I'm a full member of the club!

First fall-over with the clipless pedals. Because I am a stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid woman! Ever since I went clipless 2 months ago, I have made it a habit to unclip the left foot, always, always, always!! I thought repetition would be the best way to avoid the fall. Well, I approached an intersection tonight, unclipped the right because the curb was so high that I thought I'd balance on the curb. Guess what? My weigh must have still shifted left even though I unclipped right, and over I went. BAM!! To you new clipless users out there, I must tell you it's just like all my friends have been telling me -- it's not that bad when you fall over. It's not nearly as bad as falling when your bike is moving.

Anyway, I feel like this makes me a REAL road rider! :D I have arrived!

You know, I keep thinking that one of these days I have to get bigger and learn to unclip the other foot first, but everytime I'm going to do it, I chicken out. I figure it's handy for me to always unclip the right because that's where the curbs are.

I'm curious, though. How many on here are right unclippers and how many are left? I don't want to hear about any of you ambidextrous unclippers because it will just make me feel bad that I can't do it.:p

I always unclip the right. I'm left-handed, and the left stays on the bike to control the bike.

I never use curbs to hold myself up. Heck, I can't even walk and chew gum at the same time, so don't look at me to manage to stop and put my foot on a curb!

Quint! I am so proud of you! Now that you have the fall finally behind you, there shall be no more! ;) (Let me know if saying it actually works).

And FWIW, when I do ride clipless (which hasn't been lately because they give new meaning to the word "gravity" for me) I unclip the left side first always - and I am right handed.

Because of all the posts about the pedals I started to look consiously how I do it. I mean, I drive clipless for over 15 years now (yep since the very beginning that they created those things, I felt being clipped the old way was far more scarier), so I tend to forget how I use them.

I almost allways unclip the left foot, very rarely the right. When I hit a crossing with traffic lights I allways look for something to lean against so I do not have to unclip. Here in holland we got the special poles near the traffic light specially made for bikers to signal to the traffic control system that a biker is requested passage and they are at exactly the right hight to lean against.

WOW! I had no idea Holland had special poles for bikes, and they allow you to request permission to proceed? Talk about a pro-biking community. And here I was last night wishing the town would sweep the trash out of the breakdown lane so I could ride without gettng hurt! :rolleyes:

I unclip right because my right foot is a little smarter than my left. :p I also prefer the feeling of leaning AWAY from traffic. I did my first clipless fall in the parking lot of the Velodrome as all the Sunday rides were organizing. I had practiced in the cemetary next door so only the dead would laugh. But no, the gods scheduled my fall in front of as many riders as possible. The gods think they are funny.

Just make sure you "tuck" when you go down. I got hurt because my knee stuck herself out to help.

Yes, with the pole you can request passing. If you look good at the picture you will also see the markings of a pressure loop below the bike. This loops also detects that a bike is standing in front of the traffic light. The orange part of the road is the 'bicycle lane' indicator, so a special lane exclusive for cyclists. Holland is very pro-biking, it almost has to be, there are so many cyclists here. It is for most people the most used means of transport in the towns and almost all children learn to ride a bike from about the age of 4.

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Originally Posted by Mimosa

The orange part of the road is the 'bicycle lane' indicator, so a special lane exclusive for cyclists. Holland is very pro-biking, it almost has to be, there are so many cyclists here.

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Almost makes me want to move! You're so fortunate to live where cycling is so respected, Mimosa!

By the way, I still ride with old-fashioned toeclips--yes, I know, I know, I've gotta enter the 21st century one of these days. But I just want to add that I've always disengaged my right foot when I stop--not sure why, it just seemed natural to me, from the time I started using clips.

I unclip left.
;)

Congrats Quint41

especially for not getting injured - I think there is a lot of truth to the fact that most falls occur going less than 5 mph and are more "tip overs"

I am a left out first person because I am left foot dominant

to check to see which foot is dominant stand w/ feet together w/ your back to someone and have them come up and give you a solid 2 hand push in the center of your back. Which ever foot comes out first to catch yourself is your dominant foot (believe it or not this comes from some legitimate brain research)

I always unclip left first: I always mount and unmount the bike from the left, so the left foot is always the last to leave the ground and the first back down, so I always unclip left first.

Funny! See, the "clipless topple" really isn't so bad!

I almost always unclip left, because I am right-side-dominant. So the right foot remains clipped in, with the pedal up, so that when the light changes, I can just stand up onto the right foot and push down with some power, which gets me rolling as quickly as possible.

Quint,

Congratulations on getting your fall over with.. :)

I cannot recall who asked, but for the record, I unclip left.

Im still in toe clips ,but always stop with my right foot, I leave my left foot tight in the strap. I will go clipless when I get my road bike in March. Ill probably unclip the same foot. Im right handed.

Left foot unclipped first. I'm right-handed.

congrats and welcome to the club!

i usually unclip left, unless i have to unclip right. but left is the one i don't think about unclipping, it just happens.

Wow, I am really in the minority here. I am right handed but always unclip RIGHT. I do like that that makes the lean before stopping against traffic, but I don't know if I consciously learned to do it that way for that reason. I think, actually, that my DH taught me to use clipless years ago, and that's the way he did it, so that's just the way I learned. He is also right handed, btw. It feels totally foreign to even imagine doing it the other way, but now that I am mountain biking more than road riding, I've been told I really do need to get comfortable unclipping on either side. There is even a skill when going around a tight turn/switchback to unclip the inner foot, put it down and kinda pivot the bike around the turn if you can't make it without putting a foot down. I can kinda do this on a right turn since that's the side I unclip on, but haven't dared to try it on a tight left yet.

