Two days ago, during my commute home, I was stopped at an intersection in rush hour traffic, waiting for the light to turn green. As I saw the light coming our way, I prep'ed for a sprint so that I could ride the draft of the car in front of me. Light turns green; I clip in; I start sprinting; left cleat pops out of pedal; I almost hit the deck, but saved it at the last moment, scuffing the heck out of my neoprene shoe boot. Checked the cleat when I got home. It definitely is over worn and needs to be replaced. But, where did I put the spares. Never did find them.

Yesterday, same intersection. Same circumstances, except I'm being razzed by some young kids just off the intersection. Their mother is buying a Christmas tree. They're yelling, "Hey, bike guy!" and "Hello, bike guy!" and other stuff I couldn't quite make out. I'm waving to each one who yells my way.

Light turns green; I clip in; I start sprinting; left cleat pops out of pedal; foot hits the deck; bike flips over; I'm in a heap in the middle of traffic. I slowly pick myself up and walking over to a "safe zone" to assess damage. One strawberry (it looks more like a raspberry, today) and a bump on my knee. Bike looks fine. Pride is damaged beyond repair--at least until I get across the intersection, which was done slowly this time.

By the way, I found my spare cleats.