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

[gabriellesca]

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.

[pll]

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.

[Orange utopia]

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.

[Owlie]

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.

[ny biker]

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.

[NbyNW]

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!

[gnat23]

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)

[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.