Always happy to be alive after a ride - fear of riding?

[wannaduacentury]

Do you love your clipless pedals?

Are they worth it to you?

I ditched mine. While I thought they were fun, they interfered too much with my riding. I'm much happier without them.

I don't use them either and plan to take them off my shoes. My pedals have clips on one side and flat on the other. I just don't like being clipped in and want to be able to put my foot down instantly if the need arises. Jenn

[Marquise]

Great thread! I have more general anxiety than I need when cycling and in many other activities but not as bad as some have indicated. I abandoned clipless pedals last summer after a couple of falls when I was starting out but tried them again about a month later and stuck with them. I got more and more comfortable with them but didn't lose the nervousness and the feeling that eventually I'd fall again. It's better this year and I think about the potential for trouble less and less. Confidence grows with experience. For me, it was a matter of knowing I wanted to use them so I tolerate the anxiety, which has by no means disappeared completely. Maybe someday. Nice to have options.

[skywalkerbeth]

It's funny that someone mentioned this. Now that I went clipless (stupid term by the way! Who came up with it) I definitely have an subtle sense of fear when I'm riding - primarily as I approach stop signs on the trail, I'm not too bad when I'm just riding along it with no stop signs. I have to plan when to slow down/unclip/stop, which means I am SCREWED if something ever happens quickly. Seriously screwed. I can only unclip one side easily - in fact I just posted a thread about "how many times have you fallen" in the general bike forum.

This morning is number two - in one month. I was trying to practice unclipping on the left side as I am favoring my right side... down I went. Second time unable to unclip on the left side.

To be honest I'm not getting the dividends from changing out to the clipless. I don't feel my mph is any more than it was. I hate to go back, because I feel like I really should master this - but with this subtle underlying "oh ****" feeling, I'm not sure if this is the best idea. As my rides get longer I definitely am racking up the stop signs and each one has me a little nervous. I literally have to think step by step what I need to do to get through the stop, re-start, and through the intersection without getting killed.