Fifty Plus (50+) - Have you ever been on a hill so steep you couldn't unclip?

I know, for some of you unclipping is not something you do. So, feel free to ignore. But in reading some of the recent posts about climbing, I remembered a time when the only reason I was able to finish a climb is that it was so steep that if I had tried to unclip, I'd have fallen over before I could get out. I had to keep the pedals moving. If memory serves me correctly the particular stretch I didn't think I could ride was about 21%. I learned that my will was less strong than my actual body on that ride. It was one of those growth points as a rider when you realize how mentally tough great riders have to be.

It can be a real dilemma . Fearing that you haven't enough momentum to keep going. Yet, if you unclip you loose momentum.. Plan in advance of such a steep grade. If you think you are not up to it. - Don't do it. Or unclip in anticipation of such a steep grade. I usually plan ahead and if I think it's too steep I clip out of fear that I might not be up to it. Its rare I ride in such steep grades that I am not up to snuff. So, such experiences have been rare.

Not sure I completely understand the question. If I unclip my pedals, I positively won't make it over a hill as I will not be able to pedal any longer because I am out of the pedals. I also can't even imagine a scenario where I wouldn't be able to unclip, you just do it and put your foot down. I've done this in a split second in an emergency.

Clipless pedals, once you get the knack, come loose pretty quickly. Mountain bike riders use them and, if you're doing real mountain biking, you're going to attempt some climbs that you can't complete. I took lots of falls back when I was mountain biking (if you're not bleeding you didn't try hard enough) but I can't remember one due to not being able to unclip. Most clipless pedal falls come from clipping out on one side and falling the other way.

Back in the olden days I used toe clip pedals with cleats on my shoes. That combination requires some planning to extricate your foot every time that you stop. I remember once climbing a hill that I didn't think I was going to make. I think that my adrenalin must have kicked in to give me the added boost that I needed.

What the OP describes is a genuine risk in major hillclimbs. The risk is compounded because climbs that steep are often winding and narrow roads with sharp drops off the side. If you commit to the grade and fail physically, you may not have the energy to unclip fast enough to keep from falling either into the road or off the edge.

Essentially you either have to beat the climb, or fail with enough in reserve to get yourself into a safe standing position. That fine line can be very hard to find when you are at your maximum physical output. And the risk is actually higher for decent riders, because they are more willing to redline themselves.

I've seen good riders fall into the road on Platte Clove, a brutal climb into the Catskills, several times. (That hill is famous for reducing some pros to walking during one particular rainy race.)

I've had a few close calls trying to unclip on steep climbs. Scary. :eek:
Another problem I've had a time or two is my chain dropping off on the inside when shifting from the large to the small chainring when climbing long hills. Also scary. :twitchy:

I can relate to what your referencing. There is a 21 per cent hill where I've seen riders unclip and fall over when they tried to put their foot down. Often their cleats would slip due to the steepness and they'd start going backwards. It is not a simple matter of unclipping and stopping. Restarting is another challenge in itself.

This has happened to me several times while climbing steep and rocky/rooty hills on a mountain bike. Sometimes the difference between success and failure on a climb can be a very fine line. Make it and you keep moving. Don't make it and fall. It is very hard to unclip while you are pushing as hard as you can on the pedal up to the point that you are no longer able to move it. I have made a few falls like this leading to tubling down the side slope or being pinned under the bike without room to move my foot enough to get unclipped. Very comical sometimes. Kind of painful others.

The only time I have come close to this on the road was on Brasstown Bald. I was straing so hard in my lowest gear that I was afraid I would break my chain or my gut! I managed to turn to the side enough to relieve the pressure enough to quickly unclip. To restart I had to start across the grade and quickly build enough speed to turn up the hill and struggle on.

So far this is the thing I fear most since I started using clipless pedals last Fall. Particularly on a group ride where I have not scouted out the terrain first. Applying the brakes while unclipping might hold you in position long enough to unclip and get a foot on the ground. Lately I have been practicing on a short steep grade near home to see how well I can climb. Actually even before using clipless pedals I once ran into difficulty after coming around a corner and suddenly faced with a steep climb before having shifted down. Have fallen over twice on fairly level ground when I first started using them but the results were just sort of humorous; a skinned knee in one instance but nothing serious. A hill, however, seems far more potentially dangerous.

Maybe some tips to glean off this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxWceFTkLRU

Not sure I completely understand the question. If I unclip my pedals, I positively won't make it over a hill as I will not be able to pedal any longer because I am out of the pedals. I also can't even imagine a scenario where I wouldn't be able to unclip, you just do it and put your foot down. I've done this in a split second in an emergency.

