Today is New Year's Eve... not April Fools! I scored the soul as instructed and tried to peel out the center. Then tried prying out the center... more scoring... more cutting... Nada! Then I proceeded to pull out little pieces to see what was going on. I even wondered if these were really cycling shoes! Good fortune... they were indeed SPD compatible cycling shoes. Here's the joke someone at Diadora played on me... the centers that are suppose to be removed were GLUED IN PLACE! Once I knew this life was much easier. Now I know why these shoes were on sale. Is that always the case: "on sale" means "factory goof" but sell em anyway? I don't know, but we now have a pair of clip-in shoes so we can ride safely without worrying about the dreaded 'leg suck'.

The aftermath of preparing Diadora shoes for SPD Cleats: