Tecnica Cyclone GTX XCR
March 9, 2011
Two days ago I was so excited because it is ALMOST low-hiker season. ALMOST time to get back into comfortable shoes. I’m not really a boot lover; I’m a low hiker aficionado, so I just kind of tolerate walking during the winter in boots; it’s a necessary evil. Low hikers are the way to go for the dry season and my shoe shelves prove it. I can’t get enough low hikers. I say “two days ago” because it snowed six inches at my place the other night so now things are a mess. Not low hiker season yet. Bah.
I admit that due to my gear maven status, I have taken to eagerly awaiting the newest and fanciest of technologies every time a box arrives at my doorstep. I expect things like carbon fiber, unheard-of exoframes, super light, super fast, superevenlighter and superevenfaster every time I break out the box cutter. So when these Tecnica low hikers arrived, I was at first underwhelmed. Brown color scheme, thick sole, kind of remedial looking. No carbon anywhere. I expected the thick sole because the reps had explained to me at OR that Tecnica was going the opposite direction from the “barefoot” craze, which I like because I think the barefoot thing is bunk. To each her own, but come on – we spend millenia developing footwear because being barefoot all the time sucks, and then at the height of our industrial capabilities we decide “oh, no, better the other way, we think”? Sigh. Well, if it works for you, excellent; but for me, I need my shoes and I don’t care who knows it. So I was keen to go with shoes that weren’t even trying to be “barefoot”. After all, how would I ever test barefoot shoes? Finding a way to test shoes that are pretty much built to cause pain is a challenge to say the least. Good thing I didn’t have to do that – Tecnica had my back.
But if there’s one thing I can do, is find a way to test low hikers. I wear them for almost everything. So, on they went for a dog walk in the ‘hood. Now, as you may know, for me a “dog walk in the ‘hood” usually means at least a three hour jaunt up a mountain or a ridge, depending on my particular current ‘hood. These days, it’s a ridge route, with a mile-long flat warmup, a 3/4 mile supersteep climb, a up-and-down crest walk, then a route reversal. There’s something for everyone; mud, slickrock, ice, snow – typical dog-walk material.
Well, I’m not big into suspense so I’ll just cut to the chase. By the time I completed two “dog walks” in the Cyclones, they were my low hikers of choice. I just love them. They’re not fancy or special looking, per se, but they are solid, fit well, are comfortable, and shed mud, snow, and moisture. I like sole support as I have high arches and am prone to impact-related injuries, so the cushy yet supportive Cyclones were fantastic. I was very sad to have to put them away for the winter but when I find something I like, I get all strange about actually using it. I only want to take it out for special occasions and I try not to get it too dirty and muddy so that it will last longer. Stupid, I know. But sometimes I can tell how much I like an item by how much I don’t use it, and since mud season has hit with a vengeance I have left the Cyclones on the shelf. I’m sure this is not what Tecnica had in mind, as half the reason PR folks send out samples is to get them out there and “seen,” but if they really want me to wear them all year they should do something about the weather. Mud is bad for shoes. I want these babies to last! You know, Tecnica, you could just decide to send me new ones every year…I mean, just an idea…
