Here's a fun one for the clipless conversations/debates that made the final 17 or so miles of Sunday's ride a little challenging.

I'm out for a leisurely 40 mile out and back on a MUP and there is a section through a forest preserve (chicago-speak for 'park') that has some short, but quite steep, hills. This was my first time on this part of the trail and on the way back decided I was feeling pretty good, so foolishly decided to upshift and mash my way up one of the steeper sections.

To my utter astonishment*, the hill had quite a grade to it (though I can't tell you what that is, because I don't have one of them fancy Garmins) and my legs pretty much stopped being able to turn the crank about halfway up. That moment of "Oh, *@#*" occurs and there is no way the RD is going to downshift under the load.

Down I go on my left side.... sliding about 10 feet backwards in the process. All I can do is laugh. All Psimet could do was laugh. If he had a video camera, it would have been AFV material and we'd be $10,000 richer.

Well, I've had clipless falls before so this was no big deal, right? Walk the bike to the top of the hill and check everything out. Saddle's straight, wheels are fine, spin the crank to make sure the gears are okay. Check, check, and check. All's well.

Wrong. I go to clip back in and something is wrong with my left pedal. Was I trying to clip onto the bottom of the pedal? No.... Hmm... Stop again to check it out and find out the cleat had a big chunk of the tip snap off!



Anyone had this happen before? It's easier than having a whole pedal fall off halfway through a ride, but still a strange way to ride clipless. Could feather the rear part of the cleat into the pedal, but had to be careful not to move my foot forward, since there was no engagement point.

*I should not have been astonished, as mashing is not my strong point. Ever.