Clipping in/out

[nolemom]

Be sure that your clips are set loosely so that it is easier to unclip. Once, I had that squared away with my newest bike the falls disappeared. After that, it is just practice. I am 46 and I ride with a few men who are close to 70. We have all fallen at one time or another. (I have fallen a grand total of 7 times - 3 with my first bike, 4 with my current bike). Fortunately, I have always fallen when I was almost completely stopped. I forgot to unclip or leaned to the wrong side. The good news is that none of us have suffered a serious injury from those falls. A few scrapes from contact with the asphalt and bruises. Just remember that it is usually when you are tired or distracted that you will forget to unclip. It was all I thought about at first, but now it is a natural reaction. Good luck!

[BeeLady]

One reason to unclip only the left foot, and make that a habit, is it will discourage always wanting to stop at the curb and put your right foot on the curb.

If you ride at all in traffic, being right on the curb encourages cars to make right hand turns in front of you, thereby cutting you off, and to sometimes come to close to you. They also tend to notice someone lounging against the curb.

I started clipping in when I was past 50 and it took over a year of accident-free riding before I had two tip-overs close together: one caused by a dog and the other when I was at an intersection with a 4-way stop. The "good samaritan" kept encouraging me to go even though it wasn't my turn, it threw off my timing and I tipped over. The good samaritan finally drove off after I was sprawled on the ground! As you mentioned, hurt pride was the only damage!