My clipless experience!

[azfiddle]

Yeah, those falls can be embarassing and painful. After the initial falls (one in plain view of one my middle school students!), I was fine until last summer. We stopped to look at a rattlesnake, then had to ride up a steep hill. I didn't get in the right gear and realized near the crest that I wasn't going to make it. I just fell over because I couldn't unclip. Fortunately, there was just dirt and bushes on the side of the road- no cactus!

[Helene2013]

Embarassing? Nah Not to me. It's more upsetting as I have practiced all winter, I don't want to ruin my bike (heard too many stories on a bad fall can crack a frame without you seeing it, blablabla). And the risk of injuries. Anyway, it's done and we move on right!

I went to my PT/Kine tonight for my next month training program.

When she saw me in 3/4 leggings, she thought I had a big tatoo on my back right leg. I told her: heuh-heuh...this is the fall I was telling you about. She was "freaking" out when she saw all my bruises, cuts. She checked my right shoulder. I don't really feel pain anymore, but when I push those heavy commercial doors for instance. And it is just a bit forward. So she did some things and now I have to do PT twice a day and make sure I pay attention during the day to the positioning. As for the palm/thumb, there is something but nothing broken. A good bruise for sure and may be something like fiber stretch or whatever she said. Can't recall exact term. But I do have a thumb stretch to do twice a day and ice it 3 times. No cycling for 2 days and when I go back I have to put a towel or something wrapped around the bar where the palm and thumb will grab. Until I feel normal again.

She said not to worry about clipless either. If one day I want to try again, just do it. If not, you may lose speed or fight harder on hills but that's fine. I'm not training for the Olympics nor a Tour de France! So just keep riding, and do what pleases you.

This week I'll be working smoothly, next week is a type of boot camp as in 3 Saturdays I have the 90km challenge. At least the week before the 90 km I will do almost nothing for gym (compared to the past 5 months hihi) Never cycled that far before and last year at this time I had no road bike, and was in PT to heal knee injuries. So I've come a long way baby!

Nursing my bruises now and kicking some butts in just over 3 weeks. Yeah!

[Catrin]

Sounds like you've made the right choice for you at this time - and you will kick butt in 3 weeks

To be perfectly honest, I saw NO speed difference with/without clipping in. Then again, I am slow on the bike anyway due to my riding position.

[kajero]

Helene2013

My first two falls with clipless pedals were almost identical to your situations, except on the second one I also fractured my elbow. I won't wear clipless now. If you look at my posts you can see that I can do enough damage with platform pedals.

I do wear some really nice biking shoes without the clips. They make a big different from my tennis shoes or regular shoes.

As for speed, I am a slow. I average between 10-12 mph if I am lucky. I finally decided going faster wasn't that important to me. I am riding a lot more miles than people who sit home on their couch! I can't ride in a lot of groups because of my speed, but I did find friends to go riding with. Last year I rode out to my Dad's grave -- about 42 miles. I didn't go all that fast but I got there and back. Dad would love that I biked out to see his grave. He wouldn't have cared how fast I got there.

Even being as slow as I am I rode in the MS150 after I had been biking about a year. I rode the entire route without using a sag wagon. I was the last of our team in, but I wasn't not even close to being the participant in. Most of my team wears clipless and tell me all the time that I could go faster and be more efficient if I wore clipless. My question is, "How fast can I ride if I am all bruised up and/or have broken bones"?

So enjoy riding. Clipless is not for everyone; nor is a riding at a million mph.

[Helene2013]

Sorry Kajero about your experience, which is worst than mine. At least I only have bruises, bad ones, but still, no broken anything. My thumb/palm is still very sore today, but was ok yesterday. Guess I stretched it during the night. Still fragile. Shoulder seems to be good. Crossing fingers.

I could be fast, but I feel I can't control my bike so I slow down. I prefer safety to "cowboy". hihi Anywhere, I get where I need to go. What's the rush!

My husband is going to the bike shop today to have his spare back wheel checked (it goes for the trainer) and he brought the clips to them. Will see what they say about it.

