i fall down say boom.
well folks, i have officially gone clipless.
i am now well on my way to biking goddess -- queen of all things cycling.
and... though i have no doubt in my mind that i will conquer all things bike in this world ever, um.. apparently. i've got some learning to do.
and riding clipless is... ya know. not exactly second nature quite yet.
**shock**
below are some photos of me on the trainer, practicing the clip in/out action... me riding in the street like a child with training wheels (Zero Percent Body Fat Guy ran along side my bike the entire time so as to try and keep me from the inevitable crash*boom*bang) and then of course some pictures of my first fall because... well...
i fall down say boom!
but... regardless of the fact that i look highly uncomfortable, am staring at my feet in almost every picture and my ass is a lot wider than one would hope for...
going clipless was ABSOLUTELY as scary as i thought it'd be!!!
everyone tells you, warns you... "you'll fall. don't worry. its not if you fall... its when..." and... "it'll most likely happen while youre slowing to a stop"... and all sorts of fun and shiny tidbits of horror to help you along your way as a biking newbie..
which should be helpful, right? you know what to prepare for... you think to yourself perhaps you, YOU, having heard these stories, can avoid such a mishap?!?!
you practice on the trainer and things go well. you ride around on the street a while, and things go well. YOU'RE AMAZING!!! you're a natural!! what was everyone so worried about?!?
zero percent body fat guy's impressed. i can tell. i'm wowing and stunning the zero percent body fat couple like ITS MY JOB. i am genius... hear me roar!
and then...
"hey, AJ. why don't you try clipping out with your right foot?"
bastard!
i don't do right foot. my body doesn't know right foot. with cages, with normal pedals...with clips... its no matter, my right foot is defective.
but i was on a roll!! i was minutes away from best new clipper inner-outter of clippy pedals EVER!!! i had to at least try... right?!
*ahem*
right.
well i'll tell you this much... what everyone doesn't tell you???!
is that time slows down, when you fall.
you enter a panicked state, when you fall.
that your body will be in such a state of confusion as to why, WHY, WHY!!!!! can't the needed foot detatch from the pedal and plant itself on the ground that you will rock your bike back and forth, yelp in a foreign language and tumble, in my case, left, because thats all your body knows...
EVEN THOUGH your right foot is free and flailing as though in an epileptic seizure.
oh yeah, folks. its good times!!!!!
so. like i said.
i've officially gone clipless. i've had my first tumble, and learned that regardless of what foot comes unclipped, my body leans left...
i've had my first clipless group ride, felt the strain in new and exciting places in my legs from the pulling up effect of having gone clipless and...
i'm well on my way to biking goddess extraordinaire!
i'm sure of it.
its just going to take a teensy bit more time than i'd planned!
Comments
You were smart to try out the pedals/shoes on the trainer first. Alot of Dummies (me) just head out to the street and immediately fall down. You WAITED a while to fall down...really smart!!!
Posted by: Jay | October 31, 2006 12:52 PM
Welcome to the club. You will receive your secret decoder ring in the mail, but you will have to surrender said ring if you ever go a year without falling. (I have not).
Posted by: greyhound | October 31, 2006 12:56 PM
aww, cute! it's like seeing a puppy open its eyes for the first time =)
you're only going to tip over if you're going [i]slow[/i] enough to tip over. so it should become second nature to click out when going below a certain speed.
Posted by: good ol' j | October 31, 2006 1:50 PM
You mean, I am supposed to be able to clip out ambidextrously? I think I'll just stick with the left foot for now and hope no event calls for me to clip out with my right foot first... After falling over two days in a row, I now unconsciously clip out about a mile or so before any stop signs so that by the time I get there I am going so slow that I am being passed by old people in walkers...
Posted by: Danielle in Iowa | October 31, 2006 2:00 PM
oh, danielle, you have no idea.
it got to the point that my body was so used to leaning left, that when 0% body fat guy had me START with my left clipped IN... just STANDING there.. my right foot was practically under my bike trying to counter-balance my natural left-leaning tendency.
he kept asking me what i was doing... i kept, between hysterical bouts of laughter assuring him... I DON'T KNOW... and the whole thing was very "i'm about to pee my pants" funny.
i started talking to myself as i biked... and when i'd unclip with the right, i'd literally SHOUT "lean RIGHT" when i went to stop so that i'd remember which foot to land on.
it was humiliating and hysterical, all at the same time. poor 0% body fat guy... i don't think he'd ever seen someone have so little control over their body before!
Posted by: a.maria | October 31, 2006 2:06 PM
Ahh. Road rash. Marks of a cyclist. Now that you've gone clipless, can't wait to hear about when you go aero.
Posted by: qcmier | October 31, 2006 2:09 PM
i fell over my first time out going clipless. i had the brilliant idea it would be better to clip in first while leaned against my car and then push off. might have worked...but i didn't push quite hard enough. my momentum ran out before i could regain my balance and begin to pedal and....timmmmmberrrrr. then i was stuck there on the pavement, still clipped in, trying to free myself. i felt like a rat caught in a trap. oh the memories.... luckily, it gets much easier.
