mustang1

New clipless pedals... I fell over again... that's the 3rd time in a month. I was doing just fine until I went to the park and grass slowed me down quicker than I realized and I went over. That was funny and I only fell on grass.

The second time, I slowed down at a bus stop to ask this guy the time. He looked at me while he comprehended the situation. Then slowly took out his phone and stared at it. Then as he was telling me it's quarter past seven, I could no longer keep my balance and down I went. Ok, fair enough, I learnt people aren't too astute at telling the time, otherwise they wouldn't be catching the bus, coz they'd have a car, coz they would have worked, coz they'd have a brain, ok so I'm generalizing. Sue me. I feel better now.

Then there was today. Those F88** roadworks. Everywhere there are road works. I come to a stop at the lights, ready to hold on to the traffic light post like I normally do, but I dont see the pothol full of sand, front tire goes in and down I go. Sh**. WTF? Crap. What's the point of using a ROAD bike on the ROAD when the ROAD looks like it's fit for a friggin dual-suspension mountain bike. No wonder all these people drie large 4x4s, driving/riding on the road is just like off-roading.

</rant>

EDIT: <MORE RANT>
WTF I just fell down yet again! Holy crap - what's that about. That's the second time today and the 4th time so far altogether. This time I was going down a hill, probably around 30-35 mp, went up the hill and due to parked cars and various traffic, slowed right down to 15 mph. Heard a car behind me, it passed close, I veered left (I'm in UK, so think of it as your right) and started gunning towards the sidewalk. Due to close proximity of passing car and parked car up ahead and speed bumps slightly to my right and less than stellar (but reasonable ) brakes, I stopped and thought unclip unclip you crap ass unclip unclip. And I did unclip but my angle of fall was too great and down I went. Humph.

I was never like this before going clipless. I think maybe I've started getting anxious about getting out of the pedals. Before I always knew I can put my feet down whenever I like, but now, I think it's CPA (clipless pedal anxiety). Still htfu.

The Weak Link

Sorry.

redirekib

You need to stop blaming other people and circumstances for your troubles, in other words - HTFU

AEO

you must hate unclipping at stops for this to happen a lot.

RichinPeoria

Maybe buy some MKS peddles, straps and clips before you end up in the hospital.

kill.cactus

HTFU

Just kidding, yeah it sucks a lot.

I am still a clipless noob

RazorWind

It gets easier when you figure out how to unclip.

dendawg

Unclip!

bdcheung

seriously, either unclip or trackstand. isolate the variables that could be contributing to your falls and eliminate them.

scotch

twist foot out, unclip. problem solved.

StanSeven

Don't worry. It happened to me a couple weeks ago and I've been riding clipless for 20 years. I got a new bike recently and the LBS set it up with max tension. I left it that way.

During a ride, I came flying around a turn on a merge lane to a busy divided road and traffic was stopped. I tried squeezing between stopped cars and the curb but no room so I hit the brakes hard and made a sudden halt.

I focused on the tight space and didn't think of uncleating until it was too late. Then I couldn't fast enough and went over. As soon as I got home, I adjusted the tension.

Allegheny Jet

Most noobies fall three times when going "clipless". If your learning curve is normal, then, you are done for this year. Next year?, different story....

JMT114

All of your problems could be solved by unclipping and placing one of your feet on the ground.

milchad

Always think about what your doing b4 you do it. (clip out b4 you stop). Over time it will be 2nd nature and you'll do it atomically.

rufvelo

You arrive at traffic lights in your car without slowing down?, without brakes? Same level of preparedness is needed.

Geoff326

stop blaming other ppl.

if u hate clipping out, learn to trackstand.

roadiejorge 

So it's someone else's fault you choose not to unclip when you need to?


Unclipping quickly is a necessary skill especially if you're going to try and keep your balance at close to a stand still, until you master that then CLIP OUT.

jefferee

At the risk of exposing my own stupidity...

Make sure you also put your foot down rather than resting it on the pedal when you unclip. Most of my clipless near-falls (and, I believe, my only actual fall) have been due to my foot clipping back in unexpectedly after I unclipped (so I was clipped in when I thought I wasn't).

mustang1

What's that?

Yeah I know, I should unclip before I come to a rest, but sometimes I think what happens if the junction clears up or there's a gap so I need to get pedalling, fast. That's why I prefer to just hang on to stuff like walls, traffic lights, railings.

Ps: yeah I know I should htfu.

urbanknight

Says the person who was travelling by bike at the time, obviously unable to afford a car OR bus fare, and apparently a watch either.

edit: Just to add a funny story. I was doing a track stand at a red light and 3 skaters were crossing the street in front of me. One guy sees me and says "Whoa, that's tight!" just before I start to lose my balance and clip out. "Oh, nice try anyway" he said.

mustang1

Yeah I used to! When I was taking it easy, but latley I just couldn't be bothered, I wanna just hold on to railings and stuff or learn to balance while stopped. Yeah I know, double negative.

recursive

Them's fightin' words 'round these parts. Hear?

recursive

Balancing without moving

dark13star

Let me get this straight. The guy on the ground, clipped into his pedals, is laughing at the guy taking public transportation?

avmanansala

You could unclip or just use these...



Just kidding. I fall over, too, when I don't unclip when I should.