johntolhurst wrote: the most entertaining and compelling argument for or against.
I don't see the forum that this got moved to so I am going to log my argument here.
First, if there is one thing I have learned as a father and the only male in a household of four, you don't mess with a girl's shoes.
Second, and arguably more compelling from a pragmatic point of view:
These little devices may be good for any number of things not the least of which may be walking.
Let's role-play:
Maria is CRUZing at a good 18.5mph average over the first five laps.
As any normally functioning human does, especially one that has ingested that much gatorade, she has to use the facilities. (Let's not even examine the possibility of doing that on the bike and ASSUME that she will be getting off the bike to walk a short distance.)
She is in a little bit of a rush, because she has a good time going.
She is feeling good, no pain, just a full bladder.
She tic-tacs onto the tile floor (or plastic if she is so unlucky) with her shoes which Mr. I Void Warranties has only recently de-clawed...and she slips and falls and hurts herself.
Heavens no! I am not jinxing anything, I am merely making a point.
The question I pose is this: Is the small, incremental, and arguably indeterminate amount of aero-dynamic gain made by removing those pink things worth the chance that she slips and falls without her pink gummie toe/heel grips? I think not. (And I am going to pre-empt any post-race supposition by saying WHATEVER happens on the ride it won't be because she DIDN'T agree to take those things off.)
Yet ANOTHER point to be made in the form of a joke:
- The optimist says that the glass is half full.
- The pessimist says that the glass is half empty.
- The engineer says that the glass is too big.
and
- The mother of a small child says 'it's perfect'.
And finally, at this stage of the game we shouldn't be getting inside Maria's head with our engineering minds of what *could* be. Right now, in my opinion, change is bad.
Maximize what we have, (which you have already done exceedingly well I might add - nutrition, fitness, training runs, bike is in great shape, course is well planned), and turn the girl loose to wreak her havoc on the record.
Go Maria Go![/]
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