^^^ This.

The steepest I've ever climbed was 18 or 19%. I remember thinking, "I hope I don't come unclipped" as I pulled up on the back side of the stroke.

It never occurred to me that I'd want to unclip and stop, because I knew I wouldn't be able to start again. So I just continued up the hill.

Track stand. A big safety skill in that situation to gain time. One of the significant causes of broken bones on slick rock is stalling out on a too-steep climb and falling off the bike then tumbling down to the bottom. Slick rock has pheneminal traction when dry. There's a particular area in Moab that is hell on bones because of that. I stayed away from it.

It's recommended by the pros like Ned Overend to learn a good track stand to protect your self. One of my things to do, but never got too.

On Brasstown bald, going up on a motorcycle was scary. The wife and I leaned forward as we had the feeling we were going to flip over backwards. A few of my much younger friends have stalled out there. I saw some triples for the second Tour of Georgia for the stage that finished there.

Al

Maybe some tips to glean off this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxWceFTkLRU

That is a hoot. I love how everyone attacks the bottom of the hill, as if momentum will somehow propel them up a 38% grade.

Will be this weekend :) . I've had to unclip on the downhill side before. Not fun but it beats the alternative.

Not sure I completely understand the question. If I unclip my pedals, I positively won't make it over a hill as I will not be able to pedal any longer because I am out of the pedals. I also can't even imagine a scenario where I wouldn't be able to unclip, you just do it and put your foot down. I've done this in a split second in an emergency.
+1

Yes, working my way from Pie Corner to Boscobelle in Barbados. Climbing up a very steep gradient (unknown) on a narrow road and had resorted to traversing when an oncoming car forced me straight up the hill. Couldn't keep the front wheel on the ground and ended up on my back. Must have been funny to see.

I think this is the same hill. Gives you a better feel for how steep it is.

Steep Climb (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3bHNcO_Wwc&feature=related)

Steepest road climb I have ever done was 24% - I made it up fine, but even if I would have had to unclip it would have been easy to put my foot down and stay upright.

Clipless pedals, once you get the knack, come loose pretty quickly. Mountain bike riders use them and, if you're doing real mountain biking, you're going to attempt some climbs that you can't complete. I took lots of falls back when I was mountain biking (if you're not bleeding you didn't try hard enough) but I can't remember one due to not being able to unclip. Most clipless pedal falls come from clipping out on one side and falling the other way.




Not sure I completely understand the question. If I unclip my pedals, I positively won't make it over a hill as I will not be able to pedal any longer because I am out of the pedals. I also can't even imagine a scenario where I wouldn't be able to unclip, you just do it and put your foot down. I've done this in a split second in an emergency.

Can relate to both these replys.To get full efficiency out of the legs I have to be clipped in. Unclipped and I will have a very good chance of not making a hill. But Offroad you have the added problem of Terrain. I find it easy enough to unclip at any time and at any degree of Kna**ered so on road will not be a problem. Offroad however and the bike can go sideways through 90 degrees (Or more) at any time. On the flat- uphill or downhill. Those are the ones that you do not expect and are over in a split second. No time to think and providing you can move all 4 limbs without too much pain- you are OK. It was probably a soft landing onto 6" of mud in any case.

Steepest road climb I have ever done was 24% - I made it up fine, but even if I would have had to unclip it would have been easy to put my foot down and stay upright.

I think a lot of people are missing the point. It's not about geometry -- it's not that your foot won't hit the ground, or stay on the ground, because the hill is so steep. It is about physiology. If you are at total physical failure, you may not have the energy to get your foot out of the pedal, or do anything at all except fall over. It's never happened to me, though I've been close, but I've seen it happen.

Like I said above, it is more likely to happen to strong riders, because they are more likely to push themselves to the redline until they are completely spent.

Mountain biking. Five times in about two hours.

Mountain biking. Five times in about two hours.

That is expected on an mtb. :thumb:

I do most of my ridng in a fixed gear. I figure my limit in a 70-inch gear is an 18% grade. Unless you are racing in an actual hillclimb (where you are not allowed to get off the bike), I see no point in staying on the bike when you get to the point where you can walk up the hill faster. There is no shame in walking the bike up the hill; the pro's do it all the time in the Belgian classics when they lose momentum up the cobbled climbs.

I often wonder at the extra-low gears some riders use. Really, if you can walk faster (and easier), what's the point?

