#1
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Left foot?
I went to a lot of trouble -- or rather, I commissioned my spouse to go to trouble (I don't do Amazon) -- to obtain a copy of _Cyclecraft: North American Edition_, yet it's been months and I'm still only on page 34. Perhaps reviewing it as I read will move me along. On page 34, in the section "Toe Clips and Clipless Pedals", we find the puzzling sentence "If you haven't used toe clips before, try just the left one first." First off, it isn't clear whether the "left one" is the clip or the strap. Second off, rather; since I didn't notice the ambiguity until I started analyzing the sentence. In isolation, the sentence clearly states that one is to install only one clip, but the previous sentence was about toe straps, so I first read it as meaning install both clips, but only one strap. I was probably right the first time, but the puzzled remains: why *left* foot first? I stand on my left foot, put the right foot on a stationary pedal, then stand on the right pedal to get enough steerageway to get into the saddle and get my left foot on the pedal. A clip on the right pedal is very useful in getting the pedal to the top of the stroke, and a clip on the left foot is hard to get used to. Perhaps right-foot-down riders are common enough that he forgot that there were left-foot downers? Since left-foot-down is better suited to British roads than American roads, this doesn't seem likely. Perhaps left-foot-down is more common, and he had a reason for trying the hard part first? Perhaps left-foot-down is common enough that he forgot the right-foot-down riders, then the translater had a senior moment and changed "right" to "left"? Whatever, I personally don't need this bit of advice, and I'm not likely to ever teach anyone. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. |
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#2
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Left foot?
On Fri, 03 Jan 2020 23:32:49 -0500, Joy Beeson
wrote: I went to a lot of trouble -- or rather, I commissioned my spouse to go to trouble (I don't do Amazon) -- to obtain a copy of _Cyclecraft: North American Edition_, yet it's been months and I'm still only on page 34. Perhaps reviewing it as I read will move me along. On page 34, in the section "Toe Clips and Clipless Pedals", we find the puzzling sentence "If you haven't used toe clips before, try just the left one first." First off, it isn't clear whether the "left one" is the clip or the strap. Second off, rather; since I didn't notice the ambiguity until I started analyzing the sentence. In isolation, the sentence clearly states that one is to install only one clip, but the previous sentence was about toe straps, so I first read it as meaning install both clips, but only one strap. I was probably right the first time, but the puzzled remains: why *left* foot first? I stand on my left foot, put the right foot on a stationary pedal, then stand on the right pedal to get enough steerageway to get into the saddle and get my left foot on the pedal. A clip on the right pedal is very useful in getting the pedal to the top of the stroke, and a clip on the left foot is hard to get used to. Perhaps right-foot-down riders are common enough that he forgot that there were left-foot downers? Since left-foot-down is better suited to British roads than American roads, this doesn't seem likely. Perhaps left-foot-down is more common, and he had a reason for trying the hard part first? Perhaps left-foot-down is common enough that he forgot the right-foot-down riders, then the translater had a senior moment and changed "right" to "left"? Whatever, I personally don't need this bit of advice, and I'm not likely to ever teach anyone. If you haven't used clip less clips you may not have them adjusted sufficiently loose that you can easily get out of them. It is rather embarrassing to gracefully come to a stop and slowly topple over because you can't get your foot out of the pedal :-) Having one foot free might just save the day :-) -- cheers, John B. |
#3
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Left foot?
On 1/3/2020 11:32 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:
I went to a lot of trouble -- or rather, I commissioned my spouse to go to trouble (I don't do Amazon) -- to obtain a copy of _Cyclecraft: North American Edition_, yet it's been months and I'm still only on page 34. Perhaps reviewing it as I read will move me along. On page 34, in the section "Toe Clips and Clipless Pedals", we find the puzzling sentence "If you haven't used toe clips before, try just the left one first." First off, it isn't clear whether the "left one" is the clip or the strap. Second off, rather; since I didn't notice the ambiguity until I started analyzing the sentence. In isolation, the sentence clearly states that one is to install only one clip, but the previous sentence was about toe straps, so I first read it as meaning install both clips, but only one strap. I was probably right the first time, but the puzzled remains: why *left* foot first? I stand on my left foot, put the right foot on a stationary pedal, then stand on the right pedal to get enough steerageway to get into the saddle and get my left foot on the pedal. A clip on the right pedal is very useful in getting the pedal to the top of the stroke, and a clip on the left foot is hard to get used to. Perhaps right-foot-down riders are common enough that he forgot that there were left-foot downers? Since left-foot-down is better suited to British roads than American roads, this doesn't seem likely. Perhaps left-foot-down is more common, and he had a reason for trying the hard part first? Perhaps left-foot-down is common enough that he forgot the right-foot-down riders, then the translater had a senior moment and changed "right" to "left"? Whatever, I personally don't need this bit of advice, and I'm not likely to ever teach anyone. My first question is, did you get the North American edition of the book, or did you get the original British version by mistake? I assume you got the correct one; but that serves as preamble to my main point. John Franklin wrote for the British market. I already had contact with him before I bought the British book, and I suggested he do an American edition. Others agreed. After some hesitation about marketability (since everyone in America already knows everything about riding a bike!) he and his publisher decided to try it. But he asked for help converting his book to "ride on the right" and explaining a foreign system of road markings, signs, etc. A team of us spent time combing through his manuscript for necessary changes, recommended illustrations, and translating English into... um, English. (British English tends to sound overly formal to American ears.) Of course, there had to be a lot of changing "left" to "right" and vice versa. Perhaps the passage you were reading slipped through? I can check later, when I have time. About the issue itself: Personally, I think its logical to stand with the the curb-side foot in the pedal. That's because the road is typically crowned, so the other side is easier to reach. In fact, some situations would have your curb side foot in a wet gutter. But despite that, I do it backwards. It make less difference for me because I'm almost always at lane center when I stop. And my left leg just feels stronger for pushing off from a stop. -- - Frank Krygowski |
#4
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Left foot?
Joy Beeson wrote:
I went to a lot of trouble -- or rather, I commissioned my spouse to go to trouble (I don't do Amazon) -- to obtain a copy of _Cyclecraft: North American Edition_, yet it's been months and I'm still only on page 34. Perhaps reviewing it as I read will move me along. On page 34, in the section "Toe Clips and Clipless Pedals", we find the puzzling sentence "If you haven't used toe clips before, try just the left one first." First off, it isn't clear whether the "left one" is the clip or the strap. Second off, rather; since I didn't notice the ambiguity until I started analyzing the sentence. In isolation, the sentence clearly states that one is to install only one clip, but the previous sentence was about toe straps, so I first read it as meaning install both clips, but only one strap. I was probably right the first time, but the puzzled remains: why *left* foot first? I stand on my left foot, put the right foot on a stationary pedal, then stand on the right pedal to get enough steerageway to get into the saddle and get my left foot on the pedal. A clip on the right pedal is very useful in getting the pedal to the top of the stroke, and a clip on the left foot is hard to get used to. Perhaps right-foot-down riders are common enough that he forgot that there were left-foot downers? Since left-foot-down is better suited to British roads than American roads, this doesn't seem likely. Perhaps left-foot-down is more common, and he had a reason for trying the hard part first? Perhaps left-foot-down is common enough that he forgot the right-foot-down riders, then the translater had a senior moment and changed "right" to "left"? Whatever, I personally don't need this bit of advice, and I'm not likely to ever teach anyone. Pedals with cleats are usually referred to as clipless pedals so I assume he means toe straps. I guess he’s saying to start off don’t use the clip on the foot you usually put down. |
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