Second ride, first fall

[tulip]

If you keep at it, clipless pedals will become second nature. I can't ride without them anymore. If I do, my feet lift off the pedal and THEN I'm in trouble!

[IFjane]

If you keep at it, clipless pedals will become second nature. I can't ride without them anymore. If I do, my feet lift off the pedal and THEN I'm in trouble!

Me too, tulip! I cannot imagine riding on flat pedals now. It is amazing how it becomes second nature.

The first time I ever tried them - with SPDs - I was standing completely still. I clipped in with my right foot, had my left foot solidly on the ground, and fell over to the right....on the ground....in front of a bunch of college guys (including my embarrassed son). I came away with a wonderful chainring bite on my calf. I claimed it was a bear....

[effy]

I was on a trail with hubby doing a 20 ride and Enviromental warden in his car was coming toward us. He pulled off the trail and left plenty os room for us to ride on by. So far so good, right, WRONG. My caring husband who was ahead of me decides that he's going to stop because he wants to be safe, (how sweet, right, WRONG) I was right behind him with no time to unclip or stop. So I plow into him and fall gracefully to ground, hubby is fine. Was I hurt, no, was my husband laughing at me, YES, so wan't the warden as he drove past us. Good thing I can laugh at myself, to.

[jesvetmed]

Effy: LOL... that's kind of how I had my first fall, too. Guy I was following flatted, we slowed, and he slowed faster than I did.. I unclipped and quickly leaned the OTHER way. Fell straight onto the road, in front of an SUV. Lucky, the SUV driver had better relfexes than I did!

[Jolt]

Me too, tulip! I cannot imagine riding on flat pedals now. It is amazing how it becomes second nature.

For me it's the opposite--I use flat pedals, can't imagine riding clipless!! Especially with the amount of stop-and-go involved in a lot of my riding. The other day I was riding home from some errands and slid on a patch of sand; I was able to get a foot down quickly and avoid crashing. If I had been attached to the pedals, it would have been a crash on a fairly busy street instead of just an embarrassing slide! No thanks.

[effy]

LOL It's is amazing that we fall in the most unusal places and circumstances. Embarassing, very much so, the last time I don't think so. I have a feeling that I have plenty of falls ahead of me.