\”Hot Foot\” might sound like burning up the track. For cyclists, hot foot is quite another thing.

Thus far I\’ve had little in the way of foot trouble when riding. Recently I did have a bit of a problem with my left foot\’s toes cramping up when I took off my cycling shoes after a long ride. And when I walked, it felt like there was something sharp under the bases of the smaller toes. It turned out I needed new orthotics.

Custom-made orthotics don\’t come cheap, unfortunately. Mine cost over $340. Ouch! I\’m glad they\’re meant to last 3-5 years.

Maybe I\’m lucky to have avoided hot foot. Or maybe I don\’t do enough of the kind of riding that\’s so hard that I\’m more likely to have problems with the condition. I can\’t believe that I\’m so smart as to have avoided it by way of \”doing everything right\”.

Articles about dealing with hot foot suggest moving the cleats rearward. Last November, when I had a bicycle re-fit, the fitter did just that. It felt rather odd at first; and it was at least a week before I really got used to it. I think he did it more so that I could get more out of my pedal stroke, than because of problems with my feet.

We do what we can to make our feet comfortable, especially on long rides. We don\’t, after all, want to end in \”the agony of de feet\”.*

*  The Complete Book of Long-Distance Cycling, p. 174.