Saturday ride with the GF no group, on our way out of town. I'm first to the red light left foot clipped out she coasts up beside me and tips over. I see it coming as she tries to stay upright and try to help so now we look like two dominoes at the head of the intersection.

Now I have a very rigid routine for clipping out and it has served me well. NOW I realize a solid routine works very well in a ROUTINE situation.....and it's usually the non routine situation that gets you all tangled up. My feet sent a really good note to my brain while I was checking for injuries on the curb.

NOTE TO SELF: as my feet said to my brain, "from now on if one clips out, we ALL clip out".

So what's the next lesson we learn the hard way?

problem is you should be clipping out your right foot at intersections. that is all.

I've found it varies by situation for me.

while i prefer my right, i always will do left on occasion just so I'm not getting a nice chainring tattoo

What do you mean "we all clip out"? Both feet? Both riders? You should never clip out both feet for no reason. And always clipping out to the same side has its pros and cons. The good thing is you don't risk being confused or undecided and screw up not being sure what to do at a particular stop. The bad thing is that your "off" side, the one you hardly ever clip out, can forget how. In an emergency situation I find I am very unstable trying to clip out on the left after more than 30 years of only doing it on the right. It is obvious what I have chosen to do, but YMMV. You pays your money and you takes your chances.

I imagine, pdedes, you were referring to a group ride situation where it is safer for everyone to clip out on the same side, right? Do I understand that the right side is the standard adopted by groups chain ring problems or no chain ring problems?

I always unclip my left foot. Dunno why. It's just habit for me. But I think I've always been like that. When I used to long jump back in track, I always jumped off of my left foot, which was not the norm for a right handed person.

From the days of clips & straps our coach required that the "strong side" (my right) be firmly cleated in and strapped to get the best start on the road.
While others wobbled and banged shoulders we had practiced a firm powerful launch looking up and ahead with a smooth automatic "off side" pedal engagement and were gone from the Go.
Dismounts were the reverse, in control and predictable for every ride including today's run to the grocery.

Cyclo cross taught the NDS dismount/carry/run and reinforced left foot disengage (unless terrain prevents).
Consistent technique practiced until automatic and teammates on the same page make for a safer more efficient group.

-Bandera

I have always unclipped the left for one simple reason: there is always road to the left. If I am riding as far right in the lane as practicable, there may be a storm grate to my right, or no shoulder, or an extreme camber to the shoulder. The road is always in the same place on the left.

That's true, didn't even think of that.

For me I think it also has to do with the fact that I rode horses before I rode bikes. It is customary to mount/dismount on the left side of a horse.

I cannot even get on my bicycle from the right side.

So are the cars that you may not see coming up from behind as you fall into the street. Things happen and I would rather hit a storm drain than have my head ran over. I clip out..right side.

Isn't it more likely that you fall into the street if you unclip your right foot and leave the left one clipped?

I unclip my left, so that my right foot can power me when I get going.

GH

Right, but there are two mount/dismount mechanisms in common use. One is similar to the equestrian method where you start with the foot clipped in on one side and swing the other foot over the bike. The other is to swing a leg over the top tube first and clip it in on the opposite side with the other foot on the ground. Then push that pedal down and mount the saddle. Similarly for dismounting. Equestrian style you would stay clipped in on one side and swing your leg over the bike to the ground on that side. The other is to have the foot on the ground on the side to which you are swinging the other leg. Which foot is unclipped first could be reversed for those two different methods. I trust that is all clear!

Can't you select direction of fall by turning the handlebars?

Yeah I thought about that. Technically on a horse I'd keep the left foot in the stirrup and take the right foot out first. BUT, on a horse my right foot never really goes down. I never got used to leaning right or even the movement for putting my right foot down. (I realized this while mountain biking this weekend.) The deciding factor for me is that I swing my right leg over the bike, which is what I do on a horse. In order to swing my right leg over the bike if I'm stopped, my left foot has to be on the ground, therefore it comes out first. I often DO mount my bike like a horse though, I'll put my left foot on the pedal and swing my right leg over after the bike has started moving.

Another deciding factor for me is that I rode dirtbikes when I was younger. For dirtbikes that DO have kickstands, they're always on the left side, so I've always leaned left.

I also agree that unclipping your RIGHT foot and leaning right would more often result in my falling left, into the road. When I unclip and put down my left foot, that side is stable, and if anything I'll simply drop the bike between my legs, but I will not fall to the left.

I unclip my right shoe, so that my left leg can power me when I get going.

^this. And with the crown of the road for drainage, uphill is always to the left side when you're riding on the right side of the road. Unclip on the uphill foot, as we say in the MTB world...

I have been getting the better half riding and spending lots of time coaching in good habits. I feel like a slouch for how well she is progressing. On intersections when I try to track-stand and haven't told her to clip out yet (10 or so meters from the crosswalk still) I hear her unclip her shoe diligently. It seems likely she will avoid many of the stupid learning pitfalls of being a new road cyclist.

I don't get that. If I unclip right and am leaning right, I am more likely to fall right. How could it be otherwise? I've got the "tiger paw" scars on my right calf from the chain ring to prove it.

Dont think about unclipping, it should come naturally, or learn to trackstand which is dangerous on busy roads.

I always clip out with my left because my right is dominate. When I have to get started when the light turns green it makes more sense to have my right clipped in to start pedaling with

The equestrian style is also called "Cowboy Style", and Sheldon Brown advises against it.

GH

Maybe we're a bit different. But for me, if I have a foot down on the ground, it's highly unlikely that I will fall OVER that foot. Since I'm essentially standing on that foot, it'd be like me randomly falling sideways while standing on two feet. If I feel like I'm falling (because of a heavy bike, or wind), I just move my foot out more and drop the bike underneath of me. To fall to my left side with my foot down, I would have to "fall" TO the balance point of that leg (the point where the leg is perpendicular with the ground.), then past it. For me, that's unlikely.

Now, if I'm falling to the OPPOSITE side that I've clipped out (my right side with my left foot unclipped), I have no way of stopping my fall to the right if I'm blown over by wind. (Or simply lose my balance.) This has happened quite a few times to me, to the point that I had to quickly unclip my other foot to arrest my fall. I've only ever fallen twice because of clips, and both were to my right side with my left foot unclipped.

Teach her how to trackstand and the problem of unclipping goes away.