How many times have you fallen?

[Koronin]

2ce. I've had clipless for about a year now. However the ones we have are clipless on one side and platform on the other side. I have no problems at all with the left foot unclipping if needed, the right foot is a whole other issue, and of course the right foot is the one I prefer to put on the ground first. After the 2nd fall, it was about 8 months before I even tried to ride at all with the right foot clipped in. Now I will ride with it clipped in to a point, but unclip it and flip the pedal over when I'm semi near where I many need to stop. I also don't clip either foot in until I've started pedaling. once I've got a bit of speed going I'll clip in the left foot and then decide if I'll bother clipping in the right foot or not. That's on the road bike. The mountain bike has platform pedals and I have no intention on ever putting clipless or cages on it.

[JuneHawk]

I've sorta fallen once and it was really embarrassing because I was standing around, not even riding and only had one foot clipped in. I lost my balance and tumbled. The bike fell but I managed to unclip right before it took me down with it. I got a nice bruise on my leg but that was about it. I've actually never fallen off my bike, fingers crossed!

[JuneHawk]

Beth, I had a few, early on. Usually it was because I was unclipped for a stop and accidentally clipped back in. Or, I generally unclip the left, but learned that if I am making a sharp slow turn to the right (parking lot situation) that I darn well better be unclipped on the right too!

A few things to consider...

Make sure the right really is your preferred unclipping side. When you do not have clips, which foot do you naturally put down first? I am right handed but always unclip left. I am an absolute klutz unclipping right first.

I constantly think ahead to any potential stops. At intersections, even in very rural areas where I rarely see a car, I unclip early and rest my foot on the pedal (making sure not to clip in by accident). If in the event I have trouble unclipping, I have plenty of time to react and do something different.

If clipping in and out is not easy and foolproof (the actual unclipping, not your balance or timing) then examine your pedal system. If I turn my heal out at any angle, it better unclip or something is wrong. I want a fool-proof pedal system that I have confidence in.

Rita

That's me. My fitter always bugs me about it because he says that it's more dangerous than unclipping right first. He says that if you unclip left, your body tends to lean to the left and if you fall, you will fall on the path of traffic. If you unclip right first and fall, you'll fall on the shoulder or sidewalk. Sorta makes sense but if I try to unclip right fist, which does not come naturally, I will most certainly fall, period.

[Grits]

Three times.
Once in the parking lot the first day I was practicing with my clipless pedals.
Once when leaving from a gravel parking lot. Tire skidded out, and I couldn't get unclipped fast enough.
Once when I had to stop abruptly when leaving a parking lot at the beginning of a ride.
A few other close calls, but was able to get out just in time.

[radacrider]

Don't really know my actual crash count - lol.

Most funny, memorable was when I was a kid and we decided to have a snowball fight on bikes. The first time I threw the momentum flipped the bike out from under me and I went down laughing.

The second most funny I was actually not riding, but was a passenger on the top tube of my friend's bike. We were riding around a parking lot, just for fun, and laughing about something and he was riding toward a parked car. Whatever we were laughing about must have shut down his brain because he could not decide which way to go around the car, so he crashed into it.

Now as an adult? Several.

A 30ish mph, downhiller - we suspect it was the new pavement overflow that left an angled 2" lip across the shoulder. Bike must have hit it and launched as the only thing I remember is going downhill, then waking up in a fetal position on the side of the road. Helmet was in 3 pieces.

One of the Seattle to Portland rides, 1st day, large group of riders and, fortunately, light traffic. My friends' group were passing a large group and I had someone on my left so I could not move left to avoid a rider on the right drifing left. She drifted into my front tire and down I went. Fortunately not a high speed and I only had a hip road rash (still have the souvenir mark, today).

A weird one where we had just done a long, hard training stretch and were going snail's pace to let everyone regroup. I reached for my water bottle and pooof, went down. Probably a lapse in concentration and the front tire hit something, though we never really figured it out.

Several silly ones like not wanting to unclip, reach for the power pole to lean against, but get tipping the other way ... plop. Going really, really slow and, again, tipping opposite the side I am unclipping on.

[sarahkonamojo]

On a road bike? Probably three times. One of them, I was nudged by DH and then he rode off! There have been some close calls.. i.e. after a short hike through some mud. Not a good idea.
On the mountain bike, too many times to count, and those clips are loose. I can only blame myself because i get nervous, slow down, and then tip over.
Bent the derailleur hanger a couple of times, too. My habit is to unclip the left foot first. So most falls are to the derailleur side. I would change that habit if I could.