Poll for those who ride clipless

[uk elephant]

I am very right handed, I do everything with my right hand. And my right leg is far stronger, although all my injuries are also on the right side. Come to think of it, everything I do is done mostly with the right half of my body....hm.....I should work on that.....I always unclip the left leg first, because coasting or pushing off I want the weight on my right leg/side which is far more stable. I also always coast with the weight on my right side.

[sah]

Right handed and unclip right foot first

[DDH]

You know I had to think about this for a minute before I could answer. I have always just done what felt natural and never thought about it.
But I am right and unclip left. I think it's because like some of the other girls said, I want my stronger leg to push off with. At least I guess that is what my brain was thinking cause that's what happened without me even realizing it.

[michelem]

I'm right-handed and unclip the left foot first. This is for aesthetic reasons only - it prevents chain tattoo!

[luvs2ride]

what an interesting question !! I am right handed and unclip with my left foot. I am new to all of this and the only reason I do it with this foot is because this is how DH does it and he was my "teacher." I learned the "pedal thing" by riding behind him and literally, doing what he does, etc. I find that I can push off with my left foot with a stong pedal strong with my stong, right leg which gets me on my way. My left foot usually "finds" the pedal but I still need to look down from time to time.

Afraid to change things up cause who knows what could happen!

Blessings!
Susan

[7rider]

I am right handed, and my left leg is stronger, but I still clip out my left foot first. I don't know why. Habit? Balance? I think if I tried to unclip my right first, I'd probably still lean left and fall over.

[twinkie]

I'm right handed, and I usually clip out with my left foot first. Like some of the other ladies, I prefer to push off on my stronger, right foot and then fiddle around to get the left foot clipped in.

My BF, however, thinks I should clip out with my right foot first. He was worried (given my tendency to fall) that I would clip out with my left, slip (my shoes are slippery!) and fall into traffic. He figured that if I clipped out with my right foot first, I would be able to lean onto my right leg and away from traffic. It makes sense for safety reasons, but I have a really hard time pushing off starting with my left leg.

[mtbdarby]

Hi, my name is Dar and I'm usually right handed and I tend to unclip the left foot first I'm semi ambidextrious - I even have my breaks switched around so my right hand controls my front wheel. Just seems more natural to me. Or I'm weird (careful X!). Take your pick....

[five one]

I'm right handed, and I usually clip out with my left foot first. Like some of the other ladies, I prefer to push off on my stronger, right foot and then fiddle around to get the left foot clipped in.

My BF, however, thinks I should clip out with my right foot first. He was worried (given my tendency to fall) that I would clip out with my left, slip (my shoes are slippery!) and fall into traffic. He figured that if I clipped out with my right foot first, I would be able to lean onto my right leg and away from traffic. It makes sense for safety reasons, but I have a really hard time pushing off starting with my left leg.

I'm also right handed and clip out on the left. DH clips out on the right for the reason above and suggested I do the same when I was just learning how. First time out, I slowed down and unclipped on the right, but my brain wanted my left foot to unclip. I struggled, panicked, and fell over. Unfortunately, I fell wrong and ended up in the ER with a radial head fracture in my elbow. It was 12 weeks before I was physically comfortable riding again. I think my subconscious has total forgotten starting over again. But I did it. I now unclip only on the left, but have enough confidence to unclip on the right in a panic situation.

[emily_in_nc]

what an interesting question !! I am right handed and unclip with my left foot. I am new to all of this and the only reason I do it with this foot is because this is how DH does it and he was my "teacher." I learned the "pedal thing" by riding behind him and literally, doing what he does, etc.

Same here. Right-handed, unclip on the right first, because that's the way DH taught me. I can't imagine doing it any other way now, so I think it's just the way I learned. If I had taught myself, I might do it the other way, I guess. Even after fracturing my pelvis and being non-weight bearing on the right side for quite some time, when I finally got back on the bike, I unclipped first on the right, leaned right, and put all my weight on that (recently healed) side. Now that I think about it, maybe that was not so smart, but it's the only way I can seem to do it. I know it's best to be able to unclip either side depending on circumstances, but I am just not that coordinated on my left side!

Emily

[BikeDutchess]

I'm right-handed (with one exception*) and unclip right foot first. I don't think I ever consciously thought about it, just have always done it that way. I think it's because I like to push off the ground with my stronger leg (just like when I was little and rode a scooter ).

*[The exception is when I had to learn to do venipunctures, I taught myself to stick with my left hand so I wouldn't have to switch hands (and risk jiggling the needle) in order to swap out the tubes. Yes, an odd bit of trivia...]

[Andrea]

I am right handed and unclip with the right foot, but it's just because right after I started riding, my left cleat got stuck on a 55 miler and I had to keep it clipped in for the duration and only unclip my right foot. After that, I just kept doing it that way. Before that, I was an ambiped unclipper

[SadieKate]

It depends so I didn't vote.

If I'm mountainbiking, it's whatever foot is necessary to keep me upright. You have to swing both ways on a mountainbike.

If I'm on the road, I clip out on the left and am righthanded. Reasons are:

1) Putting your right foot down (in the US) means the pavement is lower (sometimes much lower). It slopes away from you with the crown of the road. Between the slope and road debris, it's easier to have your right foot slip. I've seen it happen on tandems and I don't want to be one of the victims. I was riding clipless long before there were lugged mountain bike shoes, so bike shoes did not have any traction. Plus, you do what your tandem pilot does - same foot, period, end of story.

2) Chain grease. Like Michele said, it's hard to get grease on your leg if it stays attached to the pedal.

[HappyAnika]

Ok, I'm a little late on this, but I wonder if there is a correlation between which foot you unclip with and which side of the bike you get on. I think I'm weird in that I have my bike on my left side before getting on, so I swing my left leg over. (But when I'm walking with it, it's on my right side, which means lots of shuffling before getting on). I'm right handed and I unclip with my right foot. Another thing I'm "backward" on is that when I sling a bag over one shoulder, it's always my left, don't know if that has anything to do with anything . . .

[Eden]

I've started wondering if I habitually clip out with my right foot because that leg is longer? My coach put a whole pile of shims in my left cleat a few months ago when she determined that one was shorter.