My first fall

[nafula]

I had my first ever fall on Thursday night. I've got several big shiny purple bruises to prove it. I'm so proud.

I have been a little worried about whether my feet would pop out of the pedals when I fall, but I heard the click just before I hit the ground, so no more worries there.

[eclectic]

Congratulations Feels good to get it out of the way. Now you realize you can survive

Send a few more details, where, how fast, how big a crowd

Glad to hear it was nothing worse than some bruising and the clips worked as designed

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Hey I had MY first fall today!
Actually, I am really HAPPY about it! Why?....because after riding for two months, I have been getting paranoid about not having fallen yet, figuring the first one might be a doozy the longer it takes in coming.

So today I installed my PwoerGrip straps on my pedals, and went down to the safe empty parking lot to practice a bit. The very first time i braked to a stop I simply forgot what moves to coordinate and rather gently fell over on the right side that was still strapped in. But i had made sure to wear my gloves and the asphalt was new and very smooth, so it was a rather uneventful fallover, and no harm done. I practiced some more, realizing that actually I didn't need to stop much differently than I normally do! My brain had been trying to think of too many things at once, and the reality was way simpler than that.

Yay! I feel the "jinx" no longer threatens!!

Relieved, undamaged, and undaunted....

[Leonne]

I had my first fall the first day I brought my bike home and tried to go for a ride. I clipped into my pedals for the first time and put to much weight on the side I clipped into and just fell over. I got a nice scabby knee from it, but it is almost healed now

[spatlese]

It was my first ride and I was in an empty parking lot. Unclipped on my right side (right foot was at 6 o'clock) and left foot was still clipped in (leaving left foot at the 12 o'clock position). And when I went to put my right foot on the ground, I couldn't stand on my left foot and ended up falling on my left knee. Ended up with road rash on my left knee and a giant bruise in my inner left thigh where the bicycle fell. UGH!!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

You should have found a parking lot with nice fresh smooth CUSHY asphalt!

[KSH]

I had my first ever fall on Thursday night. I've got several big shiny purple bruises to prove it. I'm so proud.

I have been a little worried about whether my feet would pop out of the pedals when I fall, but I heard the click just before I hit the ground, so no more worries there.

Happy to hear you only ended up with battle scars that will go away!

I too was so scared that I wouldn't detach from the bike when I had a wreck... but somewhere along the way... our feet come off! Very interesting fact.

Now, go show off your bruises!

[roshelleuop]

I was also VERY surprised that my feet unclipped themselves when I fell this past weekend. It wasn't my first fall, but it was my first "bad" fall. Luckily I was only going about 10 mph, but I went over some railroad tracks that were not perpendicular with the road, so my tire slipped right into the track and threw me over the handlebars. I had nasty roadrash all along my left side and hit my head hard enough that I got to take a fun ambulance ride. One of the first things I asked myself was, "how the heck did I get unclipped?".

It happened so fast and I know for a fact I didn't do anything to get unclipped, so I'm proof that the impact will unclip you when needed. One of my biggest fears was that I'd break both ankles, and it's NOT TRUE!!!

But I will remind everyone - WEAR YOUR HELMET!!!!!!! The impact of the helmet on my head was bad enough, I couldn't even imagine if my head would have hit the cement directly. It saved my brain, skull, and if I was going any faster, it may have even saved my life!!!!

Roshelle from Milwaukee

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I've been reading The Art of Urban Cycling, and one chapter is about the deadliness of cross railroad tracks. It says that the ONLY safe way to cross them is at a total 90 degree angle to the tracks. If you cross them at an oblique angle, the gap next to the metal track WILL suck your tire into it and you will come to a dead stop with your wheel trapped, and you will fly over your bike. It says tracks are one of the worst fall causes, like getting your foot caught in a bear trap.
Be SURE to slow way down and angle your bike so you cross over the tracks exactly perpendicular to them- do NOT cross at an angle! It's even worse when the tracks are wet- wet smooth metal is more slippery than anything except smooth ice.

[xeney]

In my experience it does not have to be a perfect 90-degree angle, so I wouldn't stress yourself into a railroad tracks phobia or anything. (I say that because that is the sort of thing I would do with that information, get so paranoid about hitting at exactly 90 degrees that I became terrified of crossing tracks at all.) You don't want to cross at less than a 45-degree angle or the thing you just described will happen, but you have a fair bit of fudging room between 90 and 45 degrees.

It happened to me once, on light rail tracks. I didn't fall or fly over the handlebars, and in fact I just thought I had a flat. It was easy to get the bike out, but it was really embarrassing.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Well, after reading about it, I personally would never go over RRtracks at a 45 degree angle, especially when wet. I don't think one needs to obsess about calibrating an exact 90 degrees, but way better 85 than 50!
I guess the faster you are going the more likely you will be thrown when your wheel gets caught and you come to a dead halt. I like to take the safer alternative myself.

[massbikebabe]

Falls do not count in my house until you have:

1. Scraped the Sh!t out of some part of your body

2. Had an audience

3. Perserved the integrity of your bike while falling

4. Were able to laugh about yourself

5. Got right back on and rode that bike

karen
glad you are o.k. and able to tell us about your fall

[CorsairMac]

just as a "foot" note:

I was setting up a bike I'm selling ( me? selling a bike?) and I put the platform pedals back on for him. When I test rode the bike, as I was coming to a stop I realized I was twisting my sneakered (or trainered for the UK ladies) foot off the platform pedal. I guess my feet have muscle memory now! lol

[Cassandra_Cain]

just as a "foot" note:

I was setting up a bike I'm selling ( me? selling a bike?) and I put the platform pedals back on for him. When I test rode the bike, as I was coming to a stop I realized I was twisting my sneakered (or trainered for the UK ladies) foot off the platform pedal. I guess my feet have muscle memory now! lol

LOL - damn, wish I would have been at the stoplight next to you to see this. I'm sure more than a few people snickered. Better that than falling though

[leveerider]

Today was my first fall (and this is also my first posting on this forum). I was riding in a pace line at around 20mph. My front tire hit the back tire of the bike in front, and I went down hard on the asphalt. I've got road rash to the entire left side of my body, and banged up my knee a little. Funny, I never even thought about whether or not I would un-clip in a fall until I read the previous postings on this thread. At some point during the fall, I came un-clipped, so that wasn't a problem. I did some research on bike sites about what to use on road rash to promote healing without scarring. Found a great product -- Johnson & Johnson Advanced Healing Adhesive Pads. Everyone should stock up before their next fall.