L.

I often wonder at the extra-low gears some riders use. Really, if you can walk faster (and easier), what's the point?


I am quite certain I could not walk up a 23% grade faster than I can ride a bike up one. It would be easier to walk up the grade, precisely because on a bike I am going faster and have to develop more power. If I had a gear low enough to make a grade like that as easy as walking I would be going at my walking speed on that grade. The trail near me has some short (this is in Illinois after all) 23% grades and the walkers seem more afraid of them than the bikers. I've done those grades at the end of an 80 mile training ride and they certainly were not welcome at that point but they did not prevent me from riding through. There are five of them in quick succession and I would suppose that the total altitude gain is in the 300 - 500 foot range which is pretty modest indeed by mountain country standards but huge for these parts. I don't have a gear low enough to sit on the way up so I stand and from a standing position my low gear is too low, I ride the third or fourth cog up from the low end in the rear and on the granny ring in the front.

Typing this reminds me of one more fun fact about the "hell hill" conclusion to that 80 miler. As I went into the climb on the last hill I had a brain fart and forgot to shift into the gear I needed to be in. I had the correct rear cog but forgot to shift out of the middle ring on the front. I did not realize my mistake until the grade was too steep to shift. Maybe I could have but I've never shifted while pedaling that hard before so I did not try since this was not the time to experiment with that. I just muscled my way up because I was confident I could unclip if I stalled.

Ken

Regarding the original question, yes I have. So I kept pedaling.

I think he's talking about coming unclipped and walking the rest of the hill... of course you can't keep pedaling once you come unclipped

Have seen the "stall" can't unclip scenario happen lots of times on steep grades. Worse than that, I think, is to have a chain snap in the midst of a steep climb. All the sudden blamo then you are madly pedaling and soon you meet the pavement. Only happened to me once and was lucky to make my landing in a well cared for lawn.

Yes, I've expereinced it - several times, but we do have some extremely steep hills round here. I'm talking long stretches of 15%, or steeper, leading into 25% (maybe more), so your legs are already frazzled by the time you get to the really steep bit. There's one local hill in particular that I have succeeded in riding only on about 50% of my attempts, the much feared Mytholm Steeps. I've had one fall on the steep section and one very near miss.

The fall came on my first attempt at the climb. I'd actually conquered the nasty 25% stretch and was just about to take the left-hand bend at the top when an idiot motorist insisted on a close overtake just on the bend. (Don't forget we drive on the left in the UK.) That forced me tight onto the apex of the bend which is about 35% for a couple of yards. My legs just buckled. I started toppling and couldn't get my feet out of the straps I was still using at that time. The kids in the back of the car were howling with laughter as I lay there on the grass verge, still clipped to my bike. I went out and bought Look pedals the next day!

I made it up the hill on my next two attempts but then I tried it in the rain. The road surface was extremely greasy and I was giving maximum effort on the 25% section when my back wheel slid out from under me. I only just got my foot out in time but the Look cleat then slid on the wet surface and I was slipping backwards down the hill. No chance of getting going again, and an almost impossible walk. I had to take my shoes off to get up it.

After that, I switched to SPD shoes and pedals so at least my feet wouldn't slide on panic dismounts.

For those of you who are interested, take a look at my slideshow of the climb ... here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/9299934@N04/sets/72157600477136881/show/).

Beautiful photos CollinJ!

Well, this all reminds me of an experience I had back in the early 80's -- when everyone used toe clips and straps and down-tube shifters.

I lived in Heidelberg Germany, where, on a small mountain, the Heidelberg castle is located. One of my favorite rides was to ride up the back side of the mountain to the castle -- or near to it. The climb had several switch backs, but was not too steep. One Sunday I decided to ride to downtown Heidelberg and ride up to the castle from that direction. Being Sunday, and a populalar tourist attraction, there were many people walking up the road to the castle as I started the climb. It started out fairly gentle, but gradually became steeper. The road was lined by people walking to the castle. At one point the road made a sharp turn, and became very steep. I was already out of the saddle but had no momentum. I was going so slow that I couldn't reach down to downshift or loosen a toe strap. After a few seconds, I came to a stop and, being unable to free my foot, simply fell over.

I'm sure not everyone on the mountain side was laughing at me as I freed my feet from the pedals, got back on the bike and coasted back down the hill; however I think many still tell about the idiot who feel off his bike on the way to the castle. If either clipless or STI shifting had been in use in those days, I might have saved my dignity.

No.

