Ms. Coordinated Here. Falling with Clipless Pedals

[Possegal]

I drive a stick and still unclip on the right first, for what it is worth. Though I've worked to do that, as that leg is my surgical knee and at first I was nervous twisting that foot out. Now, it is more natural to do that.

I love the "you can't unclip when you are in a panic", true true. I think I panic less now, and that helps a lot.

My friends and family said it was important to yell TIMBER as you fall, or the music from Laugh in when the guy would ride a tricycle and fall over. I like to just say TA DA, when I get back up.

Yep, a sense of humor goes a long way!

[MamboGirl]

Ugh, I fell once in front of an entire bus full of people. And I was just congratulating myself on not falling for about a year... then fell over twice in one day. And not on emergency stops either. Bleah.

I also unclip coming to a planned stop; I like my cleats a little farther back than the middle of the ball of my foot, so I can use the ball/toes to keep pedaling. I unclip my left pedal, and lean over while still on the saddle, with the right foot up at 1-2 o'clock ready to go. Saddle height is related to leg length... you should be able to do this(?)

I've learned that if I'm doing something that requires thought (like reading a map) that I'd better unclip both feet and hop off the saddle, otherwise at some point I'll shift weight too much and tip over on the right, very amusing for bikers that were also reading the map. I also wasn't good with sudden stops, but now I can get my foot out and down before stopping, even if it seems pretty close.

I am saving up to get Speedplay pedals for my roadbike, but in the meantime I have Shimano pedals, and I got the cleats that will come out at a variety of angles. I have Crank Brother mallet pedals on my 'cross and mountain fair / bad weather commuters -- good with and without clipless shoes -- and initially had the cleats set up with minimum float, which meant that I had to rotate less to get them out of the clips.

Just out of curiosity -- how many people drive sticks? I am wondering if people put their left foot down more often if they are used to putting the clutch in with their left foot for stopping. (The real test would be asking the right-foot clutch "island" people in the UK, Japan, and down under.)

LOL - your post cracked me up. Thank you so much for sharing (I thank everyone for sharing!) It does make me feel better so many have shared my experience.
Yeah, I can't lean the bike and touch the ground while still on the saddle. The guy at the bike shop did the fitting, raised the seat up and moved it back a bit, so my legs and knees are all at the correct angles while spinning. My son (who is a bike enthusiast) told me that on a road bike I shouldn't be able to touch the ground while on the saddle. If the saddle is too low, he and the bike shop guy explained, I would eventually damage my knees. But, when sitting still at a light, I stand on my left foot, forward of the saddle, and keep my right foot on the pedal at around the 1:00 position, ready to go. I'm doing this with the clipless too. I just got to learn which side to clip out of to come to a complete stop and step down without getting confused and falling over.

[emily_in_nc]

I barely averted a clipless fall on today's ride. The screws in my right cleat (Eggbeaters) had become loose, and I didn't realize it. When I went to unclip my right foot at a stop sign, I rotated my heel out and out and out until my toes were pointed RIGHT at my frame, and I still couldn't unclip. By this time I'd slowed to nearly zero mph and had gone off into the grass on the right side of the road (thank heavens there was grass as I knew I was going down very, very soon). It all happened in slow motion, and I kept thinking "Damn, I'm gonna fall, and double damn, the guy in the car coming the other way is going to see me!"

Somehow, someway, at literally the last second, I was able to send a signal from my brain to my almost completely irrelevent left foot (I NEVER unclip on the left), unclip it, and lean my bike that way. One second later, and I would have been in the grass. I still can't believe I didn't fall!

I took my foot out of my Keen sandal on the right and figured out why I couldn't unclip: one of the two screws had fallen completely out, and the other was loose, allowing the cleat to rotate 360 degrees around on the pedal but not unclip. My DH tried a couple of tools but could not get the shoe off, and I just knew I couldn't ride having to clip out on the left all day. Fortunately, I was finally able to muscle the shoe off the pedal somehow, and we ended up putting the 2nd screw from the left cleat onto the right cleat so that I could clip out without freaking out.

I rode 43 more miles with only one screw in my left cleat and nary a problem! Disaster averted....

[MamboGirl]

I'll bet nearly everyone here who uses clipless pedals has done that AT LEAST once. Uh, hello!

Good advice above. You'll get the hang of it!

OK - Practice, practice, practice.... I'll get my nerve up to get out there again tomorrow. Funny, it sounds quite simple, but it is easy to get uncoordinated since it takes a split second to lose balance. Thanks for the encouragement!

[MamboGirl]

I barely averted a clipless fall on today's ride. The screws in my right cleat (Eggbeaters) had become loose, and I didn't realize it. When I went to unclip my right foot at a stop sign, I rotated my heel out and out and out until my toes were pointed RIGHT at my frame, and I still couldn't unclip. By this time I'd slowed to nearly zero mph and had gone off into the grass on the right side of the road (thank heavens there was grass as I knew I was going down very, very soon). It all happened in slow motion, and I kept thinking "Damn, I'm gonna fall, and double damn, the guy in the car coming the other way is going to see me!"

Somehow, someway, at literally the last second, I was able to send a signal from my brain to my almost completely irrelevent left foot (I NEVER unclip on the left), unclip it, and lean my bike that way. One second later, and I would have been in the grass. I still can't believe I didn't fall!

I took my foot out of my Keen sandal on the right and figured out why I couldn't unclip: one of the two screws had fallen completely out, and the other was loose, allowing the cleat to rotate 360 degrees around on the pedal but not unclip. My DH tried a couple of tools but could not get the shoe off, and I just knew I couldn't ride having to clip out on the left all day. Fortunately, I was finally able to muscle the shoe off the pedal somehow, and we ended up putting the 2nd screw from the left cleat onto the right cleat so that I could clip out without freaking out.

