Originally Posted by
elcruxio
I've actually found that it's faster to get a foot off a clipless pedal than from a spiked flat pedal. I went fatbiking today and again had multiple instances where my front tire washed out or dropped off the hard pack into softer snow and every time my foot just shot off from the pedal saving my proverbial (and literal) backside.
The ride before that I had a defective left pedal so occasionally my foot would stick for a fraction of a second or so. My left side is blue and black from that ride. It's weird how little powder snow does to cushion roots and rocks. First time ever I needed my back armour too.
Not really my experience, I've had the odd "almost disaster" mountain biking situations in very technical trails where I've stalled or gotten the front wheel stuck in stuff and the way my weight was, it was pretty sketchy getting my foot unclipped.
The times I've had the exact same fatbiking bailing situations, my flat pedal winter boots just go flying off the pedals as fast as I have gone flying into the snow off trail.
Glad your back armour did it's job, I probably go slower than you , or just dumb luck the times I've flown into the snow scenery (touch wood)
I'm an old fart so most likely take less risks than you do, but falls can be weird can't they? Sometimes a simple slow fall could hurt a lot, depends on how we fall and what we hit (touch wood, touch wood)