Southern California - So damn embarrassing

Today I switched to clipless petals for the very first time and decided to take it for a ride to redondo beach. I hit my first red light on a very busy intersection in torrance thinking I still had regular petals and shoes on. On my complete stop I couldnt get my foot off and I started falling to my right. During my fall I was thinking "Oh sh$t I have cleated shoes on!". And so i fell like a tree and I was laying flat on the floor with both feet still stuck on the petals. A van pulls up and rolls down the window and these young teenage girls started laughing hysterically. I managed to finish my ride but pissed at the fact that the right side of my bike is freaking scratched up and embarrassed from the fall!

welcome to the club! You've just passed your initiation routine. :D

Now imagine being in a group start with several hundred riders and doing that. . . LOL now THAT'S embarassing! :D

Dito as the first reply-we all go through it.It will get better as you go along,I got mine about six years ago and would never go back to the normal pedals.-Welcom to the forum Nell.

Hasn't happened to me...what has happened to me is only clipping out one leg, putting that leg down to stop, leaning the opposite side, and falling the other way.

Welcome to the club. At least you were riding the first time you forgot about your clips and went down.

I was practicing clipping in and out of my pedals while seated on my bike and holding on to my vehicle. I had done it about 15 times and thought to myself, "okay, I've got the hang of it now" and let go of the vehicle thinking I could just get off... and then I went down like a giant log. Boom!

Yeah I felt stupid.

The key to it is laughing at yourself.

I went down (because I couldn't figure out which foot I wanted to unclip. . .indecision kills me) at a light with two extremely cute (and sweet - knew them) Japanese ladies standing at the crosswalk.

I executed a perfect roll, came up on my feet, and just started laughing (which they thought was a bit disconcerting), grinned at them, and mounted up again.

If you can laugh at yourself, we'll all laugh with you!:roflmao2:

Don't feel bad. We all go through it. I remember one of the several times I've fallen.

I was riding up to key's view in Joshua Tree. I had stopped to use the bathroom in a port-a-pottie full of bees. After I got on my bike, I was right near the entrance to the parking lot of key's view when I felt a stinging sensation in the crack of my @ss. I forgot I had my cleats on because I was focused on the bee sting and lean to the right without disengaging and fell in front of a bunch of foreign tourists. Plus I had my bike shorts down because I was trying to find the bee. Now that's embarrassing.:p

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome to my club!

Welcome to my club!

Well you could quickly get on your feet and say that you were posing.:)

Yay new club member. Haha I did this once before a race. I got to the race early so I had registered and was just hanging out. I called me friend to see if she was going to come watch and rode over the the bathroom while on the phone. I clipped out on my normal side but was distracted because I was on the phone. I leaned too far to the other side and fell over. I'm on the phone w/ my friend going "oh man I just pancaked" and she repliess "Did anyone see you?". Lucky since I had gotten to the race about an hour early I just scrambled up and I don't think anyone saw me ;). Bummer about getting laughed at by those girls. Seriously though don't sweat it, happens to the best of us.

clipless petals
http://www.socalbikeforums.com/images/smilies/confused.gif

http://weddingflowersandmore.com/images/silkflower/petal-hotpink.JPG

Most people have a clipless moment, so it's not that embarrassing. Misspelling pedal, however...

i was wondering about petals, too.

why the hell was i thinking about petals, haha. I just wanted to stay down and do a couple of push ups for the ladies in the van and thanks for welcoming me as a new member.

Be glad it was only strangers that saw you. First time I went down like that was in front of my team mates back in college.

Went down on one of those hills that it was better to walk up than ride on my mountain bike. Stupid me unclipped my right foot...but my bike decided to lean left and over I went. Only time I've done it. Pretty much second nature on a road bike. Problem at the moment is clipping in to that same right pedal. Seems to be having a bit of an issue right now...

Be glad it was only strangers that saw you. First time I went down like that was in front of my team mates back in college.

