fall report

[ChickWithBrains]

Did the same thing my first real ride with the eggbeater pedal clips. Still have a scar vaguely resembling a gentle mauling by a bear on my left calf...

[SouthernBelle]

You still did better than me on my first clipless ride.

[Jenn]

I thought I'd been doing great until yesterday. DH and my daughter came out to the driveway to see me off yesterday morning on my ride...and he said something....so I got distracted. I pulled my left shoe out and totally forgot about by right one, down I went into the curb. I slammed down right on my thigh and my wrist, which is KILLING me today. I think my pride was a little more hurt then my body which the bruises are lovely! Oh well, I knew it was going to happen eventually. I hope you get to feeling better!!
Jenn

[freelivez2]

I am new at this road biking thing and to hear the stories of being clipped in scare me. I'm so scared of falling. Any suggestions for ease of transistioning?

[LadyinWhite]

I am new at this road biking thing and to hear the stories of being clipped in scare me. I'm so scared of falling. Any suggestions for ease of transistioning?

Practice practice practice. Sit on the bike in a doorway while watching tv or something and just .. click in, click out, click in, click out, click in, click out.. (you get the idea).

The idea is to build muscle memory. The more you do it, the better you'll get at it.

Oh - and fall at least once - it builds character

[li10up]

Ride around with one bike shoe and one regular shoe. The regular shoe will always be free and you can focus on clipping in and out with the other foot. Then switch and practice with the other foot.

[k80k80]

My suggestions are to always use the same foot to clip in and out--I use my right foot.

Also--make sure the tension on your clip and cleat are such that it is easier to clip in and out of at first. I'm not sure how to do this--but it can be done.

And stay close to home the first few times--on a flat surface. I've also heard that practicing at the park--with lots of grass around can break a fall.

GOOD LUCK! You can do this!! You'll love your clips--eventually!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I am new at this road biking thing and to hear the stories of being clipped in scare me. I'm so scared of falling. Any suggestions for ease of transistioning?

This goes against what a lot of people recommend, but...
My suggestion is to simply get used to riding your road bike first, with regular shoes and flat pedals. Then get clipless pedals AFTER you are generally comfortable with riding your road bike.
Another suggestion for easing into the clipless world is to use regular pedals and attach "Power Grip" straps to them, which lie diagonally across your foot. The motion in getting your foot in and out of PowerGrip straps is quite similar to the motion of releasing your foot from clipless (twist heel outwards as you pull foot out), and should help you get used to the idea for a while first.

[wannaduacentury]

This goes against what a lot of people recommend, but...
My suggestion is to simply get used to riding your road bike first, with regular shoes and flat pedals. Then get clipless pedals AFTER you are generally comfortable with riding your road bike.
Another suggestion for easing into the clipless world is to use regular pedals and attach "Power Grip" straps to them, which lie diagonally across your foot. The motion in getting your foot in and out of PowerGrip straps is quite similar to the motion of releasing your foot from clipless (twist heel outwards as you pull foot out), and should help you get used to the idea for a while first.

Or get pedals that are clipless on one side and flat on the other. I like mine and feel better w/ flats if I need them. best of both worlds.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Or get pedals that are clipless on one side and flat on the other. I like mine and feel better w/ flats if I need them. best of both worlds.

Yes that would work well too I think.

Some people get one foot unclipped but then fall over to the other side when coming to a halt... a little trick about this issue I learned when trying to get used to "extracting" my foot from my straps is this- as you approach a stop and get one foot out, it really helps to stand up and forward out of the saddle as you are stopping- it gives you much more "leaning control" than if you coast to a stop while still sitting in the saddle. As you start braking, rise up and forward, off the saddle, so you can come right down on your loose foot instead of waiting and trying to make the bike lean when it is actually almost stopped. Hope I've described this well enough...