Went clipless today.... first fall tonight

[Yen]

I finally decided to just pick some pedals and get on with this decision, so I chose the Shimano M520 SPD pedals. They were put on my bike today and I learned how to clip in/out on the trainer at the shop.

I practiced in the street tonight, back and forth in front of the house. I slowed to tell Hubby something as I passed, and forgot to unclip. Down I went, to the left, landing hard on my knee. My first real fall on the bike of any kind, and on my first day going clipless. This doesn't really raise my confidence, but I bounced up, laughed, checked out the scratches on the bike, the bruises on my legs, and rode off. Darkness was setting in and rescued me for the night.

I'm wondering if I should develop the habit of unclipping with my right foot instead of my left. I always remove my left foot and keep my right foot on the pedal, but I can see the safety advantage of falling to the right instead of the left. If a car had been passing on my left at the very moment I fell.........

Does anyone have some tips to make this quicker to learn -- in addition to practice, practice, practice?

[kirra77]

Hi Yen, When I first started on an SPD I felt once and vow that I will practice until I can unclip without even thinking. I bruised my knee cap and scraped a layer of skin.

The trick is to loosen up your spd clip. I found clipping and unclipping become easier as the cleat is more adaptive.

For one week when I first started on spd, i was clip only on one side. I practice unclipping on that side.

Now I have upgraded myself to speedplay cleats and thansk god I have not fallen. Don't give up!

[Yen]

Thanks, glad to know there's hope.

The tension is set quite low and I have no problem clipping out. I just forgot to unclip before I stopped to say something to my husband, and down I went. He said it looked slow-motion.... that's how it felt but I remember thinking, about halfway down, "oh no, my first fall!".

[alpinerabbit]

I always unclip with the same foot - I was told this early on and adopted, in my case right side, you choose.

[Tuckervill]

There are lots of different opinions on whether to always unclip on the same side or not. I try to think ahead and evaluate the situation and unclip on the side that's most feasible. I usually default to the right side, though, because I've always leaned the bike to the right when I was standing over it. Maybe it has something to do with being right-handed. Or, I usually mount from the left side, and I usually do a running start, which means my left pedal is my push-off pedal.

Even if I unclip left and lean that way, I'm still going to push off with my left pedal. That's just how I am.

That said, you can develop the ability to unclip on either side depending on conditions, and if you want to be ready for anything, you probably should. Until you have your confidence in the clipless system, you should do what makes the most sense to you, and then learn to adapt to the situation.

Everyone falls!

Karen

[Jacki O]

There are lots of different opinions on whether to always unclip on the same side or not.

My husband (un)clips with his right foot so that, if he falls, he's more likely to fall curbside. Conversely, another cycling buddy always (un)clips with his left side, making the point that you're more likely to fall to the clipped in foot - which, again, would be curbside.

I've always been a left foot clipper in & out-er; but, with the new bike I got 2 weeks ago, I'm trying to train myself to clip in/out with my right foot as my husband suggests - or at least be ambidextrous. And, you know what? With one exception, each time I've fallen in my cycling career, it's been to my LEFT, whether my left foot is the one clipped in or not.

I continue to overthink the entire clipping in and out process; but, I believe the moral here is to figure out what works for you and then be confident doing it, regardless of what works for other people. Good luck with your pedals, Yen, and know that you're not alone out there!

[ilima]

Another advantage to unclipping with the right foot is that most roads are canted for drainage and you'll often naturally fall to the right. When I first started and unclipped to the left, I would often find myself leaning right. I still mostly unclip with my left foot, but am better about balancing correctly. Only time I unclip with my right foot is if I am going to set my foot on the curb.

[Southside Sally]

I feel your pain, literally! I did the very same thing on my first ride on my first road bike.

When I finally got up the nerve to get back on the back (several months later) I rode it in my yard, clipping, unclipping, stopping and starting. I also ot into the habit of unclipping only on the right. I have put about 600 miles on this bike since April and haven't fallen once.

Keep practicing!

[JTchaser]

Talk to anybody that rides with clips and they all have their stories of falling. I remember years back one of my healthnut friends coming for coffee with scrapes all over her arms, face, and legs. She explained the injuries were from falling off her bike and almost getting ran over by a car and being so embarassed because of the large group of riders they were riding with at the time and how ticked she was at her hubby for making her use these stupid clip things! Never made sense to me because she couldn't ride the rest of the weekend and sat in the hotel while they all rode.

Fast-forward about 8 years, and now I've begun to ride and experienced a few falls, without serious injury, just merely some "war wounds." I talked to my friend's husband after about 2 falls because of my clips and recalled the story of her fall all those years ago...he was mortified at my perception of his abuse in the story and he explained it was completely his fault because he forgot to tell her she had to unclip ahead of time. He just looked at my hubby and wisely said, "Remind her to unclip ahead of time, especially when she's tired."

Sure enough, when we're close to home and I'm growing weary, my hubby will remind me to unclip when coming to the stoplights, and I'm thankful for those reminders sometime...but it's becoming more natural and more just part of the whole riding thing. Don't let it get ya' down...you will fall, everybody does! Personally, I got a really cute pair of shoes out of my hubby after one of my last falls because he felt sorry for me!