I would rather go down in front of people I know than a group of strangers. At least they can relate. Strangers have no idea why you would fall standing still.

"I meant to do that!"
"I meant to do that!"

I have had my share of falls... the worse in front of the crowd waiting for the RAAM riders to start. I was cruising up Main Street, Huntington Bearch, heard my name, turned my head and unfortunately the front wheel, and going only a mile or so an hour I was going down. All I could so was tuck and roll with the bike. More embarrassing... I couldn't get out of the pedals... I was stuck and needed assistance! A friend ran out and help dragged me out of the way! :o

I would rather go down in front of people I know than a group of strangers. At least they can relate. Strangers have no idea why you would fall standing still.
True up to a point. I think my wife would point and laugh longer than anyone else on the planet.

Went down once years ago as I stopped at an intersection. My fancy new zefal frame pump went flying out into the middle of the intersection. It was morning rush hour traffic and I figured I already looked like an idiot so I click clacked out into the middle of the intersection while stopping traffic in one direction to get my pump. I really miss frame pumps. They could be put to good use on stray dogs and motorists.

Don't feel bad. If you're going to crash, it's probably best to do it at 0 mph.

doesnt the "stuck" cleat falls occur in slow motion?

it feels like it, up until you actually contact the ground which then feels full speed. :D

Thanks for the laugh.

I bought Clipless pedals and shoes on a whim a few years ago. I was given a GC to REI and thought that the hell. So I installed them and tried them out in the Garage and felt confident. Went out around the block where I didn't have to stop and was feeling pretty confident. Then I go up the Driveway and come to a complete stop trying to pull my foot up and out of the pedal franticaly trying to put my foot down when I go down like a tree. Luckily no one was around but I told my friends what had happened and we all laughed cause it was funny as hell.

just remember to keep the bike above your body to avoid scratching the frame.

I did that at a red light, fell into a bush, I was lucky. ;P it was kind of comfy.

We don`t ALL go through it, but...:) That`s a great story, Neil. You can laugh at yourself and, no doubt about it, each of us has had moments we`d rather forget. Welcome to the forum. :)

the second time i tipped from my clipless it happened in front of a cop. he gave me a DUI test. i passed.

the second time i tipped from my clipless it happened in front of a cop. he gave me a DUI test. i passed.
lol!!!

I've fallen twice. First time I hit a large rock and the chain came off the crank. Slowed down, forgot I had clipless pedals, couldn't unclip fast enough and tipped over. A nice guy asked me if I was ok...I was so embarrassed I ignored him clipped back in and hauled ass.

Second time was I was pulled over in a rural area with virtually zero traffic, foot on the curb, other foot still clipped in. I went to reach into my back pocket and my weight shifted to the other foot, couldn't unclip in time.

Both times I grabbed the handlebars and kept it above my body. Zero scratches except for the pedals and on me. Both times my nuts got a beating from my saddle.

3x in the few weeks I've owned them. Laughed each time, had too as it truly was funny to see a grown man attached to his bike lying on his side writhing in pain and anxious to get back up like an upside turtle. Even if it was me... :lol:

Riding partner today Did this. He doesn't like to unclip so will gen try and keep balance while going slow moving his tire in and out. But towards then end of our 40+ ride he just couldn't get unclipped and keeled over. I was laughing so Hard. Although I am sure he got some laughs out of me freaking out after getting stung by a bee on the lower lip after riding into it. Damn that hurt a lot.

lol!!!


Both times I grabbed the handlebars and kept it above my body. Zero scratches except for the pedals and on me. Both times my nuts got a beating from my saddle.

Interesting you protect your bike over your jewels...

What owner of even a half way descent bike wouldn't protect it first? LOL Bet there are riders out there without a full set that ride everyday. Ohhh Yaaa, didn't one of them win the TDF a few times. The bike first, then everything else.

First time for me I landed on the hood of the car next to me