Ok - so let's talk about clipping out going up hill

Since it was raised and I mentioned it again on my 'fear' thread - based on seeing a rider fall into a car while we were riding once because she couldn't unclip going so slowly up hill --- what advice to the experts have?

How the heck do you unclip so you can stop, when you're going up a steep hill so slowly?

At this point if I came to a hill that I wasn't positive I could get up I would most likely stop and walk my bike up it. But what if I'm half way up before I realize it? What if there is alot of traffic? Oy vey - just made myself scared all over again. ;)

I find it harder to stop going downhill, since the shoes with road clips like to slide.... Stopping uphill is one motion as you unclip and lean towards the leg you are unclipping. The hill stops you. Given how few inclines there are around here (Chicago area), I used to be petrified of this very issue when I first started and would ride uphill with one foot unclipped. No longer the case. However, starting and clipping in uphill is much tougher in some of the short but steep hills in the Madison, WI, area.

This used to be a fear of mine. I still get a tad nervous when I am on a really really steep hill but so far I have found that I have been able to unclip if I needed to, even going up hill. The more I have been riding the less and less this has concerned me. Both because I am getting better at the hills and on the few occasions when I have had to unclip going up I have been able to.

Once I was riding up a particularly hard hill and a guy jumped out from behind a bush and yelled "hi!" at me. I thought I was being assaulted, turns out he was mentally disabled and not dangerous. Anyway, I screamed and lost momentum. I had a close call but didn't fall and was able to unclip. I did have to walk the rest of the hill but I figured that if i didn't fall during that and could get unclipped then I would be able to unclip under most other circumstances.

I saw this tip in another thread on here, and it makes sense to me:

If you've got room, turn the bike slightly so that whichever foot you clip out with is further up the hill. (So if you clip out with your right foot, nudge the bike left.) Then you can clip out and aren't so likely to fall.

I just keep pedaling. There are some crazy steep hills around here but I've always managed to make it to the top. I just shift to my lowest gear and reduce my cadence as much as necessary and keep pedaling. I might be going 3 mph, but I make it.

I had exactly this type of fall when I first started with clips, didn't realize it was a big fear because I never considered the possibility!

It was more embarrassing than painful, as I was sticking to low-traffic streets at the time. A lady driving by asked if I needed help (I was stuck with my bike on top of me), but I managed to get out on my own.

My advice is, as you get more experienced you'll have a better idea of what you can handle. And sometimes the solution will be to walk up. Other times, you'll stair-climb your way up that hill.

Good luck!

If you can anticipate when you need to clip out a bit:

Give it one or two more solid powerful strokes, then use the split-second coast to unclip safely.

Or if there's no traffic, turn left (perpendicular) to the hill so that you're sort of flat. Unclip on the high side.

-- gnat! (who unclips sooner rather than too late, YMMV)

Okay - sorry to be totally dumb about this - but I don't understand unclipping on the higher side - which I think is what two of you guys have said. If you turn the bike more perpendicular, wouldn't you unclip on the side that you're going to put your foot down on and that probably would be the lower side - don't you want the bike to tilt down since the moment will be facing down.

Now I've confused myself but for instance, I unclip with my left foot. So you're saying if I unclip with my left foot - I should turn to the right and try to unclip with my left? But now your bike it tilted more to the right - so you'd have to push it back to the left. confused?

Sorry - I'm so bad with direction like this.

Ok, I'm a total chicken. Whenever I come up to any situation I'm not real comfortable with I unclip Both feet!!! This way I don't have to worry about clipping out with the wrong foot (as my husband has done several times). Just a habit I got into in the beginning. (Read fear based). I use Eggbeater Candies and can ride unclipped just fine for short distances.

Maybe another type of peddle system would work better for you. Something you can clip out of easily and peddle on for short distances without being clipped.

Also, aren't we supposed to worry ourselves sick about everything???? You mean some females don't? Wow, it would be cool not to worry all the time!

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Originally Posted by gabriellesca

Okay - sorry to be totally dumb about this - but I don't understand unclipping on the higher side - which I think is what two of you guys have said. If you turn the bike more perpendicular, wouldn't you unclip on the side that you're going to put your foot down on and that probably would be the lower side - don't you want the bike to tilt down since the moment will be facing down.

Now I've confused myself but for instance, I unclip with my left foot. So you're saying if I unclip with my left foot - I should turn to the right and try to unclip with my left? But now your bike it tilted more to the right - so you'd have to push it back to the left. confused?

Sorry - I'm so bad with direction like this.

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If you unclip with your left foot, you steer the bike to the right slightly. Your bike at this point will still be upright. Unclip your left foot, then lean and stop like normal. You're creating an angle between your direction of travel and the road's. This way, the distance between the pedal and the ground is shortest. The other, more important reason for doing this (especially if you have slippery road shoes) is that if you unclip on the low side, the distance between the pedal and the road is greater, and you're more likely to fall. (This is where I need a diagram with stick figures.)

