Thread Drift

[withm]

Mimi - the first time I fell w/ clipless, I could not stop laughing! Imagine, there I was on the ground, still clipped in both sides and no way in the world I was going to get UN-clipped in that position. Had to get one of my friends to lift the bike a little so I could pedal and get my feet into position to unclip. I still laugh when I think about it. I suppose I could have taken off my shoes and disengaged that way had I been alone, but it worked out. Sure I got a bruise or too, but remember falls at 0mph don't have near the impact as say a 20mph crash. You will fall. You will survive. It's just a rite of passage. Oh, yeah, and I was 54 when that happened.

In the meantime, go out in your neighborhood, and practice stopping at every intersection and unclipping and actually stopping, putting one foot on the ground, and starting again. A few trips around the block like that will really help. Anticipate stops and slow-downs. Esp when riding with a group, don't follow too close, and always be ready to unclip your "unclipping" foot when traveling slowly. Approaching intersections I always unclip one side just in case some traffic of any sort materializes. It will soon be second nature and you'll never go back. Good luck!
Martha

[DirtDiva]

Go mimi!

Hmm. I really want some chocky, but I really can't be bothered walking to the shop to get some. Such a dilema!

[kelownagirl]

Congrats Mimi and good luck! I've had clipless pedals since last July but I still don't use them consistently. I was doing really well, confident, remembering to clip out etc but my bike was new and the derailleur wasn't set up right. I was riding up a fairly steep hill and then chain fell off. I was going too slow to clip out and down I went. Now I am terrified of hills even thoguh I haven't thrown the chain in months. I now ride with one foot clipped in all the time and the other half and half... I am determined to get over that this year.

[Bikingmomof3]

KG-I like the idea of going 1/2 clipped and 1/2 unclipped, I will try that. On my trainer, being clipped is no big deal , but on the road, that is a different story. I am going to try your method. Thanks for the tip.

Good luck going clipless KG and Mimi. I hope to be consistently clipless by the end of the summer.

[kelownagirl]

BMO - I have to admit that I kept the little "cheater" pedal clips that were on the pedals when I bought the bike. I have taken one off but ot the other. That's how I can ride with it clipped or not. I just flip it over and it's a pedal, flip it back, and it's clipless.

[KnottedYet]

Mimi- I feel like I have much more control over the bike (and am safer)with clipped in tootsies.

Lunch today:

Portobellos sauteed in olive oil and tamari sauce
stuffed with cottage cheese and a bit of mustard
with melted Vermont cheddar on top

Homefries and fried onions.

Coffee

Later i think we'll make some chocolate chip cookies (gluten-free). Haven't figured out what I'll make for dinner yet. Gotta leave at 4:30 a.m. tomorrow, so not sure if I'll even make b'fast.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I had a WONDERFUL weekend! My older daughter and her partner came to visit and we all had such a lovely time together.
After they left my wonderful DH agreed to work together and put a new stem on my bike. This time was substancially easier than the last time we did it, and we got everything back together and seems to be working and shifting well. Will know more when I ride it tomorrow, then we can fine-tune if needed, and later retape and twine the bars and shellac the cork again.
I am so lucky to have a clever and patient DH with his own little mini-bike repair shop in the basement!

Jen, aren't you lucky to have sons that cook...PLUS, a husband who KNITS!!!
I gave about 12 beautiful skeins of wool to my daughter (who also knits, like me), since I have plenty of wool stashed away, and she scrapes her meager salary together to buy even two skeins when she can. She was pretty happy.

KG- does it feel any different to be a married woman now??

[Duck on Wheels]

Ahhhh, Spring! Finally a day that would have been mild enough to ride, but all that sand (it adds traction on snow or ice, but once those are melted away it's like somebody dumped ball bearings all over the roads) has me a bit spooked. Still. I'll get RubySlipperz Spring cleaned this week and take her out for a spin. Meanwhile, if I've got this attachment thing worked out right, here are some pretty definitive signs of Spring I saw on today's hike. Luckily for me, they were so busy they didn't really care how close I got with the camera. If they had cared, I'd have been in deep doodoo. I didn't have my allergy kit with me.

[chickwhorips]

beautiful flowers!

[margo49]

Ahhhh, Spring! signs of Spring I saw on today's hike.

Beautiful.
I saw some new spring wild-flowers on my ride yesterday too!