Originally Posted by
bikingjerome
And that is exactly what I did, slope increased I shifted down, chain jammed , i panicked etc etc.
The problem is that whenever you shift up or down this could happen. Probability is remote but it did happen to me once and once is all you need.
Not sure why this is so confusing.
That's totally weird, I've never had my chain jam like you describe, sounds freaky.
My only suggestion, other than making unclipping habitual, is that I've developed a habit of always leaning slightly one way (usually to the right, as that's away from traffic) any time something starts to go wrong at all. If I did fall it would mean I fell the least scary way, but more importantly there's only one foot to think about unclipping - the right foot.
I guess saying "don't panic next time" isn't really helpful, eh? lol
If my wheel jammed, that would be bad bad news. But if just my chain jammed, and I didn't panic, I should be able to stay upright, right? I mean - unless I was going so slow that the loss of momentum caused me to no longer be able to remain upright.
One suggestion I've heard is taken the bike onto a softer surface like a grass field and practice leaning a little and clipping out. Try not to fall over, but try to become very comfortable with unclipping as soon as you start to lean.