Toe Clip Crash
 

Only 30 miles in toe clips, and my first fall. Yesterday, I went to a new RC off road racing track in a mall parking lot. I took my bike along to ride while waiting and to ride to the hobby shop way across the parking lot.
I was riding my bike when the announcer called for registration sign up. So naturally I rode my bike over to the sign up area. When arriving near the sign up table, I removed my right foot from the toe clip and came to a stop. Right after my right foot touched the ground, I found myself falling to the left. Somehow as I was falling my right prosthetic leg went flying. I could hear a fellow racer Scott laughing his butt off. I looked up to see people staring in horror. I could not help but laugh after looking at their expressions.
Scott retrieved my leg, laughing the whole time.
The day was fun, and three of us had bikes there to ride. All three of us will be returning with bikes. Maybe I will remove my toe clips before the next race. LOL.

You'll fall a few more times in the next 200 miles. Get used to it; it's just part of learning. You'll also fall a few times when strange situations come up.

People must have been having connipitons seeing a leg fly off! I wish I could have seen it.

that is fuuuuuuuny!
Billy <><

:eek: OMG!

Safe toe-clip use requires a bit of thought.
You need to be a fairly good rider so you can start, stop, track stand and balance competantly.
You need to select shoes and pedals that do not interfere, ie avoid knobbly soles.
Use a stiff (pref leather) strap and keep it lose.
Suggest you ditch the clips for now and practice some basic drills.

Ahahhahaha... funny.
Do you have enough flexibility to twist the prostetic out? If so, get some clipless SPD's or something.

{:eek: People must have been having connipitons seeing a leg fly off! I wish I could have seen it.}

I wish I could have taken a picture of their faces. I was laughing at myself and their expressions. :eek:

{Ahahhahaha... funny.
Do you have enough flexibility to twist the prostetic out? If so, get some clipless SPD's or something.}

I have considered the idea, but do not think my knee will twist far enough. Keeping my feet on the pedals with a prosthetic is a real problem. The second problem is my right foot points out when on the pedal. If I turn the foot in anymore, I would walk pigeon-toed. LOL. I am not sure what clipless pedal would bring my foot out far enough to clear the crank. Thanks for the suggestion.

"When arriving near the sign up table, I removed my right foot from the toe clip and came to a stop. Right after my right foot touched the ground, I found myself falling to the left. Somehow as I was falling my right prosthetic leg went flying. I could hear a fellow racer Scott laughing his butt off. I looked up to see people staring in horror. I could not help but laugh after looking at their expressions.
Scott retrieved my leg, laughing the whole time. "

Heh, heh.. this happens a lot regardless of clips vs. clipless pedals on both bikes and motorcycles. You gotta lean a little towards the leg that's on the ground and put all your weight on it. Or else if have some weight left on the bike and push off it towards the side away from your leg, you're gonna fall over. I've seen a couple of broken-ankles from motorcycles falling on people the same way, can be real dangerous because as your leg gets caught and the bike rolls, it can whip your head over and into the ground really hard.

As for Scott laughing, he probably would've done the same thing if some other rider pulled the same manuveur whether or not their leg fell off. Something's just comical about being stuck in your pedals and flailing helplessly as you're falling over.. I did this once at a stop light and fell over onto the two girls I was riding with causing a domino effect. We laying on the ground and couldn't stop laughing for about 5-minutes. Although the drivers we were blocking probably didn't think it was as amusing...

It depends on the clipless you use. First, if you're worried about spacing, there are pedal spacers that will push your pedals out further. I don't have the link immediately available, but I could probably find it.

Some clipless pedals will give you lots of float, and others will push your foot into position with springs. I don't know anything about your prosthetic, but if you are able to make the foot turn, to be able to unclip, you should be able to find a set of clipless pedals that work for you if you ever decide that is what you want to do.

Forgive me if I run too far afield, here, but wouldn't it be cool to get sponsored and have someone design a bike-racing prosthetic? If they can make carbon fiber blades for runners, they should be able to do something for riders.

[Heh, heh.. this happens a lot regardless of clips vs. clipless pedals on both bikes and motorcycles. You gotta lean a little towards the leg that's on the ground and put all your weight on it. Or else if have some weight left on the bike and push off it towards the side away from your leg, you're gonna fall over. I've seen a couple of broken-ankles from motorcycles falling on people the same way, can be real dangerous because as your leg gets caught and the bike rolls, it can whip your head over and into the ground really hard.]

Yea, I knew this this before I put the clips on. I usually try to put my foot down flat because the carbon fiber front portion is like a spring. My first experience with this was trying to climb a ladder. LOL. Anyway I raced motorcycles for 8 years, and used a bicycle for cross training. This fact made me falling even funnier to my friends.
I am amazed that the aluminum bottle cage caught the release mechanism and launched a six pount projectile.

[Forgive me if I run too far afield, here, but wouldn't it be cool to get sponsored and have someone design a bike-racing prosthetic? If they can make carbon fiber blades for runners, they should be able to do something for riders.]

Maybe me getting sponsored is too far afield for me. Too old and too slow, but improving. Biking specific prosthetics can be made, but are too costly for me. Para-olympians have them. As far as the runners go, isn't it amazing that they can run within 1 to 2 tenths of a second of the regular olympians bet times. All while running on those kangaroo leg looking prosthetics.

I would have paid a small fee to watch the faces of the people standing around.