This happened to me yesterday.

When I originally purchased my Specialized Allez Sport, I had the bike shop install dual sided pedals, where one side has clip ins and the other side is a normal pedal. That way I figured I could take my time to get used to clips.

Yesterday I started using the clips with my cycling shoes. When I came to a traffic light and slowed down, I wasn't able to get my right foot out of the clip soon enough. So--picture this--I'm almost to a complete stop, and I just FALL OVER! Fortunately I fell over the curb so that, as I fell, my leg provided leverage that simply lifted the bike off the ground sideways so that nothing was scratched, dinged, or otherwise damaged. And I was right next to a car driven by a good-looking blonde. My wife thought it was damned funny, and I have to agree!

This is an inevitable rite of clipless passage; a baptism by gravity. Welcome! You have lots and lots of company.

Welcome to the group. I had to fall over twice before I learned my lesson. Complete stop and crash. Car drivers probably got good laugh.

Teme

I dunno about inevitable; I've never fallen due to not clipping out, but it's certainly common from reading around here.

When riding the D&RC towpath with The Historian, I mounted on a slight uphill grade with the bike in a high gear. I got about an inch before tumbling over to the left. I had about an inch of dirty road rash that took 2 months to heal.

I;ve been thinking of getting clipless pedals myself as wella s the shoes. I would think if I was in your shoes I'd take it to the park/paved trail and try it out for couple hours till you've got the hang of it on emergency stops and clip on/out speed time trials so you're comfortable before going into traffic.

BTW did you get the blondes number?

I'm guessing the bike shop folks didn't adjust the release tension screw to the "easiest to get out of" setting.

How 'bout today: Intently focused "head down" climb up a steep hill. . . right into the back of a parked truck. Luckily no damage. Got a little banged up but was only doing about 10 mph or so. Got to remember to look ahead even when it's tough.

Later on, flatted the tire - about 20 miles from home. Had to call for a ride. That sucks.

It takes some getting used to for sure. Try practicing track stands while clipped in. This will help with your balance and teach your feet how to clip out quickly in a emergency. I'd practice in a grassy area.

...pants on fire.

A day after bragging to a friend how easy it is to clip out, I did the exact same thing at a busy intersection in downtown Toronto. It was hard for me to get back up because I was laughing so hard

Ahh yes. Clipless. Riding clipless in the city allows for way more opportunites to just show how good your are at extracting yerself from yer pedals.

Been there, will be there again and hate it everytime. It's more of a planning event to think about dismounting versus just removing the foot.

I have a riding partner who absolutely hates unclipping to the point of being dangerous as he will blow stoplights (in traffic) and if he can't get across the intersection due to traffic (and this instance was a busy 4 lane crossway section) and he slid into the other crossing road(s) and basically did figure 8's to twist around - went around a stopped car or two and then made it onto the way we needed to go.

Totally mortified. Good freaking grief. And he's pulled things like that since. Finally told him that if he doesn't obey NYS road rules then I can't ride with him.

Anyway ...

Clipless on mtb on trails is a whoooole new thing for me though ... as I finally did it and took the plats off and went SPDs on the mtn. You start to think quite differently (at least I do) and really try and plan out the route versus just bombing in. And yes, I've gone down a few times, but luckily with no injuries - soft landings.

No, really. I've fallen 2 or 3 times since going clipless, but none of them were due to not being able to clip out. One icy patch at the end of my driveway which was hard enough to defy even my Nokians, one patch of sand on a corner that I took too fast (resulted in 14 stitches on my face), and once I was just taking off from grabbing the mail at the end of the driveway, heading towards the house, had the mail in one hand, riding with the other, and my front wheel got caught in some ruts in the ice.

This would have been very embarrassing had anyone been around to witness it. I was riding a fixed gear with toe clips (I prefer clips with fixed). I leave the straps long rather than short to make it easier to grab and tighten when the pedals are in motion, which they always are (no coasting). Anyway, the strap got caught between the chain and chainring, forcing violent bunny hops before finally crashing.

0mph tip overs are no longer embarrassing to me. I've done them so many times. In fact, what do I care if a motorist gets a laugh over my small misfortune? I'll bet good money that overall his life is far more miserable than mine. He could use a laugh.

Well.


