The thing about being a new rider...

[trista]

Is the bruises !!!!

From waist down I am covered in bruises. Holy cow! I look like I've started a tackle football team. Just when I got rid of the bruises from my first fall (aka first ride with clipless pedals), I fell AGAIN because I leaned to the wrong side at a red light . Of course there were a MILLION cars in the intersection. They probably thought I was drunk or something the way I collapsed from a standstill.

Not to mention the leg bruises from near-falls and near-misses. I even have a bruise right on my butt! Highly uncomfortable....

I hope I get a little more graceful with experience, LOL.

[Cataboo]

I dunno. I'm still covered in bruises. but maybe my kayak gave them to me.

[TxDoc]

I hope I get a little more graceful with experience, LOL.

Not sure about how graceful it gets but 30+ years of cycling here, and still sometimes I crash...

[blumensh]

You guys are scaring me! I've been been terrified of when my first crash is going to come. A friend was out riding a few weeks ago with a neighbor who was getting in her last ride before a triathlon and she ended up hitting a groundhog She went flying over the handlebars and ended up with a separated shoulder...and he tells me this the day I buy my bike. Now every time I go out I'm looking for ground hogs!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Blumensh, don't get freaked.
I've been riding for 4 or 5 years now, over 7000 miles I estimate, and I've never gotten a bruise from a fall. In fact, I've only fallen once so far- one rather gentle tipover in an empty parking lot while practicing the first few weeks on my new bike. (I realize i may be jinxing myself now)
I ride in busy traffic in town with multi-lane intersections, long rides on major highways, to the stores in town on errands, and on back country dirt roads- the whole gamut.
From reading this forum over several years, I know my not using clipless has a lot to do with my not having fallen. Of course here's a difference between crashing into something or being hit by another bike or a car, and your everyday clipless tip-over falls. Sometimes there is nothing we can do to avoid a crash, but I've been lucky in that respect.
As to clipless, personally I would be terrified by falling when I come to a stop while riding in traffic with cars all around me. If I ever go to clipless pedals I will put a LOT of practice in first in empty parking lots, on grass, or on barren roads -even if I had to drive to get to a good spot to practice. A lot of practice before I ever would go into traffic with them.
Clipless is a personal decision. I think clipless makes little sense when you do a lot of in-traffic riding with frequent stopping or riding in limited visibility conditions (unexpected sudden stops), and more sense when you do competitive speed riding or long open road rides with few stops. Just my rambling thoughts...

[blumensh]

Blumensh, don't get freaked.
I've been riding for 4 or 5 years now, over 7000 miles I estimate, and I've never gotten a bruise from a fall. In fact, I've only fallen once so far- one rather gentle tipover in an empty parking lot while practicing the first few weeks on my new bike. (I realize i may be jinxing myself now)
I ride in busy traffic in town with multi-lane intersections, long rides on major highways, to the stores in town on errands, and on back country dirt roads- the whole gamut.
From reading this forum over several years, I know my not using clipless has a lot to do with my not having fallen. Of course here's a difference between crashing into something or being hit by another bike or a car, and your everyday clipless tip-over falls. Sometimes there is nothing we can do to avoid a crash, but I've been lucky in that respect.
As to clipless, personally I would be terrified by falling when I come to a stop while riding in traffic with cars all around me. If I ever go to clipless pedals I will put a LOT of practice in first in empty parking lots, on grass, or on barren roads -even if I had to drive to get to a good spot to practice. A lot of practice before I ever would go into traffic with them.
Clipless is a personal decision. I think clipless makes little sense when you do a lot of in-traffic riding with frequent stopping or riding in limited visibility conditions (unexpected sudden stops), and more sense when you do competitive speed riding or long open road rides with few stops. Just my rambling thoughts...

That does make me feel better. Right now I'm using cages. I thought I'd give myself some time to get used to cycling in general and then add the clips. I have a steep enough learning curve as it is (I signed up for a Triathlon on 8/22).

[Crankin]

I've had some bruises, but hey, that's what I expected. None of them were from clipless falls, of which I had one, awhile after I started using them. Most of them were because of my own lack of skill, resulting in a crash. None of them were from crashing into an object or car (just the road). My most spectacular was when I was in Austria and I had to navigate a curb cut on a narrow turn. I was not accurate in getting back on the path and I went down a ravine, but I must say I was laughing all of the way. I knew I wasn't hurt, so I sort of just enjoyed the tumbling. Got a few scratches from thorns and some road rash on my arm. A quick squirt of the water bottle and my Neosporin that I always have in my bag saved the day. I was more concerned with getting dirt in my Speedplay pedals when I walked out.

[Blue_Fedora]

I stayed with cages for a long while... and at first had a few tumbles with them due to my inability to get the timing right when it came to getting out.