Posted by: TJ | October 31, 2006 2:40 PM
Dorky observation, but is that a St. Louis Marathon shirt you have on there???
Posted by: Josh | October 31, 2006 2:52 PM
I promise you that *every*one goes through this ;-)
Welcome to the club!
Posted by: Joseph Vinciquerra | October 31, 2006 3:26 PM
You haven't lived until you have a scar on the back of your calfin the shape of a bike chain! See this:
href="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e45/21stCenturyMom/Owie0813.jpg
I've said it before and I'll say it again - clip out on both sides! Sit in that trainer and practice it until it is easy. It's your only salvation!
Posted by: 21stCenturyMom | October 31, 2006 3:28 PM
You will no doubt be a clipless goddess before ya know it.
Posted by: Wes | October 31, 2006 4:13 PM
Okay. It will be really funny when you have been clipless for years and THEN you fall (not that I have ever done that...).
Now...
WHERE ARE YOUR BIKE SHORTS, WOMAN???????
Posted by: Flatman | October 31, 2006 4:49 PM
You gotta do what Fat Joe says and 'Lean Back... to the right. Lean Back... to the right'
Joking aside, one of the best advice I read re: this was to practice on a grass field (soccer field, football field, park) over and over again til u get the hang of clipping in/out. It's better than on a trainer since you're actually moving while u're doing it. And when u fall? Less ouchie.
Posted by: Baun | October 31, 2006 5:25 PM
Yes, you are my dear, well on your way to biking goddess!! I think falling when learning how to use clipless pedals is like a right of passage. Everyone must endure a fall or two. The only exception would be my husband. He made the switch with not one single fall. How unfair is that??
Posted by: marathena | October 31, 2006 6:54 PM
No matter how much you practice, you still fall.. and you fall in the most unexpected moment and yes.. time travels at far less than 1 sec per sec DURING THE FALL. Sometimes, it feels as if it stands still and then all of a sudden, you fall.
Then, the embarrassment. You involuntarily look around to if anybody else witnessed your fall..and then smirk at yourself..
Moments like these remain etched forever in your memory..
..welcome to the clipless world, lil miss biker shorts!
Posted by: VJ | October 31, 2006 7:04 PM
It may be dorky, but I unclip BOTH feet, EVERY time I'm going stop. I just feel like I never know which side I'll end up leaning toward. Anyway, using that totally inefficient system, it took me about 5 years to fall over...but it finally happened...in my own damn yard! Sigh... Welcome to the club! :)
Posted by: g | October 31, 2006 7:54 PM
Can I say....OWWWW??
Posted by: Denise "Firefly" | October 31, 2006 8:04 PM
niiiiice...another recruit! Don't feel bad about the boom... we all fall at least a couple times in the beginning.
One note, loose the running shorts... um, I mean... replace the running shorts w/cycling shorts. (I've learned I must be specific when it comes to you). ;)
Posted by: Tammy | October 31, 2006 8:57 PM
Hey AJ, looking good. Your right handed arent you? Therefor your left foot is your chocolate foot. Yes replace the soccer shorts with hot tight skimpy spandex ;)
BTW I havent fallen yet in 6 years of riding clipless :)
Andy
Posted by: winz | October 31, 2006 9:27 PM
Fat ass, my butt! and nice gams ya got there, kid.
Posted by: jeanne | October 31, 2006 11:39 PM
Ouch, but I'm sure you'll be a biking goddess in mere days!
Posted by: runnergirl | November 1, 2006 8:40 AM
Having seen Flatman's comment, I must also protest: biking shorts gurl!! Get 'em.
(Not that I or anyone else has a thing for biker chix in proper attire. Nope. Not me.)
Posted by: greyhound | November 1, 2006 9:32 AM
I remember a little miss someone posting this blurb about my first clipless experience in July.
"may i just say....
HAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Back at you, roomie!
Posted by: Kevin | November 1, 2006 12:14 PM
I have those shorts!! Okay, so that's the most exciting thing I could think of to say....
Posted by: jkrunning | November 1, 2006 4:43 PM
woooee there lady . . . where did little miss RUNNER PANTS go?
Posted by: Susan | November 1, 2006 6:21 PM
Well we all do fall. Last time I fell I broke 6 ribs. Of course I hit a pothole that was in the road but still I recovered.
Nice pics by the way!
Posted by: Kurt | November 2, 2006 8:11 AM
Well you are deffinetly a step up on me when it comes to biking. I tired to use the clipless pedals and I got nasty knee pain when I used them. Adjusted the shoes ten differnt ways or the clips o the soes and still the same issue. So I am one of thoes bikers that use straps instead. But keep at it.
Posted by: Al Durham | November 2, 2006 9:37 AM
definitely, a right of passage...
You are a CYCLIST!
next stop, aerobars!!!
wooohooooooooooooooooooo!!!
you are just TOO cute.
i'm just sayin'.
2 KUTE.
Posted by: bold | November 8, 2006 5:42 PM