Back in the olden days I used toe clip pedals with cleats on my shoes. That combination requires some planning to extricate your foot every time that you stop. I remember once climbing a hill that I didn't think I was going to make. I think that my adrenalin must have kicked in to give me the added boost that I needed.
+1on the toe clips with cleats,,,scary,took me 2 days to give up the cleats forever still use toe clips...
Bud

I have read all the replies on this thread because I really didn't think I had the gist of the issue.

Basically if you can take your foot off platform pedals and put it on the ground, you can also do it in the same amount of time when clipped into clipless pedals.

If you can't do it in time to keep from falling over with either type of pedals, you will fall over.

Clipless pedals do not add to the time it takes to put your foot down. The concept that it takes longer with clipless pedals is wrong.

If you think about it, (using platform pedals) you cannot just push through the pedal to put your foot on the ground. You must move your foot off the pedal before you step down to the ground. Your body eventually memorized this movement and you perform it without thinking about it. Clipless pedal disengagement is no different, your body eventually memorizes the movement (leading with the heel) and can perform it just as fast.

With respect - you are the gear, but you have no idea! ;)

A group of people with many years of experience describe how they have had a particular problem and you declare that it is merely a 'concept'! So our cuts, bruises and broken bones are presumably imaginary, or if we did have the problem, we caused it ourselves by not believing that we could unclip in time?

When climbing a savage gradient, at the limit of your strength, you can go extremely rapidly from riding up the hill to toppling sideways and the slightest delay can be the difference between getting a foot down and not. Despite what you say, even with the lightest of release tension, it takes longer to twist a foot off a pedal than it does to lift it off. Maybe only 0.2 second, but that may be more time than you have.

The problem is caused by waiting right up to that critical instant. If you admitted defeat even half a second earlier, you'd probably have been okay, but when you tough it out and you stall at the top/bottom of the pedal stroke, that's when you get caught out.

90% of the time, I get up the steepest hills. I probably fall only 10% of the remaining 10%, but it hurts when it happens.

I hope that I haven't jinxed myself ... I have a hard ride in the hilly Yorkshire Dales tomorrow which includes the very tough climbs of Dent station (2 miles at an average of 9.5% with several ramps well over 15%) and Fleet Moss (the hardest section of which averages 8.5% for 2 miles, but ramps up and up right to the top section at 25% - there is a very good chance that I won't get up that on the bike, but will I have the sense to dismount in time, or will I really go for it and risk a fall? Watch this space!)

Sometimes you just have to go for it. All in!

Sometimes you just have to go for it. All in!

:lol: That's typically when I get in trouble.

When climbing a savage gradient, at the limit of your strength, you can go extremely rapidly from riding up the hill to toppling sideways and the slightest delay can be the difference between getting a foot down and not. Despite what you say, even with the lightest of release tension, it takes longer to twist a foot off a pedal than it does to lift it off. Maybe only 0.2 second, but that may be more time than you have.

The problem is caused by waiting right up to that critical instant. If you admitted defeat even half a second earlier, you'd probably have been okay, but when you tough it out and you stall at the top/bottom of the pedal stroke, that's when you get caught out.


My problem with this is I keep running into the "disengaging from clipless pedals is hard" rap when often the full story is a clear cut memory issue. Please understand it becomes hard to convince someone of the benefits of going clipless when you run into this (mostly good natured) topic all the time.

My main question would be if you were in this same situation with platform pedals and you also pushed it to the point of no return, would you also fall? If you would or you can't say for sure if you would, please don't scare people away from something so beneficial unnecessarily. I respectfully disagree with you about the .02 second differential. I am not in any way coordinated, I am however quite habitual, for me there is no difference in time from platform or clipless if there is time to get my foot down, it is down no matter the pedal type. I have been in this situation many times and have also fallen many times, but not because of clipless pedals, it was because I just didn't have time to get a foot down.

Now toe clips, that is a different situation, back in the day I had fallen (a few times) because I couldn't loosen the strap in time let alone lift the cleat and remove the shoe.

Someone mentioned the problem of shoes slipping, well engineered road shoes have a pad on the heel (really well engineered road shoes have replaceable pads). Metal cleats can slip if you put your weight on them at an angle, but SPD-SL type cleats are not metal they are neoprene with rubber tips, these cleats don't slip and they also don't wreck hard wood floors, just one of many things to consider when choosing a pedal/cleat combo.

