Zoomy cliplessness!!

[coyote]

You all give me courage to go clipless.

I've already had the really embarressing fall, on regular pedals. I was getting on my bike in my own yard, got my pants caught while swing my leg over and I already had my other leg on the other pedal. I slowly rolled to a stop, balanced for a brief moment and fell over. To make matters worse, my partner witnessed the whole thing and came running out.

I took a bike for a test ride last week that had clips. I have never sucessfully ridden a bike with clips. I ended up using a road sign to balance myself and while I got into the clips then I had to give myself a little push. I really didn't want to fall over with the brand new bike.

So, I salute you in your brave actions of going clipless

[lyca]

Well, ladies, it almost happened today.

Here's the story: My BF and I were riding on a busy-ish road and needed to cross a lane of traffic and then turn left. It was just to busy to cross over, so we pulled into a parking lot to do a u turn.

He turned around and stopped.

I turned around (feeling very cool about turning and staying balanced....) and then realized that I HAD to stop or else get pummelled by an oncoming car.

My right foot WOULD NOT come unclipped!

I kept repeating oh god oh god oh god oh god...

I started tipping to the left...

I was resigned to the fate of becoming one with the parking lot asphalt...

And at the last minute, my left ankle remembered how to get itself out of the pedal and I was saved! Well, this time, anyway!

[lyca]

I took a bike for a test ride last week that had clips. I have never sucessfully ridden a bike with clips. I ended up using a road sign to balance myself and while I got into the clips then I had to give myself a little push.

Hey, Coyote! Have you tried just putting one foot in the clip and leaving the other one out? (As in, let the clip side of the pedal face the ground and use the non-clip side?) That's how I learned to use the clips on my bike. It took a little while before I felt comfortable flipping the pedal over with my toe and sliding it in while moving, but that skill really helped when I started using the clipless pedals.

I always begin pedaling with my left foot, so that's the one I put in the clip to begin. As long as I was moving, I was able to keep my balance.

Hope that helps and good luck with your new bike!