Signed up, fellow crapster.

See you're in in the eastern part of the state above mine. Rode through Ellensburg last fall circling through your state on my annual mid-life crisis bike tour.

My life goals include moving West (I'm still a young man). We're out East to finish my wife's graduate program, then it's back to the wet side!

The box o crap is now in the hands of my postal carrier as of yesterday 2/23.

A big thank you to whomever put the Look pedals in there. I have them installed and now have a new pair of shoes... I'm all ready to fall over on my bike.

[MENTION=168558]Drillium Dude[/MENTION], Sasha is beautiful!

You're welcome. They came on an '87 Panasonic DX5000, and I'm all SPD now. I'm glad they found a good home. If you do fall over, it will be in proper French style.

I should learn some French expletives to shout when that happens while I wave my free arm around wildly.

I fell over a lot in the back yard yesterday and once on a short ride today when I turned around to come back. :)

Merde!

Zut alors!

Sheet!

My vocabulary is growing! At least I will have something to look forward to when I fall sideways from a stop looking like a doofus. Now I will look like a crazy French doofus. :roflmao2:

I only tried clipless for about 4 months and got stuck/fell over three times while clipped in. I'm sure everyone's done it at least once, be it clipless or clips/straps. My issue was loose cleats on my clipless setup - couldn't rotate all the way out. Luckily it was on grass each time.

DD

3 of us went to NAHBS Richmond, and signed up for the historical bike tour of Richmond from some local riders. tarwheel, Amani56, and I were on road bikes, dressed for the chilly weather, and everyone else shows up on hybrids and road bikes with, yep, flat pedals. Uh, oh, the urbanity, the urbanity. tarwheel, being smart, kept his distance. Gene and I did the usual clip in, clip out at every stop light, and then we came to some stop sign at the top of a hill, cobblestones as well. Yep, over I go, onto Gene, who also goes over. I must say, the Richmond riders were, uh, impressed, but what impression, not sure.

2 years later, NAHBS Austin, at the end of a ride, it's beginning to mist, and a tour bus pulls up next to us. I forget to unclip, and over I go, domino onto Scooper. In full view of the bus, and wearing my Primal Tarantula kit. Captain Idiotobvious.

Still happens once in a while, but I'm a little more wary of my hips being broken than I once was.....

YogaKat, just wait until deep into a century and you get a cramp, and can't move your leg, then suddenly remember you're clipped in.

This. I had a business contact up in Montreal I was traveling with once (northern Ontario). Just as we got to the airport I heard him say it - because we'd forgotten to purchase gasoline for the rental car.

Some other choice ones:

Putain! (F-bomb v.1; pilot Pierre Bonin used the term before he few Air France 447 into the Atlantic Ocean)
Foutre (F-bomb v.2)
C’est vraiment des conneries! (This/that is total BS)

Buddy of mine was a triathlete back in the early 80's, he was putting in 3-400 miles per week on toeclips and straps. He brought his bike into our shop to swap out the pedals for Looks. We went out riding, starting from San Francisco, over the Golden Gate bridge, then down into Sausalito. There's a stop that even the wildest cyclists always stop at, if you don't there's a 50-50 chance you'll get a ticket. Even after 15 miles of riding, this was the first time he ever tried to clip out. He did the most amazing tuck and roll, didn't really "hit" the pavement, and in a split second he looked like a turtle on it's back. The bike was upside down and vertical above him, still clipped in.

Several people on the sidewalk and one couple in a convertible next to us started clapping, possibly the most graceful crash I'd ever witnessed.

Not to be confused with Poutine. :innocent:

I prefer the less profane - Sacre Bleu.

Cobblestone stoplight and a damned SPD M636 pedal that wouldn't release. The pull-ups for PT and whitewater kayaking hobby ended that day. Still have a 7x20mm floating bit of humerus end in the left shoulder joint; scar tissue to extract it would accelerate the degeneration. Flat, Crank Brothers, or LOOK delta for this less bounceworthy guy.

My fave goes a couple steps further: putain bordel de merde. Literally a prostitute brothel of manure, but not figuratively...

Between the great colorful language and the clipless stories, I'm sitting here trying to not spit out my morning coffee. Hilarious yet a little terrifying.

Perfect early morning reading material.

Or you could use platforms.

It's an interesting way to crash; I did basically the same thing this past summer, tho I didn't end up completely on my back. From a post on the final page of my "Blasphemy" thread:

"Superficial cut to my knee, caused by my handlebar end cap. I struck it when the jumped cog jerked my leg in a funny way just as it reached the top of the stroke. Took the bike right out from beneath me, tho I held onto the bars and my feet both stayed in the clips. I landed on my hip - not heavily; in fact, no part of the bike ever touched the ground and I popped right back up after unclipping from the pedals. But it could've been much worse."

DD

Funny the stories that come out of an ordinary box of crap.

Vintage pedals are not so scary, but beware of vintage shoes.

Several years back at Cirque, about 2/3 of the way through the long ride, the group came to an intersection and paused for riders to catch up. A little better than half the riders already had their feet down as I rolled to a stop and attempted to unclip from the Look pedals on Shadowfax. (The previous few unclippings hadn't felt quite right, but who wants to bail on this ride?)

Kevin Kruger was on one side of me, and Jan Heine was on the other (both on very expensive bicycles), and I couldn't get out until... the sole of my shoe detached from the rest of it, and sat hanging from the pedal. Fortunately, my balance is pretty good, and fate was smiling on me, and by minor miracle, I was able to stay upright, and avoid giving Jan some material for the next issue of VBQ. Riding 12 miles on a 2-piece shoe was a bit of an adventure also.

The moral of the story is - to make sure your shoes are as sound as your cleats and pedals and brake pads and whatnot.

Been there...

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8023/7...c5f848c9_b.jpg

Luckily for me, I wasn't riding in them at the time. Gorilla Glue made things right in the end.

DD

Te SF story reminds me of my most impressive clipless failure. Riding in SF about 1992 with my new, but still pretty sucky Sampsons. Right at the Marina Green entrance to the Presidio a tourist waves at me to ask directions. Clearly I was not meant to talk and unclip at the same time, because I slowly went over as I struggled to get out, giving directions the whole time. Happened to me multiple times with those pedals but never with any others.

Also one of life's riddles. Why do we "clip in" and "clip out" of clipless pedals? Shouldn't we do something else? Pop in, pop out?

I often help wannabe cyclists become novice cyclists. This often includes clipless pedals.
My thinking is they may a well get it over with and then get on with it after the fall, etc.

One shapely young thing was getting fit in my garage, and she clipped in while sitting still.
It was a hot day, and let's just say her bike kit was meant for the weather.

I was behind her, and she slowly went over as I tried in vain to hold the bike up.
The wheels slid one way, she went the other.
She was not hurt, and neither was the bike. I was embarrassed, but impressed with her poise.
She looked me right in the eye, and said "If you need to grab my ass to keep me from falling over, go ahead."

I stifled the urge to ask for a do-over.

Damn, I've gotta go get me an Ironman...