Before I got my SPD shoes I was using my sneakers (on SPD pedals). And I only fall off my bike once in those, when I got really really drunk at home, had a happy hour and decided to make it happier by going out for a ride. Through some parking lots, I don't remember, I ended up being unable to avoid a very large lincoln. Left a dent in old man's car and broke my finger.


That was the day before I got my SPD shoes. I practically was safe before receiving my brand new performance shoes.


Shoes are good, overall allow me to ride 10 mph faster and exert less effort.


Problem is that in my head I only know how to disengage them when I think about it. In cases where I don't think about it, like 95% of the time, I sometime forget to take them off.

A total of 4 times thus far.


1: I come to this light and let some traffic go. I take off my left shoes, but leave the right one in. I was leaning to the right due to side walk construction and I fell to the right too. In front of a lot of folks. I tell ya, going head on into a garbage truck is cool. Falling off your bike when you stopped is not cool.

2: I ride this side walk and there is a car that turning in to a major road. We both desided that the other guy letting us go ahead. So I had to brake fast inches from him, to a complete stop. Again, left foot goes out, right one stays in. I fall to the right.

3: I come to this security gate and talk to this security officer. She had my attention, gate was coming fast and so I brake and totally forget about my shoes. I fall to the right again. I was really pissed off this time.

4: I come home from publix with carrot cake and milk in my bad, now I'm smarter right. I disengage both feet. BUT, one of them was on the side of clips and when time came to stop it engaged right when I was getting off my bike. So I fall to the left this time, bruce my ribs against handle bars, and bruce my left foot.


That was the last time I fall off my bike.


This feet thing is something you gotta learn. You can't be thinking about it when you need to take them off. That's a problem, because you don't know how to think about that. Your whole life you didn't have shoes that attach to your pedals, and now you do. You need to learn a new behaviour, and new survival technique and it must be deep in your head so that you do it instantaniously and without thinking abou it.


I think the best way to think about it and prepare every time in dangerous situations.


Such as sidewalk had holes that your tire can get stuck in. Take your foot off. You coming across interesection or whatever, take your feet off. You know, train like a soldier, cop, or any other professional would.


As far as me, I'm doing this training right now. After falling off 4 times.

O_o;;;;;

I slipped on some streetcar tracks last Monday (front wheel slipped out from under me) and went down, when I hit the floor and started laughing at my sillyness over the tracks, I realised I didn't even have to think about unclipping, it just happened - the bike was already on the floor as I was trying to break my own fall. I wouldn't say it's instinctive for me, but I seem to manage - the times where I've panicked, my tensioners are loose enough that a frantic foot waggle will get me out - though I've been VERY close, I've only had one semi-fall (foot landing, but only just) and that was when pratting about showing off the SPDs to someone in their yard

[QUOTE=2WheelFury;4953998]Intently focused "head down" climb up a steep hill. . . right into the back of a parked truck. QUOTE]

LOL

Have you ever rented skis and the tech sets the release too light? Talk about frustration, constantly popping out when you don't want to. There's a reason clipless pedals come with instructions: Once the training wheels get taken off and Daddy lets go of the seat, you're on your own.

I pulled into a rest stop at around the 50-60 mile point on a MS Bike Tour. As I rolled to a stop on the grass, I unclipped my left foot. Then I caught a little rut and fell to teh right landing on about three bikes that were alying down. As I began to extricate myself, I looked up into about 30 helmeted faces. I said "I've been riding clipless for 5 years and not fallen before." All I heard was a chorus of "I've done it" "Me too" "Been there" etc.

I nearly did the same thing in front of about 10,000 other riders at a Bike DC event. Luckily, I was able to unclip and catch myself just before I hit the deck. The good thing is that everyone with clipless pedals knows about this so that {theoretically} lessens the embarassment.

I was riding on platforms - no clips, no straps, just platforms, and I fell over.

I was crossing a pretty busy intersection and hadn't really got rolling yet, looked up to worry about a car turning left, wobbled, and then tipped over in the middle of the intersection. In front of about 15 horrified-looking motorists. I got some nice road rash on my elbow, shoulder, and big toe (last time I ever rode in Tevas).

The really embarassing part was when people would ask me about my elbow (it took a few weeks of Tegaderm patch applications to heal), and I told them I fell off my bike. They always expected some cool car vs. bike, or gnarly mountain bike crash story and I'd have to reply with "No, really, I just fell over"