This is my absolute BIGGEST fear when clipping in...only because it has HAPPENED to me on a hill, and it was quite terrifying!

I was in the Boyne/Petosky area in northern Michigan, and I had been so excited thinking about biking up there. I got out there, and it was hill after hill after HUGE hill. I thought I was going to DIE!! I was almost to the top of the last hill, I was in my granny gear, and I was clipped in. I swore I wouldn't make it, and I could NOT stop for anything, or my bike would be at a dead stop, and i would fall. I didn't care so much about getting hurt as much as I was worried about my bike getting damaged.

I think it was just knowing that I could damage my bike, and get hurt myself, that forced me to keep on pedaling. I had no idea where the strength came from, because my legs felt like jello. I got back to the house, and my boyfriend said "well, that was a quick ride!"

I told him it was the longest ride of my life!

I guess I do not get why this is so hard or such an issue, but if you are going uphill simply twist out on the upturn of the side you are unclipping out and then apply the breaks to stop the bike. Are your clips really tight? Even then I do not see the problem. Clipping in and out is really easy. I was a nervous my first time, but then I realized I got all worked up for nothing.

I toppled over a few times, not for a few years now, but I've done it. The grade got too steep for me, so the effort was put into trying to keep upright and pedal, so no time to unclip a foot, and over I toppled. If it is a normal type of steep climb, like a 10% grade, and I am just wanting to stop to rest I can unclip and plant a foot. It is when I am climbing on a road new-to-me, I go around a curve and the road turns into a 20% grade, I can't see the summit, and my legs just give out. When I am climbing in an area new to me, I've learned to eyeball ahead for drives on the right, even if gravel or rutted, because I can turn into a drive and unclip if the grade becomes a long 20%.

It happens every year that I get on to some road with crazy steep grades, unexpected and unplanned. It happened to me within the past few months on a group training ride, there was a road closure on the route and the group leader did his best to reroute us, but I ended up doing a long steep climb with grades up to 18%, curves in the road, kept thinking the summit was close and the grade finally went down to 10% and oh what a relief, and on an ordinary day I think of 10% as steep. I looked at the route in Map later and Map said it was a Cat 2 climb, which I totally believe.

So yes, I understand your fear. If you know the route, you can map it ahead of time in ridewithgps.com, and if you run the cursor over the route line the site will give you a grade, which many cyclists believe to be on the low side, but it is a good estimate if you add a couple of points to be on the safe side, like if Ride says 6% then maybe assume 9%. You can map the route in Map and get more climb data. If you think a hill might be too steep by looking at the route ahead of time, note at what mile it starts, and when you get there make a decision at the bottom whether to try to pedal it or walk it. But if you are on an unknown road for the first time and the grade is too steep for you, look ahead and try to see a drive on the right, and keep going until you reach the drive, turn into the drive and unclip and just sit there for awhile, drinking and eating until you recover. Walk the rest of the hill.

As I said in the previous 'fear' thread this is my main concern.

Its hard not to panic if you can't get your foot out on the first first try.....
When this happens I just concentrate on getting up the hill. The fear of falling over usally gets me to the top :(

This is one reason I chose to go with mountain bike pedals for my road riding though I use platform pedals on my mountain bike for now. I was surprised how many mountain bike shoes had hard plastic soles, but found a pair of Mavic women's mtn bike shoes with rubber lugs that are a little grippy. These will NOT slip on pavement, unlike my Bontragers that have been relegated to spinning class only.

I must admit this is a fear of mind as well, though there is only one hill in my area that causes me this concern. For now I avoid that hill - though at some point this summer I will tackle it. I've only been able to actually ride it once, though I've walked it quite a few times. It is quite short, only a third of a mile long, but quite steep. I am pretty sure I would just topple over, but one of these days I will brave it. There is another hill that is much longer that I want to ride clipped in first...

I more or less do what Gnat and Darcy have suggested. If you anticipate having to stop, even if just for a couple of pedal strokes, you can usually unclip and stop safely. I'd give on other piece of advice. If you are riding with other people, announce that you're going to stop and try not to stop in someone else's path.

@Catrin: I think I know the hill you're talking about. Get out there, girl! You're stronger, the Gunnar is lighter, and you have some super easy gears. There's no reason that you won't be able to make it to the top. Have some confidence! :)

I have the same problem unclipping while riding up very steep hills on my mountain bike. (I don't ride many steep hills on the roadie.) For those who haven't experienced this, here are some of the issues:

• Pushing so hard to maintain enough momentum to avoid tipping over that we don't have even a micro-second to slow the pedals enough to unclip
• It's tough to reestablish contact with the pedal in the micro-second after unclipping to maintain enough momentum to slow & stop the bike.
• Sometimes my legs are so tired that I've lost the coordination to unclip on the first attempt. Even one unsuccessful attempt is enough to slow the momentum enough to make me tip over.
• Riding a mountain bike uphill on single track doesn't allow for steering across the trail to unclip & stop.

