Let me start with inflatable kayaking vs hardshell kayaking. I've had my inflatable kayak for years, and am quite comfortable with it. So I decided to learn to use a hardshell kayak. Went to the pool, got some pointers and tried it out. Set up the roll, roll upside down. Do the sweep and come up... perhaps on the 2nd time??? Anyway, I got so I might have to try it a couple of times, but rarely bail.

Head to the river... flip... everything is backwards... and I'm bailing every time.

It is like it is very hard to practice an accident. Anyway, I still like my inflatables.

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As far as the clipless... I really don't know how I fall, it happens so rarely. I did take a couple of falls with traction loss on my driveway. I probably now bail too early when I could in fact make it. But I have also had a few emergency stops where getting the feet out of the pedals is just fine. I usually have SPDs tightened to the point where they are difficult to get in.

Anyway, I've used toeclips since I was very young. Personally I think one can get one's feet out of the toeclips quicker than clipless (tight or loose) due to pulling the feet down and back, i.e. towards the ground, whereas the clipless is more of twisting and an upward movement. Nonetheless, I have fallen over with the the toeclips when I was just learning.

Those people who convert from toeclips to clipless aren't always immune to problems, but the conversion is generally quick and relatively painless.

An option would be to go incrementally with the toeclips.

• Half Clips
• Full Clips, No Straps
• Full Clips, Loose Straps
• Full Clips, normally tightening straps.
• Clips and Grooved cleats?

One thing about the toeclips.. while one can generally extract one's feet without loosening the straps... getting into the habit of loosening them makes it much easier to get one's feet back in. And perhaps it gets one into practice of considering an upcoming stop before one gets there.

I don't track stand per se, but I can ride mighty slowly.