cooleric1234

So I tried clipless pedals for the first time today. Being the obsessive/compulsive person that I am I read up on it plenty before hand. I saw the plethora of warnings and instructions and all the sites that said something to the effect, "you will fall." But since I was so prepared, it WASN'T going to happen to me. With the hubris of an invincible teenager but the body of a 30 year old clydesdale I embarked on the blissful state of riding clipless.

In all fairness, I was on a bike path, which had minimal stops. After about 25 miles I cam to a stop sign and decided that, rather than cross the street and risk falling because of my new clipless pedals, I would turn around. In my old hybrid with PowerGrips I would just go really slow and go over the grass. So I unclipped on the right side and began turning around very slowly. About half-way through I thought, "I shouldn't be riding on grass with these 23 inch tires holding a 230 pound person." That thought made me slow down to stop. The problem was that my right foot was unclipped but I was turning left. I swear I must have blacked out because between slowing down and hitting the ground I don't remember a thing. Okay, I didn't black out, it just happened so fast.

The brand new black beauty suffered little damage. I noticed some grass in the brake lever and I think that the lever is twisted inwards a little bit. It seemed to work fine, but now I've got to figure out how to adjust the brifters, which isn't hard, but will be a steady reminder of the effects of pride in my life. I rode home a little bit more cautiously, and a humbled quite a bit.

Of course, it happened on a busy street right by a MacDonalds frequented by bicyclists. I hereby propose a new Murphy's Law:

"When using clipless pedals you WILL fall at least once."

Corollary 1:

"...and it will always be with lots of people watching, and especially experienced cyclists."