Our road racing season 2016

There are different types of slush. There is slush:

(We borrowed this picture from Cook Diary. Hope that's OK!)

and there is slush:

 (Frozen slush. Try riding this on a road bike!)

. Unfortunately it's the latter that we have an abundance of here in Gothenburg, Sweden, right now. Which makes it... well, kind of crap to go out and ride our road bikes. If you manage to ride your bike at all you get cold, wet and dirty and your bike gets even dirtier. And if the snow would all melt away and the roads get dry there's still the gravel - thousands and thousands of sharp little rocks - that the city of Gothenburg pour out over the bike lanes. (Despite http://ensligabergenscykelklubb.blogspot.se/2015/04/sweepsalting-sopsaltning.html - we don't know what happened to this concept, if they tried it and it didn't work or if it cost too much. We should probably ask the city of Gothenburg about it.) An abundance of snow gets exchanged for an abundance of flats.

Despite that, though, the road racing season 2016 has actually already started. In Ensliga Bergens cykelklubb we have taken our road bikes apart to clean them for the upcoming season. (Yeah, we are a bit meticulous about it.) Chains, cassettes, wheels, brakes... There are parts to be wiped and cleaned, and there are parts to be replaced. New brake pads, new jockey wheels, new tyres... And then there are the races to enter, before the entering fee is raised. Not to mention that you have to get yourself in shape too, if you want good results!

We are busy doing all this, and as if that wasn't enough this year one of us - yours truly - has decided to switch from quill pedals with toe clips and straps, to clipless pedals, for the first time ever. Actually I mounted the clipless pedals some months ago, in a fit of fiilis, also thinking that mounting these pedals would force me to buy a pair of cycling shoes, since I wouldn't be able to ride my bike without the shoes. Well, not without being very uncomfortable anyway. And I haven't done that, but I will.

Though they are (considered) mountainbiking pedals I opted for Crank Brothers Eggbeaters, because they are light (though I hate to admit it and though I ride a steel frame I am a bit of a weight weenie), they offer 6 degrees of float and up to a 20 degrees release angle, many parts are replaceable and I think that they are really good-looking.

(Though my pedals have an all metal finish. And we borrowed this picture from Crank Brothers. Hope that's OK!)

Using mountainbiking pedals on a road bike will make some purists turn their noses up (I hope!) and it will require special cleats, but I am up for it. Especially since I had some contacts directly with Crank Brothers (a guy named Jared) and they were super helpful.

So the road racing season 2016 is definitely already on. Are you up for it?