Clipping out up a steep hill?

[DarcyInOregon]

It has happened to me a few times, needing to unclip on a hill. A few times the grade was too steep and too long, about a 20% grade that was over 1/2 mile, and I was down in my granny gear and it was too much. I looked for a paved drive on the side, turned into the drive because it was flat, and was able to unclip. A few times I didn't anticipate the grade being quite so steep, over 17%, didn't shift down in time, dropped the chain, couldn't unclip, and fell over. Falling over doesn't bother me. I get some road rash and rarely a bruise. I topple over a few times a year for whatever reason, usually a dropped chain and no time to unclip. I am not a dufus that drops my chain all of the time, but it does happen to me a few times a year.

For me the worse case scenario is being on a new rural route, go up a steep hill, and the steep grade ends at a stop sign on a busy rural highway with no flat area to unclip before reaching the highway. I learned to turn my bike to the right, pray there is a paved shoulder and then unclip.

[redrhodie]

The week I went clip-less, I nearly had that same fall. Somehow, my foot unclipped at the last possible second, and I caught myself. I haven't had that happen again since, but I think if I was in that situation again, I'd try to turn into the direction of the foot I unclip (providing there were no cars coming) so that I was at a less steep angle, then I'd either unclip, or try "paperboy" it up the hill (zigzag across the rode). If there were cars, well, I don't know what I'd do.

[Bike Chick]

The last time I tried to unclip on a steep hill, I went down and had to nurse a bloody knee the rest of the ride and pick road grit out of my leg for the next few days.

Your timing has to be just right when you do it. Clip out with the foot that's closest to the ground.

Or.......just put your head down and keep pedaling

[gabriellesca]

Thanks guys - good to know its not a totally easy thing to do that I'm so worried about.

Darcy - I know this is a really stupid question but what happens when you 'drop your chain?' My chain has never come off - is that what you mean?

[gabriellesca]

ps. I rode on my new pedals for the first time today. It was super windy here (30 mph) so I knew I wasn't going for a long/normal ride. I rode around the parking lot a bit - clipping in and out. I did fall once when I had come to a stop and was struggling to clip out with my right food instead of my left (my regular foot) - I was thinking it might be easier since I have more power in my right leg. But then I realized that I was trying to pull up a bit to clip out instead of pushing a bit down and to the outside. So I rode around the parking lot and then down the street. I did 6 very slow miles - just kept clipping in and out - practicing stopping and starting.

But I can't imagine relaxing enough to ride at a normal speed. I wouldn't go over 10 mph - I was just so paranoid that I would need to stop and wouldn't be able to get out.

Does this get easier? Do you get used to it/confidence enough that you pick up your speed.

I have to admit it felt TOTALLY different than my toe cages but it was still a little scary.

[AnnieBikes]

Dropping the chain can be happening for several reasons. It can be from a bike that has a bit of cable stretch (as with a new chain over time) or if the limit screws on the derailleur are not set properly and the chain either goes off on the frame side of the chain rings or the pedal side. If it happens, it is easily fixed by pulling forward on the derailleur and putting the chain back onto the smaller front ring. You might get some grease on your hands but that's why I wear black shorts! If it happens very often,take note of which side the chain drops to so you can get your bike shop to reset the limit screws. If it happens only rarely, it can be a bad shift and I think that happens to all of us at one time or another!

Check out this website for help on a dropped chain...not trying to hijack this thread!!

http://www.bicyclesouth.com/chain.htm

[AnnieBikes]

Gabriellesca.it is so normal to be so scared!! I was absolutely petrified when I started and I assure you after you ride with them a while, you will become totally comfortable with them. My bike shop said to be prepared to fall off 11 times (who knows where THAT figure came from!!) I have fallen but I have gotten better and better and now don't even think about it. It DOES take time to become comfortable and what you are doing is right...practice, practice, practice. Plan to clip out a bit BEFORE you are ready to stop...plan ahead always and you will not fall. You will learn to go faster and you will learn to feel confident. It just takes TIME!! Good luck and don't give up!

[TrekTheKaty]

11 times! In what time period? I'm up to 3.

I forgot zig zagging. My DH rides a particularly RUDE route in Babler State Park, MO. My Brother-in-Law first tried the zig zag on that route, and he said it's better than walking

[Pedal Wench]

Check out this website for help on a dropped chain...not trying to hijack this thread!!

http://www.bicyclesouth.com/chain.htm

Ha! That's my local bike shop!

[AMP]

Today was Mother's Day, my 57th birthday, and I got to ride my spankin' new Bianchi Infinito with clipless pedals for the first time. For about ten feet and 3 seconds.... I clipped in with both feet, didn't bother to check what gear I was in, couldn't move the pedals fast enough and went right down. So, all the fear I had about how I was surely going to crash, how I wasn't going to be able to get my feet off those pedals was right on. And then after the shock and the indignity, I realized I was actually quite all right. I got back on, clipped in and out about thirty times each foot while I held onto my parked truck, checked my gears, and then rode for an hour around an enormous parking lot clipping in and out the entire time. Not gracefully and not without muttering some awful stuff about new technology.

But actually, I'm glad I spilled. Helped my panicky fear. I needed to get that out of the way. My LBS told me I'd have three spills. Better than 11. I figure I'd better keep out of traffic for everyone's sake and off very steep grades until I'm much more intuitive with these pedals.

I can't help but remember that learning to ride a bike was not without it's perils and that so many women have bravely mastered these pedals. I think we can all do it, but we need to give ourselves enough time to learn to this new--and scary--skill safely.

