Tuesday, November 9, 2010

A visit to Bloomington, Indiana. We go to a tailgate party, and I get my buckle.

On Friday, November 5, 2010, my wife and I went to Bloomington, Indiana, to visit my son Zachary, who is a student at Indiana University. Of course,most cyclists know about Bloomington from the famous Breaking Away movie of 1979. This university town is very bicycle friendly and has a good plan for cycling with lots of bike lanes. My son plays Lacrosse for the university, but the big event was Indiana vs Iowa football. I attended my first tailgate party with about 40,000 19 year olds. Order was kept by bicycle police, who flowed freely through the crowd.I even consumed a Keystone Light beer, but not out of a funnel, as my son's friends insisted. Although Indiana lost in the last few seconds, attending a big 10 football game was quite an experience. After my road slamming of October 9, 2010 in Maryland, I noticed that an Ultra SL buckle from my Sidi Dominator left bike shoe was broken. Attempts to obtain a replacement buckle from several local bike shops and internet sites were unsuccessful. I even called Sidi, and was told that the buckle was obsolete, even the shoe was being sold new with the same buckle. Replacement with the new Caliper buckle and strap would be at least twice as expensive! Shame on Sidi. Fortunately, I found an Ultra SL buckle in Bikesmiths, one of the excellent shops in Bloomington.