Whenever I see these clipless threads I think about my first time. I had been riding with toe clips for about a year and really wanted to ride clipless. I did what most folks do and went with MTB shoes and SPD pedals. We went out to do an easy ride on the Silver Comet Trail. We rode for 25 miles and I was clipping, unclipping like I had been doing it all my life. I was pumped!! There's a lot of street crossings on the trail, so there were a lot of stops/starts.

We are about 10 miles from where we parked and wanted to stop at a cool little creek to rest a moment. This rest area was LOADED with cyclists because it's so cool and shady. Unclipped left foot, put it down on the ground and leaned to the RIGHT... the bike started rolling and went straight into the creek with me still clipped to it. My left foot went into the creek bed up to my ankles in mud. On the way down into the creek my legs scraped down these jagged rocks until they were raw hamburger. I am totally p*ssed... cursing and yelling all the way down. I look up and there are no less than 10 cyclists standing up on the trail looking down at me. They pulled me out. I cleaned up my wounds as best as I could and rode my bike the 10 miles back to the car.

For the next 2 months, I went back to wearing my tennis shoes riding. Then one day, I decided I was going back to clipless. Unbelievably, I haven't fallen since ...

If you want to ride clipless, just don't be a quitter. You may fall sometimes, but practice makes perfect!