I always unclip both feet for things like that.
Just call me "Grace"...
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Hi all,
I went clipless about a month ago, had a fall on day one. I unclipped fine, but then leaned over to my clipped in side, couldn't stop the lean, and went *boom.*
So now I'm thinking I got this clipless thing down. Today I was stopped on the sidewalk, was unclipped on my left side, leaned over to my right and pressed the crosswalk button, righted myself....I thought.....but no....it was a slow motion fall, I tried turning the wheel away, hopping the bike toward the right..noooooo (actually I was screaming another word that starts with an "f"). *boom* Hideous road-rash on my right leg. Argh.
I think I'm going to have to start unclipping with both feet. I only have so much skin to lose to the cause of clipless pedals.
Painfully,
Amy
I always unclip both feet for things like that.
Just call me "Grace"...
"If Americans want to live the American Dream, they should go to Denmark." - Richard Wilkinson
I started about the same time you did. I unclip with both lots now. In addition to your reasons, I like the chance to just get my feet off the pedals.
It's like being untied.
Boy oh boy can I relate........ I too am tired of separating myself from my skin. Road rash hurts after all. I'm still healing from my last fall.
Chin up - its gonna get better, right??
(Knotted - ironic cuz I'm pretty sure my middle name is Grace....!!!)
Also new to cycling, put clipless pedals on just a couple weeks before RAGBRAI...and I am so glad to hear that someone else has an "I didn't think of not being able to tilt my bike while clipped in story." Unfortunately I have also learned about turning on gravel, bumps, and left to right on a road bike and how that differs from my old mtn. bike...or maybe I am just a tad clumsier than most.
sounds like it might be a good idea to ride with heavy jeans for a while when learning this skill!
Only two? You've got a few more left, don't worry!
When I went through my clipless learning curve a few years back, it was in the fall/winter time frame . . . so my inevitable topples happened while I was wearing tights and long sleeves -- and one even landed me right into a snowbank! *Much* better than bare skin on asphalt.
Hang in there!
I hate to say it but you are never totally free from the possibility of falling while clipped in. I almost feel yesterday. I was at an intersection and was about to take off. I only had my right foot clipped in when I saw a car coming from the left. Went to put my left foot back down but the cleat stuck for just a moment to the pedal. It wasn't clipped in but just caught on the pedal. I almost went down. It was kind of funny because as soon as it caught and I started going down I was thinking to myself, "Man, I can't believe I'm gonna fall." Luckily it came out at the last moment. So I bet even those that have been riding for years go down every once in awhile. But at least not as often.
As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence." ~Benjamin Franklin
Isn't it safe to assume that you're also never totally free from the possibility of falling when you're NOT clipless?
“Hey, clearly failure doesn’t deter me!”
Similar thing happened to me yesterday. Including the F word. Though my mind was screaming unclip!! I did on the right but not in time. I fell off the shoulder (on a trail, at a road crossing) onto the grass but my pedal and other parts of the bike still hit pavement . No road rash at least. My elbow is finally healing from day #1 with clipless.
Almost happened a second time because apparently I have no balance when just standing and waiting. Right side did unclip in time to catch myself, but the top tube still leaned into a rather uncomfortable area of my upper thigh. ouch.
I'm having trouble clearing the nose of the saddle every time I go to step down. When I can't, bike does lots of leaning, making me hop around trying not to slip on left cleat. Don't know why I started doing this. Seems to happen on the slight downhills all the time. Uphill, I stop like a champ. Oh well, practice practice practice.
I feel your pain.
It will get easier. Just keep biking and give unclipping both feet a try.
Jennifer
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
-Mahatma Gandhi
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit."
-Aristotle
I am also new to clipless and made sure the man who installed my pedals at my LBS made my clips very "loose" so they are easy to pull out. Saw a car headed my way once and the adrenaline enabled me to pull my foot straight off the pedal!
I have the low end Pearl Izumi (????) shoes with the recessed clips so I can wear the shoes into the grocery store. Also got the entry level pedals that have a regular surface on one side and clips on the other. When I'm in heavy traffic and stop and go, I don't bother clipping in but use the other side of the pedal.
Hope to graduate to the real road clips soon but hopefully won't be riding in town then.
So far so good but know my time will come. Hope its in grass (I don't bike off road) or snow (I live in S. Texas). One can only hope. . .
Be especially careful on downhills when you are stopping at a light. I had a shaky stop last week, even going by the book. I stopped in the space between the go-ahead lane and the right turn lane. It was downhill, the road was damp with early morning dew and my foot came down on the slick painted line separating the lanes. Even at nearly 0mph, the cleats made things very slippery.
i too fell over because i leaned to the still clipped in side. you panic because you realize you're going the opposite way of where your mind wants...then boom. My last one was on an organized ride, for those who saw me after the ride (bleeding) who had seen me pre-ride (not bleeding) I didn't exactly have a courageous tale to tell.
oh well...war wounds, that's all.
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
John Lennon, "Beautiful Boy"