[Crankin]

You don't have to go through any of this to put a dropped chain back on! You have to think quickly to do this, but it's second nature to me now. As soon as you feel the chain slip, you put your bike in the big ring and keep pedaling. The chain goes back on by itself. Really.
If you are on a steep hill, this might be hard, but you can carefully shift the chain down to the next lower ring as you keep pedaling once it's back on, but you have to soft pedal. The trick to steep grades is to put your bike in the granny gear (or small ring if you have a double) before you start the climb and put the cogs in a higher gear, so you can shift down as you need to.
You can put a dropped chain back on if you are off of the bike the same way. Put the bike in the big gear, pick it up and rotate the pedals by hand until the chain pops back on.
I do not like those steep climbs with a stop sign at the top, either.
Clipless pedals are not that scary. Make sure you have the tension set at the easiest setting, if you have spd pedals. All this talk of 11 falls is crazy. I never fell and as I said earlier, I am not that coordinated.

[DarcyInOregon]

Darcy - I know this is a really stupid question but what happens when you 'drop your chain?' My chain has never come off - is that what you mean?

It is like Annie said, the dropped chain typically comes from a bad shift and usually on a steep grade. When cycling up a steep hill, when shifting down, you actually have to let up a little bit on the pedaling to enable the shifting. But if you are going "oh nuts" and you are pushing to pedal just to keep a momentum going you might not be able to ease up a bit and the shift results in a dropped chain.

Last month I was on a 58 mile ride with a friend. At about mile 22, on a rural road with hardly any traffic, there is a steep hill with about a 15% grade. I've gone up that hill maybe 10 times already this year and I had no problems with my shifting, never even gave the shifting a thought because it was just automatic. However this time I didn't ease up enough when I shifted down, and the chain dropped. Now I've biked enough years that I know when the chain drops on a hill to not waste seconds thinking "oh the chain dropped, what should I do" but at the same instant that the chain drops I have to unclip and plant one or two feet on the ground. But nope this time instead of doing any of that I call out to my friend that my chain dropped and I was going to fall over, and you see my point, in the amount of time I spent hollering out to my friend I could have unclipped and planted my feet on the ground. It wasn't like there was any traffic to worry about so I could have been anywhere on the road. So I toppled over and got a few scrapes. It still turned out to be an amazingly good ride with a lot of nice speeds and finished with energy to spare.

[gabriellesca]

11 times - HOLY ****! Maybe I need to fall more often so I can see its okay and not a big deal. The fall today killed my knee - but then I tend to be a wimp. I really think seeing my teammate fall into a moving car because she couldn't clip out really freaked me out. I kept thinking of that all day. And I'm just worried this was something that is going to deter me from getting back into cycling instead of help me get back into it. But I will go out again and ride this week - I just hope I feel more confident and can enjoy it. I'm off on Wed, Thurs, and Fri - so I think I will ride each day down on my favorite route. Maybe a few of those rides being able to stop and start up again, etc., will give me some confidence.

Darcy - That sounds scary - but you seem like its not a big deal for you! I'm such a newbie I don't even know grades to hills, etc. - and the chain - I think I understand it and now that you mention it I think that my chain did come off once (is that the same thing?) and I managed to put it back on. But I'm going to stop thinking about that now as I don't need another thing to add to my paranoia.

[sundial]

I really think seeing my teammate fall into a moving car because she couldn't clip out really freaked me out. I kept thinking of that all day.

Your body follows what your mind focuses on and since you were thinking about her fall, it set you up for yours.

Like Darcy, I ride a steep hill clipped in and when I get to where I'm about to either a) fall over or b) blow up or c) roll backwards, I steer the bike at a 45 degree angle to reduce the incline and try to refocus and climb. (Note: check for traffic first. )I remember one time when I did unclip one foot and placed it on the ground, it slid backwards. If I'm too pooped I simply pull off the road and wait until I catch my breath.

[Faster Pussycat]

For me the worse case scenario is being on a new rural route, go up a steep hill, and the steep grade ends at a stop sign on a busy rural highway with no flat area to unclip before reaching the highway.

This was my situation last week except on a steep hill in a reasonably busy suburb! I was with a group and they stopped at the top of the hill as there were cars parked on each side and we were going to make a right hand turn but needed to give way to traffic. I unclipped ready to stop and the girls moved forward. I pedalled over and my foot clicked back in (I use speedplays). I had already started to lean my weight to the left to stop but just couldn't get my foot out in time. I didn't help that I was totally unfamiliar with the route.

The worst part wasn't the fall - it was that on a 500m stretch of road I fell right next to a pallate of roof tiles on the verge. Which my head bounced off of. I was pefectly OK except for some dropped dignity and the need for a new helmet.

gabriellesca, I used to think that every other cyclist knew something I didn't. That they all had these superior skills and reaction times and I just didn't think too fast. In all honestly, this isn't the case. In a lot of situations they are likely to come a cropper as well. Some things are just harder to navigate than others. So keep practicing and take baby steps, you will get there.

I have had quite a few nerve blocks in my upper c-spine and so my balance is rubbish. It has taken many months of solid practice just to be able to take a water bottle. About four times a week I head to a quiet, big car park and just practice skills. Starting, stopping, riding one handed etc.

I am an over thinker as well and there is some truth to just doing it. At the same time you need to enjoy your cycling and being scared kinda sucks the fun out of it.

It really is a matter of practice and don't beat yourself up because it doesn't come as naturally to you as it may seem to come to others.