There I was on the pavement, on the road, on the piste, with my feet tangled in the inner workings of the bike like we were part of the same evil organism.
Then later that evening I spoke to Alex, a relocated Englishman and a competition grade cyclist to boot. Alex is the sort of Englishman who not only looks like he knows what he's doing, he really does know what to do.
"You see those two screws on each pedal?"
"Uh huh." I didn't want to admit that I'd seen the screws but didn't quite know what they were for.
'Just adjust them and you'll be ok.'
There must be a life lesson in there somewhere but I'm much too sore to look for it.