Subtitle: What happens if I can't get my feet out of the "clipless pedals".


I couldn't find a name for the maneuver I did this morning. There was lots of advice of how not to do it. But I thought I would tell how to do it right.

The Three Point Shoulder Stand (TPSS, pronounced Tips) is performed when you come to a stop with your feet in the clip in (no-clip?) pedals and you don't manage to get your feet out in time. When performed properly it should look to an observer like you have been hit with a stun gun, like there is no apparent reason for you to decide to throw your legs in the air and wave em around like you just don't care, to fall over like Artie Johnson on his tricycle, like you are a defective Weeble (you wobble and you do fall down).

Make sure when you get up to pretend like you did that on purpose. See if there are any observers to award you style points then remount your trusty steed and pedal off. Remember shoulder, helmet, handle bars. These are the only points that should touch the ground for maximum points.

Can we get a video demonstration?

This thread is worthless without pics!

Oh man. It's happened to me twice in like three days!! How embarrassing
Mine were with clips, though. My shoes got caught in the strap! Same idea.
Good call though, I'll make it look like I tried to do it from now on...

I saw it performed near the finish of a triathlon last year. Done right it can be quite impressive.

I think it is manditory to fall over because you didn't/couldn't unclip your feet when stopping at least a few times while learning to rise clipless and at least once or twice annually for the remainder of your cycling career. I have clipless pedals on every bike i own and I've dumped all of them at least once becasue of it. I'm glad someone came up with a name for the manuver though.

I hope you and the bike are okay.

I've always called it a horizontal track stand.

...and welcome to the club.

And the judges scores are: 9.6, 9.4, 9.7, and from the Russian judge, an 8.2.

Commentator-"He needed to stick the landing a little better."

We've all been there. My first time was in the driveway. My wife was sitting on the porch and got some serious yucks out of it. She said the funniest part was my baffled expression as I got to my feet and looked at the bike as if IT had done something wrong.

Clipping your feet to the pedals makes as much sense to me as taping your ass to the seat.

All you were doing was checking out Gravity- and YEP--- it still worked.

I like to call it "The Turtle" when you fall over clipped in and end up on your back with your legs in the air

The last time I did a 3 point landing (hip, shoulder, head), I ended up with a bruise from my hip to my knee, a separated shoulder, and a concussion.

My usual clipless pedal landing, however, usually involves my left knee for some reason. Basically I lean the bicycle over and land squarely on my left knee.

Since I leave so early in the morning I don't often have an audience. One time I did have to call my wife from work and have her go outside and see if my cell phone was out there. Yep right in a mud puddle. It is hard to explain that one without copping to a TPSS.

i've been lucky enough to always land in grass the few times i've performed this feat. tends to happen more often when taking a couple cute girls out for bike rides though

Take a couple of cute girls out for a ride and end up in the tall grass.... I don't see the problem here

Gotta learn how to roll and protect the bike!

The first one I did in public (I acomplished a couple in the backyard with only my dog watching, and yes she smirked) put me in a six inch deep mud puddle in front of a double line of backed up traffic. I'm pretty sure I made 24 people laugh on their morning drive to work. Plus the blood and mud made me look like I had fallen down a mountain side. Major cool points when i got to campus.

The second one in public was in back of the Medical school's parking lot, no less than 6 doctors/med students drove over in their cars to see if I needed help, sigh.

The important thing is to laugh at yourself about it all.

That and stop landing right on your knee machka!

Is this just your way to meet doctors? (or nurses depending on your preference)

Just give the thumbs up, and continue with your journey like you meant to do that.
I can't imagine the times I went down in traffic because I couldn't release my foot from the pedal. Front of the pack, so everyone can see too.

Of course I am joking about this but beginners who are considernig moving up to clip-in pedals really worry about it. The nice surprise is that it suually only happens when you are stopping so you aren't moving. So it is one of those things that you have to do a couple of times to lose your fear of it.

In the end it usually is the bruised ego that hurts most.

My boyfriend's a cellist, so he's very hesitant to make the switch from platforms to clipless - he's worried he'll fall and injure one of his hands/arms and won't be able to play. He bought a new bike this summer and the owner of the bike shop had some great advice: Buy a trainer to use during the winter and use clipless pedals/shoes. Then, by next spring, he'll be used to clipless and it won't be such a huge transition. I think this is a great idea.

lol.

One thing I did that helped was to take my bike shoes to the gym and try them on the spin bikes. If you look a lot of them have SPD pedals. It took me just one workout to get the hang of it. In fact it was actaully easier on the bike to get clipped in.

But I kept my old hybrid bike becasue I still want a bike I can just hop on and ride regardless of the shoes.

I found some cool bike pedals that have flashing LEDs in them. The rotation of the pedal powers the lights (no batteries).

I don't know if I can put toe clips on them. I think they would be a nice safety feature and would work well on my non-clip in bike.