Some people, I know, get attached to their footwear.My dad, for instance, has a thing for shoes. I think it all stems from the size of his feet. If I recall, he wears a size-13 shoe, and as he explained to me when I was much younger, size 12s are everywhere, but 13s are a rare find.So I remember as a kid every time we’d be near a shoe store – running errands, on vacation, on the way to the emergency room – he’d stop and check out the selection, and if there were any 13s, he’d buy ’em up, no matter how hideous or impractical.Apparently, it’s a hard habit to break, because he still does it today, and as a result has more shoes than any man I know.My wife, too, has a thing for footcoverings. She has more athletic shoes now than I’ve had over the course of my life. She has every kind of shoe imaginable: strappy, open-toe, closed-toe, oxford, maryjane, flat, heel, comfort, sandal : and just about every other style ever made. And each, of course, has to be in every color and hue imaginable.This I can live with.My take on shoes is slightly more – how do I say this? – sane.I have the precise number of shoes I need to keep my feet happy. I have running shoes, walking shoes, kickin’-it shoes, boots, a couple of pairs of dress shoes, a pair of casual shoes – and a bunch of old shoes I keep in the garage in which I mow. Like many guys, I refuse to throw my shoes away, just move ’em down the ladder, from every-day shoes to occasional shoes to wear-to-get-the-mail shoes to mowing shoes to gardening shoes to trek-through-the-sewer-overrun shoes.What does all this have to do with cycling?I’m about to retire a pair of cycling shoes, and it’s killing me.I run clipless pedals on all my bikes, so I have to have cycling shoes capable of accepting the metal cleat in the sole. For commuting, I like to wear more comfortable mountain-bike shoes and cleats, because the cleat is recessed and I can walk around without skating on concrete and marking up the nice wooden floors all over the ground floor of the News Center, where I work.Anybody with at least one working eye can see I’m no slave to fashion, or even an indentured servant. But I don’t want my kicks to stand out too much, and most mountain-bike shoes are either too “bike-y” or too “hike-y” to look anything like normal footwear.However, bike and equipment maker Specialized made a shoe that looked like a regular athletic shoe. Though it’s black instead of my preferred white, I was drawn to its normalcy. Without seeing the metal cleat screwed into the bottom, few would know it’s anything other than a regular athletic shoe.But my trusty footwear is failing. The other day, I broke the lace keeper on my left shoe. The keeper keeps the laces out of the chain; on the left (non-drive) side, it’s not a deal-breaker, but the right side is about to go. The lining is shot. The sole has seen better days. In short, they’re falling apart.My old friends are in need of replacement, and it makes me a bit sad.I figure I’ve put well more than 10,000 miles on ’em. They’ve been soaked, greased and covered in mud. They’ve ground out long hills and spun out down ’em. And as far as I know, Specialized doesn’t make ’em anymore, and nobody, even on the vast Interwebs, has a pair for sale.I’ve looked at the local bike shops, online, eBay and Zappos. No dice. I’ve flipped through catalogs and Googled, and I can’t find anything that compares.But I’ll keep looking.Rest assured once I find their replacements, my trusty old commute shoes won’t have to suffer the indignity of mowing. They deserve a flaming barge pushed into the ocean. Or at least the Kaw.
