GaryPitts

I'm really enjoying my life becoming a cyclist I just started riding again a bit over two years ago at 56 years of age after not having ridden since I was able to drive a car. Now the kids are gone, my knees won't take racquetball anymore, and after 5 years or so on the couch I needed something to do. So I picked up cycling by buying a Schwinn hybrid off Amazon which lasted me all of 3 months before I knew I wanted better.

Bought a Trek Gary Fisher Mendota 2 years ago. Awesome bike to learn on. Progressed to a Sirrus Limited which is also awesome and just last month got a Domane (yes, it's awesome) and my first clipless pedals and went for my first clipless ride yesterday and had my first clipless fall 20 miles in Coming up hill to a stop sign and had to stop kind of unexpectedly due to a car coming from my left and, well, just fell over. It had to look glorious.

Two years ago, when my longest rides were around 20 miles, I went to just look and watch the Harpeth River Ride in Franklin, TN. Lance was there and I wanted to get a glimpse. I remember being amazed at this grandma coming in from a metric. How can she do that?! Last year I rode the 44 with my daughter only because I couldn't talk her into the metric. This year I'm signed up for the century. Hopefully, with luck and good weather, in a month I can scratch that one off my bucket list.

I will likely pose stupid questions from time to time as I continue to ride and learn. My question today is 'how many times am I likely to fall before I learn' or do folks continue to fall for a long time as they encounter new situations? I posed the question on FB to my only cycling buddy and his reply was 'the knees continue to take a beating'. Does this mean they continue for me for a while or it continues for everyone forever? Geez, I'm just wondering what I'm in for.

I must say on my first ride of a bit over 40 miles, it felt good to be attached to the bike, but I didn't notice any really noticeable increase in speed. I assume that will come with time. If it doesn't, screw this I'm going back to grippy platform pedals. Haha!

Myosmith

As long as there is gravity, people will continue to fall. Practice more = fall less, it is really that simple. Just avoid the temptation to stick a hand out to break your fall, that is a good way to break a wrist or clavicle. For your typical clip-out failure, just pull your chin to your chest and try to land spreading out the impact through your hips, ribs and shoulder. Don't gasp or hold your breath, breathe out forcefully at the moment of impact.

You're going to tip a few times getting used to clipless, everybody does. I tipped twice on group rides last year and once on my own. I used SPD and what helped me was to lower the tension on the retention spring and to go with the multi-release cleats. I also ride double sided pedals so that I can clip out and ride the flats when in stop-n-go traffic. If you try that approach, I found it good to force myself to do the heel twist to "clip out" even when I'm not clipped in, just to make sure I don't develop any bad habits.

canam73

Most people get used to the clipless pedals and adapt quickly. Give it a few more rides and I'm guessing you will become much more comfortable with the system and stepping out when needed will become second nature.

You may want to experiment with the tension setting, if you don't do much sprinting or out of the saddle stuff you can keep it lower.

Element GT

I've only fallen once so far. Everyone does, you just got yours out of the way quicker.

I've had several close calls, but it's just developing that habit of twisting your foot (the correct one) out sooner rather than later. Mine was in a similar situation, uphill needing a sudden stop.

With clipless you are able to generate power better in all areas of the pedal stroke. You can search on here and youtube for examples of technique. For me, it helped to imagine I was wiping something off the bottom of my shoe on the bottom part of the stroke. But everyone has their methods. Play around with it, soon you'll discover clipless is where it's at.

danmc

I got my first clipless last year and fell on the first ride out. I was stupid though and went on a MUP for the first time to use them, and I came to a point where the MUP crossed a road and then diverted; I got confused, stopped, and fell like a brick to the pavement. Tore up my knees and elbows quite bad. But that was the only time I've fallen and I've ridden thousands of miles on them now.

I'd recommend, as I'm sure others will, practicing indoors in a door frame, allowing yourself to fall and then unclipping at the last second to have it become muscle memory.

Machka 

Completely normal. It might happen that once, or maybe 2-3 times.


As for falls in general, it depends ... some people are more accident prone than others. For a little while there, I was falling about once a year for various reasons. And my left knee will be permanently scarred.

Ferrous Bueller

Vast majority the falls I've seen were caused by failing to unclip in time when slowing or stopping. If you have a foot out well before you come to a stop, you're far less likely to topple over.

GaryPitts

Oh, forgot the documentary pictures

jsharr

My falls usually involve unequal parts of gravity and beer, but seldom a bicycle.

