Biking Without Shoes?

I’ll bet no other cyclist has had this sort of encounter.

Like most riders, an occasional motorist objects to me biking on his road. Usually there’s honking, sometimes yelling, and once in a while I see a juvenile hand gesture. But today I got a one-of-a-kind reaction.

A twenty-something kid in a pickup pulled up and started lecturing me about how I didn’t belong on the road. He had numerous objections, but what really seemed to bother him was that I wasn’t wearing shoes.

He mentioned it at least three times. “You can’t ride on this road without shoes!”

I always wear a helmet, but I freely admit that I ride shoeless. It’s comfortable, a little lighter, and it’s not like shoes serve any purpose while I’m cranking. I even bought some spiffy black ankle socks to match my bike’s color scheme. Personally, I think it’s a sporty look. (Full disclosure: I sometimes wear white socks.)

This kid’s probably never seen a handcycle. He sees a guy cranking this odd-looking contraption with a big multi-colored flag up a deserted hill in the middle of nowhere, and the thing he notices, the aspect of this unique encounter that troubles him, is my lack of shoes. His parting shot at the end of at least a three-minute, high-volume scolding: “And get some shoes on!”

I considered pointing out his missing seat belt, but I’ve noticed that gun racks are common in rural New Mexico. I’m not sure about the humor threshold of guys with gun racks, so I let it go.

There’s a lot of odd things about me on a handcycle. I understand the curiosity and questions.

“You can’t ride on this road without shoes!” That’s a mystery.

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We finally managed to get Becky on her bike today. It’s been part of the plan for this trip, delayed by the cast on her left hand.

We decided that we need to get her out of the car a bit if we’re going to keep doing these rides. We’ve proven that we can do the long-distance handcycling thing, but day after day sitting in the car makes for some long weeks. So we’re going to divide the miles and let her get some fresh air and exercise.

So today I started out and rode until mid-morning. We changed places and she cranked, much faster than I do, until lunch. Then I did another shift. She did 20 miles, and together we accumulated 46 miles.

I like this new partnership. RICH’S RIDE isn’t about miles anyway, and this will make things more sustainable for both Becky and me.

So we’re 151 miles into the trip. Today we head from Gallup toward Winslow, Arizona. The weather’s supposed to turn bad this afternoon and get worse Thursday, so we may be stuck for a day or so.

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