riding in sandals

[mstone]

I assume we’re not talking about a toddler here (I could see toe stubbing concerns there) so I’d say whatever keeps her on the bike

[krazygl00]

@chris_s 87891 wrote:

Are you being attacked by a seething swarm of cheetohs, or is that a really shaggy orange rug?

It’s a Cheetos Tub, and he’s about to jump in.

[lordofthemark]

@mstone 87919 wrote:

I assume we’re not talking about a toddler here (I could see toe stubbing concerns there) so I’d say whatever keeps her on the bike

She is a 20 something (“I hate when the media fetishizes millenials”) so you are correct. I really didn’t think there was a problem, and of course she can make her own choices, but I promised I would ask the forum. Y’all have not disappointed – as usual, what I feared was a possibly silly question has generated some really good discussion.

[cvcalhoun]

For the record, I’ve had plantar fasciitis. It is a risk if you wear shoes without side support and without a heel, particularly if you are older and/or overweight. However, it is considerably less of a risk with bicycling in such shoes than with walking (or worse, running) in such shoes. What causes it is repetitive impact on the heel, particularly as the padding on the heel gets thinner with age. And of course, when walking or running, the heel gets jarred more if the person is overweight. However, bicycling doesn’t tend to involve a lot of jarring of the heel. When I had it, walking a few blocks could be excruciatingly painful, but I could still bike as far as usual without problems. And at 20, she’s at low risk for it anyway, particularly if she is not overweight.

@PotomacCyclist 87906 wrote:

Other than the possibility of stubbing a toe, one concern might be the flexibility of the sole, but only if she rides a lot. I’ve heard of some people developing plantar fasciitis (irritation or inflammation of the fascia on the bottom of the foot) while riding. PF usually affects runners, not cyclists. Whenever I hear or read about this, I ask what type of shoes the person was using. The answer has always been soft-soled, flexible shoes, such as running shoes. I would think there could be a similar issue with sandals if she rides a lot.

[Note that some researchers now believe that PF is actually a set of minor tears in the fascia or foot muscles. I don’t know myself. I’ve heard of people continuing to run through PF, as long as several years, but while having to deal with excruciating pain.]

At the same time, calf tightness and lower leg tightness or weakness is also associated with developing PF. I ride on CaBi bikes a lot (probably the majority of my rides this year and maybe over the past few years as well) in running shoes and other shoes with flexible soles. (Occasionally in Reef sandals.) I’ve never had any problems with PF. I do light stretching after every run and after some tougher bike sessions. I include bent-knee and straight-leg calf stretches, bottom of the foot stretches and shin stretches, along with other stretches. I’m familiar enough with the routine by now that the entire series of stretches only takes me a minute or two, even without rushing. I only hold each stretch for a few seconds. I’m mostly working on the muscle fascia. I don’t care as much about developing extreme flexibility, which actually isn’t good for running. I also focus on strength training in the off-season and occasional maintenance strength workouts during the rest of the year. I try to do lower-body strength exercises in bare feet (unless I’m in a gym where that’s not allowed). Doing that helps to strengthen all of the various small muscles in the feet.

When people say that they have tight muscles somewhere, the real issue is often muscle imbalances or weakness. If one muscle is weak, an opposing or interacting muscle can pull on it, causing muscle aches or tightness. If the imbalance isn’t fixed, then an injury can occur. A common case is “tight shoulders” or more accurately tight trapezius or upper back. This usually results from weak lat muscles, which most people rarely use unless they workout regularly. They also sit at desks and use computers often. Weak lats and too much sitting causes the traps to get very tight and sore. Stretching provides a temporary fix, but the muscle imbalances need to be fixed for a true fix. (I had a severe case of muscle imbalances more than a decade ago, when I was very inactive and weak. Long story, but the summary is that an activity, piano playing for rehearsals, caused my traps to get very tight while my lats were weak from lack of use. After a month of this, one of the traps ripped when I stood up. Most painful experience of my life.)