[Helene2013]

Last night I bought a pair of spinning shoes http://www.artscyclery.com/Giro_Wome...age-GIWWS.html (not at this place but they are the same). They are very comfy and grip to the new flat pedals I bought. At same time I got toe clips similar to those https://www.google.com/search?q=toe+...86773582894248

I did an hour training on my trainer (still raining and cold here for the season) and I could have a cadence of 120rpm and nothing slipped. I had enough "torque" to push when I needed speed, etc. So far very happy. And ah!! The shoes match my bike (pink and white - some black). hihi Talk about coincidence. They had no colour but that one for the shoes. And at $115 it is affordable. I will be using my clipless in the winter on the trainer.

Hubby mentioned my clipless falls to our dealer and he looked at the pedal and it was fine. He wanted to see the shoe (for the cleat) and he did not have it. He's sure it is something with the cleats. Anyhow, I went back to store today to get an aeroful triathlon bag and he freaked out when he saw my bruises. And it was only the back leg he saw. hihi I told him not to worry as I would not put clipless on the road again. I'm not THAT suicidal. hihi

I tried the Gu Vanilla gel. I hated it. Only took 2 small "squirts" and it was getting to me. I tried a big bite of the peanut butter bar and same. It was like chewing cardboard but at least it was not super sweet. It was ok for that. So I will stick to "real" food. It's only a 4h ride (90km). If I eat well for breakfast, and have fruits, nuts, gatorade or electrolyte tablet in juice water (same flavor) I could be fine. It's not as if I was riding 12 hours at 40km/h. I'll adjust on the road.

But I am happy with the shoes and toe clips. At least this is working well. The sole of shoes and the grip of the new pedals are a good combo.

[Boudicca]

I gave a friend a lesson in riding clipless this week, and she says she's getting the hang of it quite nicely after an initial tumble (into a nice, soft mudbank) when she was already standing still. She says she noticed the extra power, which surprised me. We rode along the trail, and I stopped every couple of hundred yards so she could have an unclip lesson.

My message:

BUFLU

Brake
Unclip one foot
Put that foot on the ground
Lean in the direction of the foot that's on the ground
Unclip the second foot.

But hey, if toe clips are working for you, Helene, that's just fine too.

[MarieV]

I've been riding for just over two years now, and it was only after riding for 500+ miles using clipless pedals that I finally felt confident that I could clip in and out of them if I had to make a sudden stop. Part of the reason is experience and the other is my SPD pedals are worn enough that it's easier to clip in and out of them. Like everyone else I fell at least 4-5 times and bloodied and bruised my knees, elbows, ankles, and legs a few times learning how to use the clipless pedals. I actually thought about swapping them out for platform pedals, but we live in Seattle, and it's just so much easier climbing hills when you're clipped in.

These are the tips I wish someone had given me when I was first learning how to use them:

It's easier to clip out when your foot is at the bottom of the pedal stroke, but it's much easier to lean and step your foot down on the ground when your foot is at the top of the pedal stroke. That means 50-100 feet (or more) before you need to stop, clip your foot out when it's at the bottom of the pedal stroke, then rotate your pedals until your foot is at the top of the pedal stroke (unclipped), so when you stop and lean slightly towards the foot you're stepping down on, you can step down on that foot.

When you start moving again, it's easier to get going when one foot is clipped in, which is why I usually keep my right foot clipped it. It's easiest to get going when the foot that's clipped is at the top of the pedal stroke, so you can press down on that foot to start moving while you're trying to get the other foot clipped in. That means when you're stopped and your unclipped foot is on the ground, backpedal your clipped foot until it's at the top of the pedal stroke. When you're ready to start moving again, lean forward and press on the clipped foot to get going, then you can get your other foot clipped in while you're already moving.

Once you get more confident, you can decrease the distance between when you clip out and when you actually have to stop. Even now I'm more comfortable clipping in and out just my left shoe, and I only ever clip out my right shoe if I have to stop suddenly and I'm leaning right.

Just some ideas.