First ride

[pedalfaster]

"old-fashioned" cage-type pedals are referred to as "clips and straps". The "clip" part is the hard metal or plastic and the "strap" is the leather or nylon. So when cleated shoes withOUT clips or straps came along, they were called "clipless".


p.s. to Gretchen...ok i now i see you live in the snow! disregard my other post

[caligurl]

i fell trying to get out of the driveway.. brand new bike.. NO miles on it.. and i fell... not enough momentum while i was floundering to clip in my other foot... AND... to make it worse.. i had forgotten to put my gloves on.. my hand still hurts.. ouch!

[cathleen]

Hi to all the new ladies!

I'm new here too.

I bit it this past weekend on a paved asphalt bike trail in the park. I was trying to pass a little kid who didn't know the "rules of the road" and was swerving all over the place. I tried to give her a wide berth, and at the last second, she swerved at me. I sacrificed a lot of skin to avoid running into her.

I just saw something the other day about falling and it was something along the lines of: "You can't embarass yourself too badly falling on a bike because we have all done the same thing before." Good point, I thought.

[gretchen]

cathleen -
i too had my first wipe out...actually, it was more of a 'slide' but fortunately, when you're not moving in a forward direction, it doesn't involve much skin left behind. Can you believe how helpless you feel?!!! I was just pulling over, actually about to tell my daughter to get off the road while stopping and while i was pulling off onto sand, unclipped on the right, my wheels were grabbed mercilessly by the sand and off to the right. With my left still clipped in, there was nothing to support me and over i went. OUCH!
Caution to everyone...watch out for sand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
gretchen
ps...not too bad i figure, first fall after 1289 miles on my "new" road bike.

[cathleen]

Gretchen,

Isn't that funny? How you're trying to do something right and ol'gravity just has its fun with you?

Unfortunately, I did the forward skid thing - so, the Portage Bicentennial Trail will always have a little piece of me (my thigh!) in it.