With respect - you are the gear, but you have no idea! ;)

A group of people with many years of experience describe how they have had a particular problem and you declare that it is merely a 'concept'! So our cuts, bruises and broken bones are presumably imaginary, or if we did have the problem, we caused it ourselves by not believing that we could unclip in time?

When climbing a savage gradient, at the limit of your strength, you can go extremely rapidly from riding up the hill to toppling sideways and the slightest delay can be the difference between getting a foot down and not. Despite what you say, even with the lightest of release tension, it takes longer to twist a foot off a pedal than it does to lift it off. Maybe only 0.2 second, but that may be more time than you have.

The problem is caused by waiting right up to that critical instant. If you admitted defeat even half a second earlier, you'd probably have been okay, but when you tough it out and you stall at the top/bottom of the pedal stroke, that's when you get caught out.

90% of the time, I get up the steepest hills. I probably fall only 10% of the remaining 10%, but it hurts when it happens.

I hope that I haven't jinxed myself ... I have a hard ride in the hilly Yorkshire Dales tomorrow which includes the very tough climbs of Dent station (2 miles at an average of 9.5% with several ramps well over 15%) and Fleet Moss (the hardest section of which averages 8.5% for 2 miles, but ramps up and up right to the top section at 25% - there is a very good chance that I won't get up that on the bike, but will I have the sense to dismount in time, or will I really go for it and risk a fall? Watch this space!)

It takes a little longer with clipless, but back when you were using clips, cleats and straps, you had to reach down and loosen a toe strap to remove your foot. Nearly impossible when you are stalled on a hill.

Hills, what hills. We don't need no steenkin hills. We don't even have no steenkin hills. But we got headwinds from h3ll. Clips, what clips. We don't need no steenkin clips. I don't even have no steenkin clips...uh yet. Workin my way up to clips and spandex, just need a little more time. Maybe I'll start with a tecknickle tee or a jersey. :D

It takes a little longer with clipless, but back when you were using clips, cleats and straps, you had to reach down and loosen a toe strap to remove your foot. Nearly impossible when you are stalled on a hill.

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around being clipped, cleated, strapped and otherwise bolted to my bike while in motion going up or down an incline. I admire you racer guys, but I don't know if I could ever be one. It's easy to take the boy out of the fifties but it's hard to take the fifties out of the boy.

The last time I wiped out on a bike I had somehow wandered off the path a few years ago probably trying to pass another oldster and just full speed on my MTB hit a crack in the gumbo hidden under the grass and completely flipped airborne about 25' and landed flat on my back in the grass, instantly winded, 'dazed and confused' like the song. If I'd have been clipped in on a road bike I probably would haven't broken off both feet at my ankles. I had never seen my buddy laugh so hard.

The argument about Platform -Clips or Clipless makes no sense to me. I always use clipless for the simple reason that IF I use a platform pedal- my foot keeps coming off the pedal. That is not pleasant on the flat- let alone on the hills.

So you are going uphill and so slowly that you can't make it. What do you do? You either put in more power to get the speed up- or you stop and walk. Dead easy.However last sunday I did a ride and there were several people falling over becasue they could not make the hill. The road was so crowded that you could not get more than 3 mph up the hill and if the rider in front of you stopped you either put a foot down or fell over. I had people stop dead in front of me. No problem-Trackstand for a few seconds- look for the way round and pedal on.

But I still think the situation from the OP should not exist- You either put in more power or start walking.

This is not about trying to scare anyone away from using clipless pedals. I am totally sold on the advantages of riding with clipless pedals. We are talking about extreme situations that most riders would seldom if ever encounter. Where you have committed yourself to pushing through a tough climb far beyond where most people would have given up. Where you are pushing your pedals as hard as you possibly can with all your strength and weight involved, the veins are standing out on your temples and still the bike is barely moving or not moving.

When you finally face the reality that you are going to have to bail out of the attempt, you realize that if you back off the pressure on the pedal long enough to twist your foot and disengage the cleat from the pedal, the bike is possibly going to start moving backwards and you are going to topple over. If you can get to that point without toe clips or clipless pedals, you may still not have time to make the transition. But of course it takes a split second longer to add the extra step of twisting the foot to release the cleat. How could it not?

Although this can happen, especially offroad, there are many other more common situations where having your feet secured to the pedals and not slipping off makes you safer and less likely to crash, especially offroad.

I believe the use of brakes, as mentioned by Sculptor7 in post#9, is the key. If you hold the brakes as you unclip and stop, the bike will be stable, not roll backward, and you will just need to get a toe on the ground to stay upright.