Emily

I unclip left and am right handed. It works for me and I have no desire to worry about learning to unclip right. Maybe when that's the only thing left on my 'stuff to learn about cycling list' I will... :rolleyes:

I'm right handed and unclip on the right. When I first went with clips (clipless) it really made me notice that my left leg was kinda lazy; my right leg was doing most of the work when it was all about simply pushing down. There was no way I was going to trust my left foot to get the job done. Now that I'm clipless, both legs are working equally, but I don't think I would ever change.

I unclip my right foot most of the time. I am right-handed, but left foot dominate. My left leg is stronger and I get a better push when the light turns green. My right foot is better at flipping the pedal to clip in, so it works for me!

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Originally Posted by Mimosa

Holland is very pro-biking, it almost has to be, there are so many cyclists here.

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I think the two go hand-in-hand ... if there were bike lanes everywhere in America, and they were maintained properly, and there were aids to help us at intersections, etc., I have no doubt you'd see many more people using bikes as their major means of transportation.

My town takes great pride in it's paved bike path, which runs through town in three directions. The afternoon that I tipped, I had ridden out on the road, but decided to take the path home as I hadn't been on it in a while. What a MISTAKE! It was covered with leaves, acorns, twigs, sand, puddles ... it was an absolute mess! I crawled down that path very carefully on my slicks until it intersected the road again, and immediately got off. I was on another section of the path a month or so ago, and it was just covered with grass growing from cracks in the pavement; it was like riding on a washboard. So, we have motorists who grumble that the bicyclists are always on the road when they "should be" on the paths. Obviously, the complainers don't ride and have no idea what condition the paths are in.

I live 10 miles from work. I would love to ride to work. To do so, I would ride part of the way on the washboard path, which ends at a very busy four-lane heavily-developed street, which then intersects with another heavily-developed four lane local highway, which then crosses the river on a newly developed pedestrian walk, which then snakes through downtown Hartford with all the commuters racing into work. I might need body armor for the journey.

OK, OK, I'LL GET OFF MY SOAPBOX NOW ..... :eek:

By the way, MDHillSlug -- I love your avitar!!! :)

One last thought (I promise) ... who's the smarty pants who decided to call these things CLIPLESS pedals?? Have you tried to explain the technology to anyone lately? "Well, there are special shoes with cleats under the ball of your foot, and those cleats CLIP INTO THE PEDALS. They are called CLIPLESS pedals." Huh??

Only because this is a WOMEN'S forum and I'm SURE there are no men reading, I'll suggest this ... did a GUY decided to call them clipless??

OK, I'm sorry in advance! I love men, too. :D

Oh I'm sure it was a guy thing.

Most definately.

you know i always wondered the same thing quint

When I bought my clipless pedals and shoes (i.e., without toe clips!), I was taught to unclip left and push down on the pedal from one o'clock position with my right (stronger) leg. This makes a big difference in our group social rides as I can get a good straight push with my right leg and can get going, wobble-free, on a straight line.

I saw one of our group stop and lean against a curb with her right foot. When she took off she was dangerously against the curb, with the gutter trash, etc. When she moved away from the curb she almost caused a major wreck by running into all the riders on her left who were keeping their lines :mad: . Lesson for me: stop where I want to be starting from especially when riding with someone else.

Saw lady go down due to clipless incident on Thursday night. Her friends on both sides were able to catch her and help break her fall. Would rather go down like that than some other ways I know of!

I'm right-handed, right leg is my stronger, dominant leg, so I unclip left, so right foot is ready to push off.

But, I've got a question. I get really bad rookie marks - chain ring tattoos on my calf. I've always attributed it to the way I unclip. When I'm stopped, I lean my bike against that calf to keep it from rolling, and thus, I get tagged. Is this just my own problem, or is this common to everyone who unclips left?

I love my tatto marks PW! But then, I AM a rookie!!! Especially since I found out eye make-up remover takes the grease off, presto. Since I don't wear eye make-up I've finally found a use for the freebies I've collected over the years.

Only other way to stop the bike is hang onto the brake but you know that. I lean my bike against my right leg also.

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Originally Posted by quint41

By the way, MDHillSlug -- I love your avitar!!! :)

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Thanks! I wish I could take credit for it but I stole...er...found it out on the web.

Pedal Wench,

One day I noticed that my fellow riders always got chainring tattoos, but I never did. I couldn't figure out why, since I clip out right, and I'm much more of an amateur than my buddies.

Then it hit me. I rarely use my big ring. This means it's not greasy and doesn't leave a mark.

My solution for you is to keep the big ring clean!;)

I love the big ring! That's where I get all my speed! The guys I ride with always chastise me for riding on the big ring. It's not like I do it excessively, but I'm very confortable there on the flat. If I'm more comfortable and not taxing myself or the bike on the big ring (and I get exhausted spinning on the flat like they do), why not use it? Why do they put a big ring on the bike if not to use!

The big ring is my friend. :p

I'm with you, Quint. The big ring is my friend too. (Which is also why I usually sport the tat)