I rode 43 more miles with only one screw in my left cleat and nary a problem! Disaster averted....

Wow Emily that is quite a story! Since you are experienced, you were able to recover quickly. I gather from this you carry some sort of tool set with you? What do you carry? I've read that it is good to get one of those multi-tool all in one things... I just have the little pack under the saddle with my patch kit and extra tube, and enough room for my cell phone, so I would need to get something small.

[MamboGirl]

Did you all get my play on words? Ms. Coordinated... miscoordinated... get it?

[emily_in_nc]

Wow Emily that is quite a story! Since you are experienced, you were able to recover quickly. I gather from this you carry some sort of tool set with you? What do you carry? I've read that it is good to get one of those multi-tool all in one things... I just have the little pack under the saddle with my patch kit and extra tube, and enough room for my cell phone, so I would need to get something small.

Yes, you should DEFINITELY carry a multi-tool, even if it means changing to a slightly larger, more functional seat bag. My DH carries all that stuff when we ride together, but if I were riding alone, I'd be carrying it (and tire irons, tube, etc). We couldn't have gotten the screws swapped around in my cleats without the proper sized hex wrench, and there are many other uses on rides too -- like if you seatpost slips and you need to tighten it back up. I've lent mine to a racer decked out in full team kit but no seat bag before. Felt kinda smug.

[jobob]

I took my foot out of my Keen sandal on the right and figured out why I couldn't unclip: one of the two screws had fallen completely out, and the other was loose, allowing the cleat to rotate 360 degrees around on the pedal but not unclip.

Too funny, I had the exact same thing happen to me once, with Keen sandals and eggbeater pedals, no less!

... I don't mean to imply that is an inherent problem with Keen cycling sandals or eggbeater cleats, it's just a coincidence.

I had simply forgotten to Loctite the cleat screws once I decided I had them set correctly on the soles of my Keens, and eventually the screws came loose.

Luckily I discovered it in a stress-free location near my home (like, not at an intersection ), and I was able to ride back home OK and unclip with my "vanilla" foot.

My husband and I had a heck of a time getting that shoe removed from the pedal though, oy!

So no harm done, but lesson learned! I now remember to use a bit of (blue) Loctite threadlock on the screws once I have the cleats set to where I want them, and to check the tightness of the screws occasionally.

[KnottedYet]

Anyhoo...I'm wondering if maybe you haven't figured out which is your 'chocolate foot' yet? This is the foot that your body naturally gravitates to while you are riding. An easy way to tell is to see which foot is forward when you are going down hills and out of the saddle. It will feel more natural to have one foot forward vs. the other. This is usually the same foot that comes out of your pedal at a stop.

Nope, I'm just the opposite. Left foot likes to be forward, and right foot likes to clip out first (and always has, even back in the dark ages before you were born and all we had were cages). Never heard it called "chocolate foot" in all my years of riding. Nice name.

Left foot and left hand like to be in charge of the bike. I'm left-handed, too. Right hand will get the water bottle and right foot will reach for the ground.

[tctrek]

I've had three zero mph falls and always with an audience of other riders. How embarrassing. My worst one was the first day I was riding clipless. After riding about 25 miles, crossing many side streets where we had to stop, clip out and clip back in, I was thinking I was on top of the world. 25 miles clipless without a single incident! Yay me! Then we pulled up beside a nice cool creek where there were about 10 riders stopped for a little rest and social time. We pulled up, I unclipped (I do the left side first). Leaned to the right with right foot still clipped in and skated right into the creek. Up to my knees in water up to my ankles in creek mud. It was humiliating.

Zero mph falls are what happens when you lose focus just a little. Gets ya every time.

[szsz]

I'll bet nearly everyone here who uses clipless pedals has done that AT LEAST once. Uh, hello!

Word. I can't believe I did this AGAIN just the other day, right in the path of an oncoming cyclists, no less He was a doll about it and I was fine but for the embarrassment, bruise, and nicely skinned knee. OWW!!!

This was on my grocery-getter bike right after yoga so all my zen went right out the window, but at least I wasn't worried about damage to my hybrid steel tanker. (Also wearing Keen sandals, but they were not an issue. Love them!) Maybe I was too zen. I don't really know why I went down.

we ended up putting the 2nd screw from the left cleat onto the right cleat so that I could clip out without freaking out.

When I recently replaced my cleats (Mr. Sz says I stop like Fred Flintstone, but that's another topic for another thread) bike shop guy gives me the extra screws and advises to put them in my bike bag. My friend lost a cleat screw on a previous ride so I immediately saw the wisdom. (Now all I need, of course, is a multitool!)

[KnottedYet]

Naw, you need these: http://www.speedplay.com/index.cfm?f...=home.drillium

"Three out of Four Knot bikes approve of BMX pedals"

[emily_in_nc]

So no harm done, but lesson learned! I now remember to use a bit of (blue) Loctite threadlock on the screws once I have the cleats set to where I want them, and to check the tightness of the screws occasionally.

That is funny that we both had the same experience! DH chastised me for not having him adjust my cleats before this happened, since he would have used Loctite too. I had no clue. Now I know!

[DDH]

Sorry, it doesn't count unless you have an audience.

Okay, but my hip thought it counted. LOL I will conquer that I don't count, but please don't jinx me into counting. LOL

[Cataboo]

If I try to unclip on the wrong side from normal, it can end badly... Usually I can get my other foot out in time to recover... but I did it a few months back and basically fell into a mud puddle in a ditch right next to the road (I think I'd gottne my foot out in time, but the side of the road ended abrubtly and I couldn't reach the ground)