Does clipping in and out become second nature??

Remember my first fall, in front of a (full) bus that was letting me out of a side road - luckily away from it...

Bloody elbow due to that panicked and cumbersome fall, but the ego was worst off; has become second nature to half clip out my left foot when approaching lights now, and as someone said above, it feels REALLY weird riding without.

Don't give up. I spent an age at the side of the house using the wheelie bin as a prop just clipping in and out again and again. Then the first few rides were on quiet roads avoiding lights practicing as I went. Unfortunately the inevitable happened one Sunday... I was passed by a local club who looked like pros compared to me. They stopped at a junction to wait for their back marker... I caught them up... And over I went.

I was doing well then one of my bolts came out of the cleats and I couldn't unclip my foot so went over.

I now carry a few extra bolts and check the cleats before each ride.

Get onto some grass (no, not that...) like on the common/in a park, and do 100 clip-ins & clipouts before risking it at traffic lights.
P.R.

Last time for me... Col de Buttertubs, at the top, on a busy day early in July... there was a bit of an audience. The guy unloading ad hordings for Carrefour walked across the road with a 12ft hoarding just as I reached the top. I crossed the finish line, but sideways as I fell, with the landing cushioned by my son. We could only laugh. Not really the pedals fault, so persevere and unclip early.

The main thing is that you have to keep thinking about your ride. If you are scrubbing off speed? Unclip. Coming to a junction? Unclip. Getting in traffic? Unclip. See your life flash before your eyes as a pedestrian makes a suicide bid? Unclip. It makes cycling a bit more of a mental alertness test, but you do then start to do it as second nature.

I should add that what I mean inclipping, you are just twisting the foot to disengage the mechanism, if you don't need to stop and the road is open again you just press down and off you go. You'll normally have stopped pedalling because you know you're going to slow, so when you come to push off you'll reengage immediately if you don't need to put the foot down.

Finding the right point in shoe to engage can be problematic at times, even when you are familiar with the shoe and cleat system. But the more you do it the easier it becomes. A bit like learning the keys on a keyboard....I hope that you can touch type, but the point is you just get a feel for it and eventually you can get to a place where you don't even need to look, though it is usually worth doing so on road SPDs.

Everyone falls off... I learned MTBing, and it's always in a slow tricky corner, and usually land on a sharp rock.

Note that switching shoes over will often change the position just enough to get tricky clipping in... and my Northwave's have a different sole too which just slips right off!

It's a good idea to loosen the spring on the pedal at first so you can unclip even when stationary then you can tighten it a bit more later.

Are you a driver? Remember when you used to put your foot on the clutch ages before stopping in case you stalled? Its like that - it becomes automatic. Don't worry if you have to keep one foot in one foot out for some periods. If it builds confidence keep doing it. I often keep one foot free in traffic when things are very stop start.
And as others have mentioned, at least you come unclipped when you fall, as I did on Saturday when my wheels went out from under me on ice up a steep Devon lane, water bottle in hand!

They say pride comes before a fall. Couple of years ago I was on an online forum telling the world that I'd been using SPDs for nearly 10 years without ever falling off. That very weekend I coasted into a field gateway for a pee, and caught out by the uneven ground I unclipped left and fell right. Biggest fear was that I'd damaged my new softshell jacket; fortunately not. Then again a few months later I clipped in on the drive, and just as I was about to join the road I heard a vehicle approaching fast from my left. I dithered and all went tits up. Both feet clipped in, sideways onto the pavement. That one did hurt. Again the bike went expensive side down. Bloody knuckles, chunk out of saddle, large hole in knee. Having determined that I hadn't been spotted by my wife I quickly hopped back on the bike and scooted down the hill. Only later in the ride did I discover that I'd bent the mech hanger and I couldn't use the 3 biggest sprockets without the mech going into the wheel

Only come off once, unclipped my right pedal and fell left - i must have looked a right numpty to all the drivers at the lights

I like the idea earlier though about practising on a turbo trainer.