That said, last weekend, went for a ride with my oldest son to a local nature area. We stopped at pond to look for animals and when I got back on the bike and clipped in, forgot I was in a high gear, facing up hill and on very soft ground next to a pond. I fell over. Had a good laugh at myself. Son was so interested in the pond that he did not see me fall, so I have that going for me.

Ferrous Bueller

Ugh. We believed you before.

Canadian_giant

I fall a couple times a year. Just when I think I've mastered clipless pedals I lose my balance at some point and boom! I dust myself off, pray no one saw me and gather what's left of my pride and go on. If there is one thing I have learned its not if you will get bumped or bruised but when.

rjones28 

It kind of hurts.

pallen

I haven't had a clipless fall yet - its been 3 years of riding clipless. (knock on wood) Some people have fallen a few times over years of cycling. I don't know anyone who constantly falls all the time. I don't know if clipless pedals made me faster, but when I ride without them, its always an uneasy feeling - like my feet could just slip off and I have to maintain more pressure on the pedals on the upstroke to keep them planted firmly. I definitely prefer to be "clipped in", but I skip the fancy tap shoes for my 1mi commute and most short pub rides.

tagaproject6

And then you have the-one-who-shall-not-be-named, that has never ever never ever fallen.

RollCNY

OP, in my opinion, clipless has nothing to do with speed, it has to do with putting zero energy into keeping your foot on the pedal. If you unweight your foot on the upstroke, you don't have to worry about your foot sliding. May mean nothing 20 miles into a ride, but is awfully nice 90 miles into a ride.

And you may or may not fall. Unclipping early for planned stops helps. Most people favor unclipping with the same leg all the time, but it helps to practice with both legs so you can do it in a hurry if needed.

My falls have been:
Chain drop on a climb.
Car stopped short in front of me.
Riding in the rain, my left (predominant foot) wouldn't unclip, I think because of lack of lube and grit. Rather than instinctively use the right, I fell over.

Ultimately, it happens.

mprelaw

I fall about once a year, but never because I forget to unclip.

Last one came when I almost right-hooked a jogger. Teenaged girl, running on the sidewalk of a rural road. Wearing ear buds. Just ran off the sidewalk into an intersection without looking for turning traffic. I stopped fine. Unclipped right. Told her that she should look, because next time it might be a truck turning instead of a bike. What I didn't realize---my rear wheel was on sand. When I tried to take off again, my rear wheel slid. Of course, it slid to the right, with the bike tipping towards the clipped in foot.

Seattle Forrest

Bingo. Practice clipping out. A lot. Always use the same foot to support yourself at a temporary stop so that it becomes second nature. But practice being able to do it with the other foot too.

You can lean against a telephone pole with your hand to keep the bike upright while you're stopped, and then clip in and out to your heart's content.

Clipless pedals don't really make you faster in general (during sprints, yes) but they tend to be more comfortable, to give you a zen-like connection to the bike, and, you won't believe this, but they can increase safety. If your foot slides off the pedal while you're distracted, bad things could happen. Or, more common, if you position your foot wrong and go ride 50 miles, your knees will suffer.

ksisler

Well I think most of us can agree that a teen age jogging girl was the cause of the fall... keep up the good life! As my 85yo dad too often says; If you no longer notice a pretty girl, you are already dead or you are just not living! [

jsharr

Every single fall I have seen was caused by gravity.

flatlander_48

Clipless pedals have more to do with efficiency than anything else. Nearly all of your effort goes into the pedals and, assuming you have been fitted correctly, your feet stay in the most favorable position with respect to the foot/pedal interface.

I think people fall with clipless for 2 reasons:

> Not anticipating that they might have to stop or slow down enough that balance becomes an issue.
> A moment of indecision regarding which foot to unclip.

For the first, be conservative. If you unclip 30% more than needed, so what? Better to unclip too many times than not enough. If you need to continue pedalling slowly, position the arch of your free foot over the pedal. That way you can put some force into the pedal and not worry about clipping in by mistake.

For the second, I consistently unclip my left foot. I now do this instinctively. Often by the time you think Left, NO Right it's too late.

The only saving grace about this is that usually you are all but stationary when all this happens. But, the pavement is still HARD!!

CrankAndYank

Fall? Are you riding near cliffs? Or do you mean crash? Crashing is part of riding.

danmc

Definitely master the clipless pedals before riding on the edge of cliffs.

CrankAndYank

Lance must have given her a lil' something....

mprelaw

Between her, and the MILF taking her kid into an ice cream joint on the other side of the intersection, sand wasn't on my radar.

ClydesMoose

No, never a clipless fall, but he did get his robes caught in the chainring a few times. Which is weird, cause he should just apparate instead of riding, but whatever