clipless pedal falls poll

[TrekTheKaty]

Twice while learning--once when tired and stupid! (Luckily the bike was new so retuning/unbending was free at the bike shop! Although, they very politely informed me "it looks like the bike has been on the ground." I said "new clipless pedals" and she smiled as she handed me my bike!)

[MrsB]

Im so glad that I bought used for my first road bike. My bike has so many scratches from me falling over from clipless pedals. My last fall was a few weeks ago when I hadnt ridden in a couple weeks. I got on my bike, rode to the end of my road and went to stop for traffic and bam I went over. It hurt so bad! I bet ive fallen at least 4 times since I started riding in August.

[Possegal]

I fell a few times last summer when I first got them. This summer only once when some guy was turning in front of me and at the last second I didn't think he was going to yield to me going straight. So I slammed the brakes on and fell. Had I not been tired from the previous 35 miles, I may have just turned with him and waited until he passed then backtracked to the rode I was on. But I didn't think that fast. More damaging to the ego as his passenger laughed at me. ERRRRRR, I just swore under my breath and got back up and headed home.

[Biciclista]

It took me more than a year to finally try them. I fell in the school yard and it hurt so i signed up for a private lesson and never fell again. I practice unclipping even now, more than a year later, to make sure I won't forget because I don't want to fall.

[OakLeaf]

There's a danger with saying "it happens to everyone," because then people don't try as hard as they should to avoid it. But I think it happens to almost everyone, and almost all of the time it's only our pride that gets hurt.

My stupidest F.U. (failure to unclip) remains the time when a riding buddy had a minor crash in the front of the group. Everyone managed to avoid him, but in the confusion as we all stopped to make sure he was OK, I thought I had unclipped, and didn't find out that I actually hadn't until I went to put my foot down.

[Grog]

None of the above. I almost fell when I first used them, but the only two times I really fell were after riding for two years. Once when I was leading a club ride (I actually had my other foot on the ground, I'll never know how come I fell to the other side!!) and once when I was riding on gravel and couldn't unclip as I performed a very slow-motion tumble, trying somehow to protect the new white Jett saddle that I hated and needed to return to the store intact!

[Possegal]

I felt better after my only fall that caused an injury, when a co-worker described a very similar fall at a red light while she was in graduate school. As I began comparing the falls she said, oh no, you missed the point, I didn't have clipless pedals, I just forgot to put my feet down. I still crack up at the thought of that.