Ha- I had my clipless fall

[spotlightmama]

My dear sweet grandma was kind enough to come watch my girls while DH and I went out for a nice 30 mile ride. We went on a weekday morning, so the trail was almost completely empty.

We came to the end of the trail and stopped to take a sip of water and turn around. And then it happened. I was still clipped in on my left side and I started to tip. I started yanking and yanking...I guess my brain isn't trained enough yet, because I crashed hard. My whole bike fell on top of me and I was still clipped in.

Of course, even though we had barely seen another soul up until that point, there had to be another cyclist turning around at the exact same moment. I fell right on my elbow and got a decent cause of road rash all along my arm and bloodied up my elbow and foot. I was cracking up and was so embarrassed. I still couldn't even get my foot out to get up.

I almost fell at a stoplight last week and thought that was "my fall." Let's hope this is the real one and I can move on.

[Zen]

I had a similar experience recently but didn't get quite as beat up as you did!

Whaddayagonnado? You get up, rub some dirt in it, and ride on

[littlegrasshopp]

I did the same thing on my very first road bike ride. i wasn't even 1 mile from home. I'd been practicing clipping in and out on a trainer and it all seemed so easy....I took my brand new bike on the road..took a few peddle strokes and then tried to stop and unclip. I beat myself up with the bike seat!! I also tore the seat on the ground and ripped up my bar tape. I didn't get rash, just big black bruises from the bike seat all over my rear end!!

Hope you heal quickly!

[mimitabby]

yikes! loosen up those things! your feet should be able to come out with a lot more ease than that!

[Zen]

Mine don't have a tension adjustment, I needed super big shims put in.

[spotlightmama]

lol - yeah, as least DH thinks I'm pretty tough now. I was all covered with dirt and gravel. I must have laughed for the next two miles thinking about the fact that someone had to ride up at the exact wrong moment. Of course it couldn't have been just us!

I was pulling up, not to the side. When I sort of flick my foot out, they come off pretty easy. I just couldn't communicate to my foot to pull to the side in time. I kept just trying to pull my foot up. Do you still think that means they are too tight? I don't even know if I can adjust the tension - I guess I should figure that out.

[littlegrasshopp]

some pedals have tension adjustment, but some don't. What kind do you have? I ride Spd's from my mountain bike. I like them so much, I decided to just stick wit those for my road bike too. I use to have speed plays but I had a lot of learning curve issues with those. The SPD's were a hit for me though! I was able to make them really loose while I got my instincts use to the movement (like you mentioned) - then tightened them once I was comfortable.

[Jallora]

Yep! I had my first fall too. It was also on a nice 30 mile ride. At about the halfway point, we were coming to a stop. I unclipped my left foot before we completely got there, but I didn't pull my toe all the way out. When I actually came to a complete stop, my brain also seemed to come to a complete stop. I tried to put my foot down, but the front part of the clip wasn't quite all the way out. My brain came out of it's freeze enough for me to slide my clip all the way out as I was hitting the ground. And yes, there had to be someone else there to witness it besides me and DH. And that person wasn't a bike person, so they just seemed to think some idiot didn't think to put their foot down. Luckily I hit the ground pretty easily. My pride was the only thing that took any serious damage. My DH has now nicknamed me Crash though.

[malkin]

As the 50+ folks over on bike forums would say,
"Welcome to Club Tombay!"

[ttaylor508]

Until you are totally comfortable with the pedals, unclip both feet when you anticipate a stop. Eventually you will be able to just unclip one and not loose your balance.

[bluebug32]

I learned to ride clipless on a mtb. I'll rather fall in the woods than on the road any day! Not that I didn't have lots of bruises...

[queenridingbee]

I second ttaylor's advice. Through many falls, I started clipping out 1 foot in case I needed to stop. My problem was that I'd always then try to set down the clipped *in* foot instead of the clipped out foot and fell anyway. Two weeks ago it dawned on me to clip out *both* feet until I'm more skilled.

Q

[coyote]

yup, been there and done that. I've been using spd's for about a year now. For some unknown reason, I just fall over sometimes. I probably should just unclip both feet but I guess I like living on the edge

Welcome to the club

[Miranda]

Everyone has done it at some point. I would compare it to a Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny cartoon that had the coyote in it... slow motion, hanging mid air off the cliff edge, then falls.

My worst crash I was looking mighty fine wearing a brand new jersey and shoes on the road. That fineness went into a gravel drainage ditch. Luckily not into traffic. The car that pulled up next to me at the stop sign called out the window, "Hey! Are you ok? Is something hurt?" Nice motorist. I replied, "the thing that hurts the worst is my pride... thx for your concern".

The crash was fueled by new cleats. I was an indoor spinner first, and had been used to clipping in with mtb shoes and *multiple* release spd (SM SH-55). Bought some SIDI road shoes at lbs. They put on spd cleats, but I knew something was different. They were *single* release (SM-SH51). My road bike came with mtb pedals, dual sided spd M505s. Things fit "in" the same, but NOT "out". I traded them back out for multiple release and all is well.

My pedals do have a tension adjustment. They are set soft. That, plus the cleat multiple function, very easy to get in and out. Just be weary of hard hill climbs. If you twist your foot too much certain directions, they might unclip. Knock on wood, never had that happen to date.

[Dog]

Ha! My first fall (from not clipping out) was at the first rest stop of the STP (Seattle to Portland ride). I fell right as I pulled in - more embarrassed then hurt. The next time I fell was at the Clinton ferry waiting area - in front of about 50 motorcyles riders - good entertainment for them. I've never gotten to fall without an audience!