The Joy of Falling

[KSH]

Too funny! Thank goodness you could laugh at yourself!

I too fell over when testing a bike. I couldn't get my foot out of the toe clip material (?)... and it was the side that I was leaning on. BAM! Hit the ground... like you said... "TIMBER".

I didn't leave that shop with those pedals. I knew right then and there that I was going clipless from day one.

[snpdragn]

Ah see... this makes me want to avoid clipless. I can fall walking. I trip over my own feet. Clipless might be a huge adjustment... though I had been thinking of starting with them so I'd be used to them quicker.

[Nanci]

No, snp, don't be afraid! You'll understand what everyone says once you go clipless, that you'd never go back.

I had the best fall the other day. Riding old MTB with road tires, starting out in the grass in my yard, just stepped on the pedal to get started but my clips are so easy, I was clipped in without trying, but was in too low a gear to go anywhere. Couldn't unclip before TIIIMMMBBBBEEERRRR!!!!!! It's so funny- you _know_ you're going down, and it happens in slow motion, and I had the luxury of knowing it wasn't going to hurt that badly in grass. I'm laying there, still clipped in, laughing and laughing. Luckily, no one saw me!

After a couple falls, though, uncliping comes naturally, and if you do fall, it's just a fluke, like what happened to me. Totally avoidable if I'd been paying attention.

Nanci

[latelatebloomer]

"Take out the foot you're going to fall on" is classic! I'll be chanting it the day I go clipless!

There's a great line from an Ann Lamont book - she's learning to skate, I think, and falls. Her preschool son said "Momma, sometimes you have to get back up on your hind legs and try again."

[RTP1031]

I did the same thing, except... when I went to clipless I somehow managed to only fall in front of my coach and only in the street. A couple of weeks ago the winds were gusty and I unclipped as we were stopping, then a gust of wind hit the bike and "timber" over I went to the other side. No harm done and off we went again, no injuries except a shredded ego. It's just a matter of practice. But once you go clipless, you'll never go back.