Welcome Home, Old Friend

So it would be downright cliched of me to say something like "you don't know how much something means to you until it's gone" But, damn, it's so true.

It all started about three weeks ago when 'master mechanic' Alex decided it was time to put new cleats on the ol' SIDI road shoes. Good.

Having opted for 'fixed' style cleats, initial setup was naturally more time consuming. A twist here... a nudge there... tighten things up and keep rolling. Good.

Day 3: slight overpronation of left foot. Stop to adjust. Loosen all three bolts. Move cleat. Re-tighten to even torque spec...

Shit.

Well, despite the fact that my biceps are akin to those of a 12 year old girl, i still managed to over torque - and thereby strip - the bejesus out of my SIDI's mounting hardware. Hey - no problem. Didn't like those $300 hand-made italian shoes anyway...

...i'm such an idiot.

Three weeks pass. I'm an emotional wreck without my SIDI's. What's more, i look like a dunce riding around in (god forbid) BLACK cycling shoes. My old Nike road shoes just don't make sweet love to my feet the way SIDI's do.

But alas! A much awaited call from my local SIDI dealer informs me that replacement hardware has arrived from Veltec (despite being shipped, lost, erased from the system, and shipped again).

So i check myself out of grief counseling, toss my Nike's into a far corner of the closet, and make a B-line to the bike shop. The prodigal shoes' homecoming was everything i could have imagined. And after a short 'surgery' to replace the faulty hardware, i'm once again reuinted with my true love.

For anyone who's ever owned a pair of all-white SIDI shoes, surely, you know what i mean when i say: Welcome home, old friend.