Quote Originally Posted by IGGY View Post
Clipless! I fell the FIRST RIDE on my FIRST BIKE and now it sits, in my rec room, on a trainer because I am afraid to ride it outside. I keep telling myself that I"m going to just "do it", but I haven't.
After reading this thread, I realized that I am being so stupid. I am taking off the clipless and putting regular old pedals back on and I am getting back on the real road.
Put your regular pedals on and ride!!! Once you get used to your bike you might want to give the clipless another shot, but it doesn't matter if you never even try them again. It's no fun being afraid to ride your bike, so do what you need to to get comfortable and gain some confidence!

I'll admit that I've been going back and forth - wearing my MTB shoes and clipping in when I'm on bike paths, and regular sneakers when I hit the trails. Last weekend I tried downhill MTBing for the first time and even switched my pedals back to real platforms (my other ones are clips on one side and platform on the other, but the platform is small and slippery). I'm not giving up on clipless, but I'm pretty new to MTBing and clipping in (and out!) is just one thing too many to worry about when everything else is so new too.

Maybe some people would just go for it, but I don't like being scared when I'm riding. Biking is supposed to be fun, and things like clipless pedals are supposed to be an asset, not something to stress out over. So keep it fun!