Question about stopping technique

[indigoiis]

I unclip my left foot as I am approaching a stop and then brake, put left foot down and get off the saddle - leaning to the left. Brakes, brakes, brakes... in this position you are a one-legged girl on a skateboard . I usually leave my right foot clipped unless I am going to be standing there for a long time. Then to take off I raise my right pedal enough to give me resistance to stand on it and hoist myself back up into the saddle, then clip back in on the left.

This is my method as well. What I like about this is it physically says to the car behind me, "I'm taking this lane when the light changes." It gives me (I feel) leeway to get the momentum to get moving again.

[Jiffer]

I unclip with my right, get out of saddle and lean slightly. Getting out of the saddle is often a very GOOD thing to give the "hoo ha" a break! Sometimes I sort of sit on the tube with my left leg to alleviate pressure on the standing leg if I'm getting really tired.

[Possegal]

I have to make certain to be off the saddle and have my full body weight shifted to the leg on the ground. I learned the lesson the hard way that if I don't, and I look over my shoulder, I go boom. Pretty easy for the body weight to shift and dump me on the side still clipped in. My learning curve for this was not quite steep enough.

[crazycanuck]

I normally put my left foot down if i have to come to a stop but i'm not sure if i lean sideways or forwards.

I have a short story...When we visited Canada last year we did a ride with Grog then LBTC. I think it would have been a good idea on my part to remember '(geez, being Canadian you'd think i'd remember) which side the sidewalks are on..! I found riding up north very confusing (never mind riding in traffic too...) as I had to switch everything around in my head.

I won't tell you about our driving experiences while we were there...

[Pink Diva]

I do exactly what tctrek does except I unclip my right foot. I'm still mastering the technique, but I'm getting so that I don't look like a total idiot stopping anymore

[wackyjacky1]

Yeah, I unclip my right foot, begin braking, slide off the saddle, and put my foot on the ground as I come to a complete stop.

I've always been a right foot unclipper. I'm sure I would fall over if I ever tried the other foot. Early in my cycling I read somewhere that you should pick one foot to unclip and make a habit of it so that it becomes automatic. I picked my right foot because I do like to rest my foot on the curb and stay in the saddle whenever it's safe to do so.

[Fredwina]

one thing that I haven't seen mentioned is to shift to an easier gear before you stop(if you can). Makes getting started easier.