I just switched to clipless in May and did very well on the trainer... and very well in the cul-de-sac near our home... and very well in a flat section of off-street bike path. I had good confidence after all that Then I took the bike out on a real street during the early morning weekend hours and did very well there... UNTIL... until on the return journey I had to navigate a particularly hairy (to me) section of road where there was oncoming traffic (though in honesty the traffic was quite a bit away). Mentally it was too much to handle the traffic, the road, the clipping out... and that was the end of it. Tremendous tumble that resulted in my left knee being terribly torn up and road rash across my left butt-cheek. I finally got myself together and resumed heading back to where my car was parked. Then at a complete standstill with the left side clipped out beautiful and just standing there, I just lost my concentration and leaned to the right and that was all she wrote. I experienced the longest tumble ever... it amazed me how long it took between my "oh crap, I'm falling over" thought and the actual hitting of the ground. Felt. Like. Forever. LOL! So from that one day I was torn up on both sides.

Mentally that messed me up and since then I've only been able to use clipless in the cul-de-sac. DH said it would be damaging to the cranks to keep putting on and taking off the clipless pedals so I have returned back to cages... and I'm very mad at myself. I don't know how I'll ever get back to riding clipless again since it's a mind-thing at this point and sometimes that's the hardest (for me) to overcome

Cycling should be enjoyable in my opinion. When it's not and it's too stressful because of the clipless pedals, I won't ride. I love to ride so for now I'm back in the cages and very disappointed in myself.

Bruises will heal, be patient with yourself and continue to enjoy cycling

[shootingstar]

I have fallen off the bike 3 times since I returned cycling in 1992. 2 of those times were because of black ice in the winter.

And I average approx. 3,000- 7,000 kms. yearly for cycling. Last year it was over 7,000 kms. I haven't lived in household with a car since 1980 so cycling is transportation, fitness and vacation travel method in a heavy way. I'm not a mountain biker either. Most of my cycling all these years are on paved roads, paths and or hard-packed dirt/fine gravel surfaces.

If it's just cycling around the city on shorter trips with many intersections stops, heavy traffic and pedestrians crossing roads, then clipless may not always be practical daily.

But then I'm not a clipless person.

You know, I just came from spending vacation time 6 days in Copenhagen where there is the highest rate of daily cyclists in the world....tons of women...and alot who aren't cycling clipless.

[TxDoc]

Hi Lisa -
actually clipless pedals are much safer than toe-clips or platform pedals, quicker and easier to release and reduce the possibility of sprains and fractures. However, the bulk of bike crashes, at least among the people I ride with, are due to fast sprints on uneven roads or slippery corners which you sometimes find on race courses, or (fortunately less frequently) to a close encounter with a 4-wheeled vehicle while training...

[ginaleah]

You're not alone. The only time I have ever fallen on my bike was when I was stopped at a red light at a huge intersection with my lead foot unclipped and the other one clipped in. It happened in slow motion but I landed HARD on my knee and still have a little trouble with it. It's a really unglamorous way to get injured, isn't it?

[JennK13]

I'm a klutz, so I'm no stranger to falling. I fell on my brand new bike the day I bought it, in the parking lot of the LBS as I planned to ride home on her. Couldn't unclip the road pedals and fell. I fell 3 more times in the those pedals because I just couldn't get loose, so I took it back and switched to SPDs. I still sometimes forget to unclip and fall over, always in slow motion.
I also went down pretty hard going under a bridge crossing after storm. It was shaded by trees on each end and dark as it's an under pass. I didn't see the mud slick that covered the trail from one side of the underpass to the other. The trail turns and drops down into the underpass, and I was doing around 25 mph when I hit the mud and slid for literally 30 feet - it was like a slip and slide. I was covered head to toe in a thick layer of black, slimey mud, 6 miles from home. At least it was the last 6 miles of my 30 mile ride! Fortunately, the mud "broke" my fall, so other than being a little bruised on my elbow from hitting the ground, I didn't have any road rash. DH had to get the hose out and hose me down once I got home, peeling off the mud.
I have campus pedals on my commuter - SPD on one side, flats on the other. I also wear moutain biking shoes when commuting so I have more grip on the foot than my road shoes offer when I do step down. I also don't have to worry about missing my cleat when starting off because I have a flat base either way and can go. Makes it a lot more comforting.

[marni]

I manage to bash myself somewhere on my legs or arms every time I ride without falling whether from failure to unclip or hitting or running into something. I have had my share of stupid failure to unclip or leaning the wrong way, invariably in full view of an intersection full of traffic, or a parking lot with everyone sitting in their cars. I am a natural klutz with a very scattered attention span at times.

That being said, I love my bmx clips and my double sided pedals, because on long rides I can shift to free riding and move my foot around, and I can walk normally since the cleats are recessed in both my biking shoes and my biking sandals.

Do what makes you happy, keeps you comfortable and safe.