Throughout the course of my fascination with cycling, I have used Time Atac pedals. My first clipless experience was riding mountain bikes in central and western North Carolina, from the Piedmont to the Pisgah, I learned to navigate an early 2000’s hardtail over the slick rocks and roots of those wooded trails. As a cyclist, I’ve come a long way since those early days of riding Time pedals, my body has changed, and I’m getting older.
Like worn out bearings in a full suspension bike, having worn out knees and other joints can really ruin a ride. I was diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter when I was 15 after an abrupt growth spurt. The resulting scarred tissue and calcification rendered large bumps right below my knee caps. Throughout my 20’s and into my early 30’s, I had very few cases of inflammation, yet into my late 30’s, it doesn’t take much to cause swelling and pain in my knee from riding. This inflammation is caused by everything from overexertion on road rides, to pushing through washboarded or sandy roads on bike tours, or even just going too hard on one of my everyday routes here in Los Angeles.
It took this last incident to really re-think my riding experience and evaluate what small changes I could make to my pedal stroke, foot placement, and even mental state, yet the biggest change is the one I wasn’t expecting; a shift from my favorite Time pedals to Shimano.