SteveDave

Until my shifter cover exploded and I attempted to stop out of complete shock and dismay to find that I had unclipped the wrong foot. Landed mostly in the grass. Oh well, you live and learn.

CNY James

better in the grass than on the side of somebody's van.

not that I have experience with that or anything

TomT74

First week of clipless riding many years ago: Intersection at top of small hill. Huffing and puffing to make it up (on a recumbent - high dork factor ). Just as I am approaching the crest, I see a gorgeous young lady walking her Siberian Husky - I am less than 15 feet away and planning my witty line. Shoulda been planning my unclip process. I learned a few lessons that day:

1. Witty lines lose most of their impact when delivered directly to the asphalt from a horizontal position.
2. Unclipping the foot under the bike after an Arte Johnson fall is a pain in the a$$
3. Observing the process is apparently extremely funny to gorgeous young ladies walking their dogs.

PaulRivers

LOL.

Few years ago I had just switched to a new clipless pedal system (spd's to speedplays). Went on a Sierra Club ride with a friend of mine. Was bragging about my new pedals to him...we came up to a stop, I slowed down, slowed down, slowed down...and didn't quite unclip my foot in time (was used to the unclip action on my old pedals, new one didn't react quite the same) - and fell over from a dead stop.

Man...he busted up laughing! :-) There were like 50 people behind us, to...

cmherrmann

Took my first fall yesterday, I have only been using clipless for a couple of weeks. We all fall at some point so don't feel bad, it is more embarrassing than anything.

PaulRivers

...it's true, but one important fact is that almost all the time the falls happens at 0-3mph.

(I'm serious though!)

Totaled108

I've been riding clip-less for about a year, the last 6 months have been on a fixed gear bike (brake-less). I have fallen twice neither times were due to not being unable to unclip, and both happened at about 10mph. First one was my first ever skid stop, in a warehouse. The second was on wet cobble stone, the front wheel washed out with out warning. I was lucky, the first fall, no one was around, the second only my riding buddy was there, we had a good laugh.

When I was starting to learn track standing, I would have to get out of the pedal in a split second due to my crappy balance at first. Came close to falling, but was always able to pop out before going to far over.

Lead with your heel.

SPD set up get lots of love from me.

StephenH

I used to hike along a mountainbike/hike trail at a local lake. It is mostly single-track. I walked up to a sharp curve, and just as I did, a mountain biker came zipping up, stopped dead, and fell over. And that was the first time I realized that cyclists actually attached their feet to their pedals. Had I realized what was happening, I could have just caught him, as it was, I just sort of stood there and watched him fall over in the grass.

Meanwhile, I just got my very first set of clipless pedals yesterday, so we shall see how it goes.

"When I was starting to learn track standing, I would have to get out of the pedal in a split second due to my crappy balance at first. Came close to falling, but was always able to pop out before going to far over."
I have gotten pretty good at stopping, then taking off again without putting my feet down. But I also find that riding at slow speed like that, when you do start to go over, you better catch yourself in a hurry, because you go fast. I don't think it was your crappy balance, i think it was just the dynamics of riding at slow speed.