I had a clipless moment after a quick stop at a roundabout, I broke my humerus, shattered my shoulder ball and ripped the muscles off my shoulder and ended up with 4 hour surgery adding some titanium. First ride out after 3 months I tried flats, it felt more dangerous with them than SPD's so went back to SPD and made sure I unclipped one foot at any junction and run the tension on slack on the foot I put down.

I've seen loads of experienced cyclists struggle to get the cleat into the pedal when setting off, if you need to look don't worry or panic just take your time. Its when you get complacent problems happen and if you do fall, don't stick your arm out.

I didn't fall over when getting used to mine, but it was a bit tricky at times. Now I don't even think about it.

if you have or can borrow a turbo trainer then you can practice in safety

think it was 2nd time out with spds and chain broke whilst standing up going up hill and yes the thought of hitting the cross bar with my favorite appendages flashed thru my brain but no I unclipped in time - doesn't take long

still sometimes do the dumb "what did you say?" sideways when setting off and have clipped in and forgotten

great movie quotes: "I love the sound of cleats in the morning" .....maybe not

Never fallen with clipless pedals at all.

By contrast I remember stopping at lights with my toestraps done up and resting on the railings there.

I went to ride off - clearly in too big a gear, hit a grid and toppled sideways...

So clipless are far better than toestraps and cllips !

Falling off over while clipped in can be embarrassing.

Shortly after Wiggo's win in the 2012 TdF I was riding in France wearing my Union flag jersey when I had to stop unexpectedly in front of a cafe full of locals, many of them sitting at pavement tables.

The combination of the unplanned stop and an unusually steep road camber resulted in me toppling off in front of an audience of very amused Frenchmen, the jersey just adding to their appreciation of the moment.

I find now that when I ride flats I automatically twist my foot as I come off the pedal

I've been using SPDs for20+ years, my first sideways topple happened within 1/4 mile on the maiden voyage of clipless pedals, it happens to us all. I had a further 3 topples in the first few months but nothing since that I can remember. People ask me what happens in an accident and in the few times I've had accidents my feet have released of their own accord. I can get right up to an obstacle before the need to unclip. Some journeys home from have been classed as FuC, foot up commute. Over ten miles and 17 sets of traffic lights takes some timing and balance.

For me it became second nature after I split my chin open in an SPD fail, it's never happened since...

Having ridden with clips and straps and then SPDs for over 35 years I can tell you that the rate of getting it wrong settles down to about once every five years. You still feel like an idiot though Serious advice - fall away from the traffic!

Everyone falls at least once, the trick is to predict when you will need to at lights etc, then do it in plenty time.

Clipping back in on one sided pedals can be tricky too but it gets easier.

the spud fall is a rite of passage into the club of using the clips. Ive moved from SPD MTB type pedals to road type, as I find the larger pedal area means less cramping.
Never stop looking to improve your comfort when riding.

Well done!

We've all had the falls. At least modern clipless let you go once they've had their fun. Back in the day you had cleats shellacked and tacked on to the bottom of the shoe and that clipped over a rat trap pedal and then a leather strap over to keep it in place. I remember once being uder a pile up at Eastway with about a dozen marshalls and spectators trying to unpick the puzzle that was 10 or so riders still all clipped in and all tangled together. Just had to relax and wait your turn.

By the way it's the panic that gets you. If you actually worked out how long it takes you to unclip and put your foot down then there's plenty of time. But you don't do you? You realise what's happening and then panic and then fail to actually just unclip. That's probably 3 seconds elapsing as you slowly come to a stop and fall over when you can unclip and foot down in much less than a second.

I still take the precaution of unclipping one foot when coming up to obstacles or traffic so I can easily put it out for balance or stability if need be. Just have to think a little ahead.

I actually fell off twice in less than a mile when I first changed over to SPD pedals, both times because I forgot I was clipped in and then panicked and just went over like a complete idiot. The first was at a crossing in front of traffic, then the second time was at a crossing which leads into the local bus station, I was only seen by a bus load of Christmas shoppers. I laugh about it now but at time I felt a complete idiot.

And yes it does get easier. I also went from SPD to Look and they are far better, although I am now considering Time Xpresso pedals on the new steed.

Have you watched GCN? Matt Stephens gives hope for all of us slow learners lol

ha ha ... where do you fall in it ?