Foo - Life, A Study in the Absurd: Clipless Fall

So I am trying to finish this monster document and working at home--yuck.
My neighbor's dog is barking incessantly. I feel bad for the pup--
he wags his tail when you look over at the fence at him. But he barks
loud--so finally I jump on my bike and ride around the corner to see if I can
bang on the door and be like wtf? It is dusk. I am not wearing a helmet.
I stop and stall in front of the house where dog lives--clearly no one is home--
lights are off. I am not trying to trackstand--I am
desperately trying to remember how to unclip from these new pedals.
There is a two second pause in which time slooows down. I go over--
clipped in, and roll onto my side and shoulder to keep from making
a hard fall. My bike remains clipped to my legs as I view stars appearing
in the night sky as I look up from the street. I laugh.
My mind is refreshed from this absurd event and I ride
home. The dog stops barking.

Sounds like you weren't injured and didn't damage the bike. Maybe you had the extra bonus of not being seen. :)

sometimes we need refreshment...yours was in the way of a harmless fall.
:)

Well, sounds like bike and rider are okay. Happy birthday!

Yeah, bike is fine and no one saw me! But it did seem fun
somehow--even though in retrospect I could have cracked my head.

Dog was just trying to figure out how to laugh. He'll resume barking soon.

We live in a condo, and I've got one behind me that barks all the time when nobody is home. They are away from home a lot.

Two good things:

No one saw you.

You can laugh about it :) .

East Hill

Dog was just trying to figure out how to laugh. He'll resume barking soon.

We live in a condo, and I've got one behind me that barks all the time when nobody is home. They are away from home a lot.

Have you tried a clipless fall in front to that house?

We live in a condo, and I've got one behind me that barks all the time when nobody is home. They are away from home a lot.

That dog either is feeling lonely when his/her owners are out for the day or that dog thinks it is the alpha one and is pissed off that his pack leaves him each day without permission. Either the owners should get a campanion dog or they should assert their positions as pack leader.

I remember one slow-motion clipless topple in front of a stopped car.

The driver kept insisting that I fell over because my seat was too high, while I in vain tried to explain that, actually, no I fell over because my feet were attached to my pedals.

Then I realized how ridiculous I sounded and shut up. :o :p

Excellent.

The dog obviously needed some entertainment. Good thing you were around to provide it! :D Consider yourself lucky for not having anyone watching you fall. In most clipless falls I've done, there's been a bunch of appreciative spectators.

It's the same thing with kayaking, by the way. I often land on uninhabited islands for breaks, and sometimes conditions make for a tricky landing. If something goes wrong and I end up sitting in the water, someone will suddenly show up on the otherwise deserted beach. Usually with the inevitable "did you get wet?" No, but the sea just dried up a bit. Here's your sign.

--J

Interesting the possibilities certainly. Dogs (http://rlmi-petsandpictures.blogspot.com) can be funny sometimes. I have not tried clipless peddles but sounds like you can have alot of fun with it. Besides that as it has been said many times over you are ok and so is the bike that is great news. Now I wonder if I should look at that option and explore the experience.

At what point did we all become so afraid of falling? Remember back in those days when falling was something you didn't even think about. It happened, you get up and you keep rolling ..

But I remember my first clipless fall too. The good news is that I didn't know any of the people on the group ride as I just found a random group and jumped on (visiting in-laws in a different city).

That does certainly hold true, keeps life interesting, yeah falling once was a experience to brag about. ;) or perhaps just the fun of it. As times changes so do people and their views of a child sometimes fall by the wayside. To remember the good times as a child could serve a person well as an adult. The child is still in there just in remission perhaps.

Years ago, I got my first set of cleated roadie shoes for my clips and straps a week after I broke my collar bone.

That locked on feeling felt so good, till I road into my driveway and forget to loosen a strap.

I got back into biking because I had a bad knee from skiing and running. I had to switch to clipless and change the primary foot that I mount the bike with during the period of joining a group ride. The clipping un-clipping aggrevated my knees, so I had to figure out the clipless and reflexive leaned toward the wrong side to slow or stop. I fell over about three time during serveral different group rides, but I look as the dues to riding.

Clipless falls don't count if no one saw it happen.

Better luck next time.

No one saw you.


the first time i fell was at a red light in front of all the commuters...and i mean a LOT of commuters. there were even a few honks from the crowd. :o

at least you found out how to silence the dog next time iy barks...":)

I'm still amazed that I've only fallen once* with clipless pedals, whether on a regular bike or a fixed gear. I'm normally fairly clumsy, so I was expecting lots of topples as I learned, but not a one. Weird.

* I was indoors, failing at trackstands. As I started to fall in one direction, I accidentally clipped that foot in, and down I went.


I remember one slow-motion clipless toppleThere is something seriously wrong with my brain sometimes. "Topless clipple"? What the hell is a clipple? :rolleyes:

Welcome to the club.

Sorry that was my dog and I did see you.

Yeah, bike is fine and no one saw me! But it did seem fun
somehow--even though in retrospect I could have cracked my head.Perhaps the dog saw. Next time he barks, do it again...maybe he'll be amused enough to stop barking again.

The dog did calm down. Maybe he got the
laughs he needed.

I went down hard numerous times in my driveway.

Once on a rather advanced level trail I had no business being on I unclipped the wrong foot and had my life saved by a thorny bush. I believe we were at about 4,000 ft elevation at the time.