The mountain is now closed for snow sports, which means its time for dirt sports!!  Lets get out biking!!

As I walked down to my office this morning I noticed my Five Ten biking shoes sitting at the bottom of the stairs and it reminded me of an often forgotten part of our biking attire.  Now if you are a road rider or cross country rider and you clip in, without the right shoes you are not riding with those pedals.  However for those of us that don't clip in you might not be easily convinced to buy a pair of biking shoes that cost more than your helmet.  There are biking items that are essential - and no I am not talking about the cute top you had to have!  and then there are the items that are not quite so essential.

Back to the shoes.  This is an item that is not so much essential as one that will change your experience and look after a very important asset - your feet.  There is only one essential feature to the shoes you ride with and that is that they have a flat sole.  You don't want any knobbly bits sticking to your pedals and you don't want an arch, so no running shoes.  Skate shoes are good and will do the trick, but make sure you get them on sale or grab an old pair as you will trash them:)

So why buy the expensive ones when I have just told you you can just use cheap skate shoes?  I wondered the same thing until my first pair of Shimano Downhill shoes; there is something about the stiffness in a shoe that is made for going downhill that changes your world.  I am always telling the girls that keeping your pedals level is about creating a platform, just imagine the difference between a floating yoga mat and concrete - that is what I am talking about.

Last season I needed to upgrade my shoes, the ones I had were literally falling to pieces.  I was told that if I wanted new shoes I wanted FiveTens.  Why I asked?  you just do!  was the answer.  So I waited for the store to get their third shipment of shoes as they kept selling out, finally they had them, I bought them and jumped on my bike.

So my one complaint is that they are so sticky once you put your feet on the pedals they are staying there.  No slipping off when not expecting it, no sag - a truly solid platform to stand one while going fast as possible downhill!

Need new biking shoes?  Before you buy the cute top and cute shorts get SHOES, trust me it will be the best decision you make this summer.  And my unbiased opinion is that Five Ten are making the best ones on the market right now - and no they didn't pay me to write that I just love their shoes.