I hope that I haven't jinxed myself ... I have a hard ride in the hilly Yorkshire Dales tomorrow which includes the very tough climbs of Dent station (2 miles at an average of 9.5% with several ramps well over 15%) ...
I was grovelling up that climb when I heard a grunt from a rider behind me, followed by a thud. That part of the climb was too steep for me to stop or look round so I shouted to ask he if he was okay and he was.

We met up again at the top of the hill and he told us that he'd suddenly run out of strength and started to topple but hadn't been able to unclip in time. He was nursing some road rash on his leg.

He clearly hadn't grasped the concept that it is as easy to unclip on steep hills as on the flat! :rolleyes:

The issue has nothing to do with the amount of time it takes to get out of clipless pedals IMO.

The only way to get the maximum output out of your body and your bike is with clipless pedals, end of story. If you're on platform pedals, you are not going to get into a scenario where you have committed maximum effort on a supersteep climb and blow up and fall over, because you can't give that kind of effort on platform pedals.

The moral isn't that platform pedals are safer, the moral is that you need to be aware of the physical point of no return when you are close to blowing up on a hill.

To the doubters, I really just have to say trust me, I've seen excellent riders fail on a steep climb and fall into the road.

I know I am pushing my luck here but I'd just like to ask a question: which foot (right or left) are you trying to put down?

I know I am pushing my luck here but I'd just like to ask a question: which foot (right or left) are you trying to put down?
You might be onto something there ...

I think most people develop the habit of putting a particular foot down first, in my case, the left. Unclipping that one first feels natural and I'm good at it. Under normal circumstances, I never do the other one first - it just doesn't feel right. In the case of the emergency dismount, however, the 'wrong' foot might be the one that needs to unclip first.

Hmm, perhaps I will start alternating which foot to unclip so I become more used to right-foot-first dismounts.

Another point - if you have your cleat release tension set low to allow easy unclipping, make sure that you pedal with absolutely no sideways movement of your foot on steep climbs. I have accidentally unclipped in such scenarios because my foot twisted under the strain. It is not a good idea to ramp up the release tension to prevent that happening unless you are certain that you will never have to unclip in a hurry!

[QUOTE=ColinJ;12849907]You might be onto something there ...

I think most people develop the habit of putting a particular foot down first, in my case, the left. Unclipping that one first feels natural and I'm good at it. Under normal circumstances, I never do the other one first - it just doesn't feel right. In the case of the emergency dismount, however, the 'wrong' foot might be the one that needs to unclip first.

Hmm, perhaps I will start alternating which foot to unclip so I become more used to right-foot-first dismounts.
/[QUOTE]
Colin, sorry, I thought maybe alternating feet WAS the problem as it could take an extra millisecond for the decision process to pan out. I always do the same foot habitually as my thinking is it eliminates the brain from slowing me down.

Have you ever been on a hill so steep you couldn't unclip?

No. It's real easy to get out of toe clips, especially if you don't use straps (which is how I ride). Also, there aren't too many super-steep hills around here.... a few, but they are mostly pretty short.

Colin, sorry, I thought maybe alternating feet WAS the problem as it could take an extra millisecond for the decision process to pan out. I always do the same foot habitually as my thinking is it eliminates the brain from slowing me down.
I think it has finally dawned on me what the problem is!

A fall is probably the result of trying to unclip a foot when it is at the bottom of the pedal stroke. (Stalls always seem to happen at the dead spots in the pedal stroke where one foot is at 12 o/c and the other at 6 o/c. Once you get the pedal 'over the top' you can use your body weight to force it down.)

If I am falling to the left, it is no use unclipping the right foot, but if the left foot is close to the ground then it is hard to unclip it and get it down on the road in time to stop the fall.

I think the idea of braking to stop roll-back is a good one (as long as it doesn't slide the brake blocks out of their shoes!). Leaning to the side with the higher foot and unclipping that one seems like the best plan.

Actually, the best plans for avoiding falls on steep hills are:
Don't try and ride up steep hills! If you do try and ride up steep hills, have tiny climbing gears on your bike! Get so fit that you can climb anything!

[B]Actually, the best plans for avoiding falls on steep hills are:
Don't try and ride up steep hills! If you do try and ride up steep hills, have tiny climbing gears on your bike! Get so fit that you can climb anything!


You realize, of course, that this assumes that all falls should be avoided. I know this has the potential to sound strange, but the last fall I had riding up a very steep hill was good for me. It reminded me that there all falls in life, that they can be survived, and that life goes on.