My friend Harriett and I went to the MS 150’s Winter Bike Expo this afternoon. Strangely, the MS Society didn’t email us about it—I only found out about it because it happened to be on their website. We got there a little after noon and were literally the only two people in attendance. I can only hope that the actual event is more crowded.

The benefit of being the only people there was that we got a lot of personal attention. Nancy, a very nice staffer who has done 600-mile bike rides, sat down with us and talked us through the training process. It’s not so bad—the hardcore training doesn’t start until May (which is fortuitous, because I’m running another half-marathon on May 3), and as long as I get in the saddle a few hours a week once the weather gets, you know, somewhere above freezing, I should be in good shape.

We also spoke with Sammy of Sammy’s Bikes—a bike shop unfortunately located in the ‘burbs and therefore difficult to get to—who tried to convince us that fancy shmancy shoes and clipless pedals are the way to go. Apparently clipless pedals are more efficient, and I believe him, but it just seems like a lot of money to spend on yet another pair of specialty shoes (I already go through three pairs of running shoes a year). Anybody want to weigh in on clipless pedals? Worth the investment? Or will I just spend months battling the clips and falling off my bike?