Originally Posted by TKJava

When I was very young e.g. below 25 I rode quite a bit. I had a Trek 400 touring bike and I put in a lot of miles around where I lived. I never would wear "cycling clothes" and always thought those who did were ridiculous. In fact I was pretty much anti-bike clothes and paraphernalia. Fast forward to many years later, post young kids etc. I started riding again and I went on 30 mile ride on a cinder path as part of a club ride. At about 20 miles my butt was having some serious pain, my wife who was wearing cycling pants with a pad was having a good time riding and laughing at me for having to keep standing up. Fast forward a year after that and I buy a new carbon fiber road bike and .... cycling clothes including those ridiculous stiff shoes. After going out on a few rides and loving how comfortable I am putting in 25 - 35 miles on a regular basis and going on a 85 mile charity ride (MS Ride) I will never go back to the days of sneakers and essentially gym shorts and a t-shirt on a ride.


I really do believe that maximizing your comfort really helps you to increase your distance and I don't ride long distances for the sake of it or to check a box so to speak. I just find it very enjoyable to leave my house and travel winding roads without many cars and wind up 20 miles from home at a lake or something, chill for a bit and go home. I kind of think of it as analogous to a golf outing (I don't golf) where you do 18 holes, have lunch and a beer and your gone form home for 3 or 4 hours. The bottom line is for me, being more comfortable having shoes that maximize muscle input to the pedal is the way to go.


Of course I do hear the snide remarks between the young couple behind me in the coffee shop who think some guy in his 50's ought not to be wearing Lycra but you get over it. I have had to point out to a biker or 2 along the way that the leather jacket, patches and bandanna are part of your club's getup just like mine. And oh by the way your 20 years younger 30 pounds fatter and can't propel yourself 10 miles without an engine.