Clipping out up a steep hill?

[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.