PF seems to be easily avoided. And just like with any injury, it’s far better to avoid it than to have to deal with it once it develops. If you visit running forums, you’ll find thread after thread of people asking about dealing with overuse injuries. Mostly because runners tend not to follow certain smart practices: preventative work, not doing too much too soon, treating an injury properly before it develops into a chronic condition or a serious injury. When strength training is mentioned, many of them go on and on about how “Kenyans don’t strength train” and/or they continue to think that strength training is the same as bodybuilding or powerlifting (which it isn’t). Then they continue to develop the same overuse injuries that runners keep developing every year, over and over again. Cyclists tend not to develop as many overuse injuries as runners do, because of the lower impact of cycling. But plantar fasciitis is one issue that I’ve read complaints about several times, nearly always with people who do a fair amount of riding/training in flexible running shoes.

PF is not considered a serious injury, but it can be very painful. It can also be very difficult to treat once it develops, because of the difficulty of resting the foot muscles and fascia. Prevention is far better than trying to cure it.

So I’d say, for short, infrequent, low-intensity rides, sandals probably won’t be an issue. For longer, more frequent and higher-intensity rides, the flexible soles could become a problem, especially if she also has tightness in the calves and Achilles, or other tightness/weakness issues in the calves, shins and feet or muscle imbalances in the lower legs. Bike-specific sandals, like Keen and Shimano, are other options. Those sandals have hard soles. (I wear Keen sandals sometimes, but I don’t know why they are so heavy. They are heavier than my regular bike shoes. Maybe because they don’t have fancier lightweight materials. But the MTB shoes don’t have carbon fiber and even those are lighter than the Keen sandals.)

[Sunyata]

It is interesting to see that so many people think it is a terrible idea to ride in sandals…

And while I (emphasis on the I) would never wear flip flops to ride in, I do often ride in stiffer soled sandals (mostly Chacos with a heel strap). And the reason I would never wear flip flops is because they offer zero support and if I do not have a stiff sole, the arch in my right foot cramps up horribly and then I fall over, and no one wants to see that. Haha.

I am really curious to know why people feel that riding in flip flops is so dangerous, though.

[americancyclo]

I ride in flip flops to the store or other short distances all the time. Not if I’m going to be on the bike for more than a mile or two though.

[Phatboing]

@Sunyata 87948 wrote:

I am really curious to know why people feel that riding in flip flops is so dangerous, though.

For my own case, it’s because when my feet sweat, they want to slide right out. Sandals can be forced to stay on.

I’ve seen an Internet Person rant about “those sandals won’t be so fun when it gets shredded by a chainring”, and my only thought was “why on earth would I stick my foot in a chainring?”, followed closely by “shut up Internet Person”.

[DismalScientist]

@Sunyata 87948 wrote:

It is interesting to see that so many people think it is a terrible idea to ride in sandals…

Some people like to vent their inner totalitarian every so often…

[mstone]

I do ride in rear-strap sandals, really hate riding in flip flops (the results tend to emphasize the “flop” and I’m lucky not to die either from my foot falling off the pedal or flop or the pedal getting stuck between my foot and the flop or some other embarrassing terminal condition). Note that I only wear the sandals for low-speed utility type riding; at higher speeds I generally want a better connection to the pedal and more foot protection. (The fronts of my bike shoes have some scuff marks from riding through high brush or road debris, and I’d rather that not be my toes.)

[culimerc]

Riding in flip flops or sandals really isnt any more dangerous than walking around the city in flip flops sandals. I did it for year as a ute, and I still do it now on occasions when running errands or out to dinner. I just think people as a rule need to back off a bit and let others make their own decisions.

[GuyContinental]

So, the 14 year old me wearing sandals had 4 toenails ground off during a hard cornering fall. It. Was. Awful. Short of riding on the beach I simply can’t ride without something over my toes.

[jrenaut]

@GuyContinental 87997 wrote:

So, the 14 year old me wearing sandals had 4 toenails ground off during a hard cornering fall. It. Was. Awful. Short of riding on the beach I simply can’t ride without something over my toes.

Ouch. Sounds like a good reason.

This is really an extension of the helmet discussion. If you’re in an accident where the exposed part of your body hits something hard, would you have been better off if it were unexposed? Probably. Are you likely to be in that accident? Probably not. Use your judgement.

That said, I did CaBi yesterday wearing flip flops and a helmet, so you can judge my judgement accordingly.

[sethpo]

I don’t own flip flops for the obvious reason….can’t wear them with socks.

[consularrider]

You do know you can get socks that work with flip flops? :p

[ShawnoftheDread]

@consularrider 88003 wrote:

You do know you can get socks that fit flip flops? :p

Fixed. I wouldn’t say those two things could possibly “work” together.

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