This difficulty with unclipping on hills has prevented me from tackling a a very long, steep hill on my favorite trail. I've decided to attempt part of this hill on my next ride by lowering my saddle a bit & riding unclipped with the pedals centered under the arch of my foot / shoes. My plan is to continue riding parts of this hill until I develop enough strength to ride the whole thing. Once I'm stronger, I'll try riding it clipped in. This process could take me a year or more considering even my very strong husband sometimes can't make it all the way up this hill.

Thanks Owlie for explaining. I'm a visual person so a stick figure diagram would come in useful. But I get it now.

Smitty - I will, sometimes, unclip when I'm a bit far from a stop if its very congested and pedal a few strokes with my foot on the platform. But I can't really do this for more than one or two rotations. My clips are not that tight and I generally can get unclipped on the first try - though sometimes I need a second try.

Julie - I have also gone through this and amazed myself that the fear has pushed me up the hill, even at 3 mph. :)

Thanks everyone - REALLY appreciate the feedback. And as with anything in life, its always helpful to know you're not the only one fearful of something. I guess just something I need to work on.

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Originally Posted by indysteel

@Catrin: I think I know the hill you're talking about. Get out there, girl! You're stronger, the Gunnar is lighter, and you have some super easy gears. There's no reason that you won't be able to make it to the top. Have some confidence! :)

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The funny thing is I am absolutely fearless on BMX pedals, you would think it would be the other way around :rolleyes: Don't get me wrong, I do like my Frogs and they are super easy to get in/out of - but if it wasn't so obvious that my knees need to be clipped in...

It is only in this area that clipless makes me nervous, and not for most hills. Just those hills (really only one hill) that I've so much experience walking in the past...I just need to ride out there and beat that hill. The problem is it beats me before I ever see it. I HAVE ridden it once without walking, but haven't attempted it since my injuries started manifesting last fall...

Remember that it isn't the hill that one fears, but the steepness of the road. Every one of us has a grade that is too steep for us, that we can go up to a certain max grade for a specific max distance, and anything above that combination is too much and we can't bike the climb.

It helps if I can see the top of the climb. However a lot of climbs are miles long with curves in the road, and if I can't see ahead that the grade might be getting less steep, I will struggle. I know how steep I can get and for what distance, and so long as I am under those two numbers I will continue, but as I said, if the grade goes over 18% and I can't see the top of the climb, I will look for a place to turn into on the right, unclip, recover and walk if it is necessary.

If it is a planned ride, group or event, and I know there is a category 2 climb on the route I will drive the climb first to see where I can stop to recover. I've done enough climbing so that I know I am ok with biking categories 5, 4 and 3. Last month I did my first category 2 climb, which was 5.5 miles of climbing with grades of 9-13%, lesser grades were at 6%, and I really struggled. I now know that at this point in my life that a category 3 is my limit, that I can do a category 2 if necessary, and a category 1 is most likely impossible for me and I have no desire to even attempt a category 1. The descent on that category 2 I biked last month was just terrible, hated it more than the climbing. Earlier, male cyclists didn't make a curve on the steep 8-mile descent, crashed horrifically, and were transported out by life helicopter. As it was, one little pebble spun out from my tire with great velocity, hit my upper left thigh, and left me with a huge nasty bruise, just one little pebble did all of that damage. It made me think that I really have no desire to do a category 2 climb again if on the other side is an 8-mile steep descent that can potentially cause me injury or death. I will leave it to the alpha males.

I did drive the category 2 climb and descent first, saw where I could stop to recover and get started on the bike again. I used side roads and gravel drives to make my stops.

Hills where you can see the top are different because the distance is less, typically under one mile. Also, how steep of a grade a cyclist can climb will be unique to each cyclist because everyone has a different power/weight ratio, which means I will stop around 18-20%, others might stop at 11%, and real good climbers don't have a limit at lower altitides, but may suffer at higher altitudes.

This only happened to me once. It was a monster and by the time I realized I wouldn't be able to clip out, it was too late. The fear of falling got me over to top. Relax (drop shoulders), breath (seriously), pedal. Repeat.

Just get out there and do it. My fear used to be riding on the road and being hit from behind. I learned: 1) that's not the most common accident 2) take the lane instead of hugging the curb 3) Longer distances would only be possible if I took to the road

Well said, Darcy.

Only two things you didn't mention -

(1) Gearing. The same person with the same legs might be able to climb a hill with their 30x27 that they wouldn't be able to with the 42x21 low gear on the race bike they used to ride 25 years ago. Not anyone I know of course. :rolleyes: (Last week I spent a couple of hours shooting the sh*t with someone I used to ride with back in the day. I felt sooooooo much better when he broached the topic of the hills he couldn't climb with the gears we both used to run.... :p)

(2) You can pull off on the descents, too. Unclip, let your rims cool off and your adrenaline settle down, go back out.

It's all good. :)

It happened to me once too. I could not use that advice about turning so my clip out foot was in a good place because there were CARS there. I ended up getting as close to the curb as I could and just laying the bike down. There was a grassy strip so it was a happy painless ending to a scary climb!