First fall (just a little one)

"Tony" wrote in message
...

Rule 1 for falling off (I assume you're in the UK ?) :

Always fall to your left - away from traffic ! With luck, on country
lanes, this will also mean a grass verge or bank to land on (softer
than tarmac). Also means gears less likely to get damaged.


Oh I practised at home before going on the roads. I managed to fall off on
the driveway at home. I've never (touch wood) fallen off such on the public
highway. There's always a first time though. When unclipping it's always my
right foot I unclip first, so if I am going to go over, it's more likely I
go to the left.

the injuries you sustained will of course have shewn you how vital a
h*lm*t is ... :-(

Tony

PS I've got a First Aid cert (expired) - anything you want kissed
better ?

I have same, so I can kiss my own ass better ;-)

Cheers, helen s

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 20:10:34 +0000 (UTC), Tony
wrote:


Rule 1 for falling off (I assume you're in the UK ?) :

Yes...

Always fall to your left - away from traffic ! With luck, on country
lanes, this will also mean a grass verge or bank to land on (softer
than tarmac). Also means gears less likely to get damaged.

the injuries you sustained will of course have shewn you how vital a
h*lm*t is ... :-(

Heh... fortunately I managed to get away without one.

Tony

PS I've got a First Aid cert (expired) - anything you want kissed
better ?

Well that's an offer I don't like to turn down! You choose - elbow or
shin? :-)


Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 22:10:14 +0100, The Nottingham Duck
wrote:


All that happened was a bruised shin and scraped elbow, and a lot of
embarassment...

So no damage to your clothing ?

No - all clothes survived ok It was only shorts and a T shirt,
though, since I'd been for a run.

I 'surfed the tarmac without a boogy-board' once while out
time-trialling and all I could think about was my new skinsuit.
You'll be glad to know it wasn't ripped or stained,thanks largely to
the film of rainwater I aquaplaned on.

Phew! ;-)

But if the road wasn't wet would I have come off in the first place...


Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk

On Mon, 25 Jul 2005 08:20:28 +0000 (UTC), "Peter B"
wrote:

snip good stuff

Don't put too much store in scare stories, they may have a negative impact
on your learning process..

Gulp Ok, thanks: I'll try


Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk

On Mon, 25 Jul 2005 21:31:00 +0100, Peewiglet
wrote:

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 20:10:34 +0000 (UTC), Tony
wrote:



the injuries you sustained will of course have shewn you how vital a
h*lm*t is ... :-(

Heh... fortunately I managed to get away without one.

Tony

PS I've got a First Aid cert (expired) - anything you want kissed
better ?

Well that's an offer I don't like to turn down! You choose - elbow or
shin? :-)

I think it should be a deeply religious experience - shin / toe ? :-)

Toe Knee

On Mon, 25 Jul 2005 21:56:00 +0000 (UTC), Tony
wrote:


PS I've got a First Aid cert (expired) - anything you want kissed
better ?

Well that's an offer I don't like to turn down! You choose - elbow or
shin? :-)

I think it should be a deeply religious experience - shin / toe ? :-)

Toe Knee

G



Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)KneeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk

David Martin wrote:
My pet hate though is borrowing a bike where the pedals are set so
loose that your feet unclip randomly (certain trice spring to mind -
Jon S will know what I mean). I started off using Look pedals and have
never found any SPDs that are too tight.

The pain actually subsided after a day or so! ;-)

I tend to leave new SPDs at the default tension now as that seems to
work fine for me.

Jon

Peter B wrote:
"Peewiglet" wrote in message
...

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 18:55:15 +0100, "wafflycat"

Just a spot of training for when you first try clipless ;-)

g They sound a bit scarey! :-)

No. 1 note with clipless is that they are actually *easier* to get out
of than toe clips with straps, especially if you've hailed the straps in
so they work better. Or at least they are easier if you're familiar
with the twisting motion, and that's just a matter of practice.

Also: don't forget to set the release tension to its lowest setting,
initially at least.

Or alternatively get Time ATACs which don't have any tension settings to
set. All that affects getting out is the twist angle of the foot
relative to the pedal. This makes the system simpler and, IMHO, rather
better. Engagement is more positive and there's more float so they're
kinder to knees as well. And one less thing to go wrong that doesn't
ever need fettling is worth the higher entrance fee, I think.

Braking should be instinctive and unclipping should become so too after
going through the learning process.

Indeed. Most people are so paranoid during the learning process that it
/very/ soon becomes second nature. In fact, I nearly fell off a
borrowed bike with clips and straps because coming in to a stop, I kept
twisting my foot, but it was still locked to the pedal!

Don't put too much store in scare stories, they may have a negative impact
on your learning process.

I think almost everyone topples over with them sooner or later,
especially off-road, but the main point is you'll topple over at 0 mph,
which is unlikely to hurt more than pride. OTOH, keeping your feet
locked on when you hit an unscheduled pothole at 25 mph is a *very*
useful way of improving safety when it would really hurt if your balance
was destroyed by legs and feet flying everywhere.

If you stick with clips and straps, note that it's a *very* bad idea to
use fell running shoes with a studded sole. Yes, that was found out the
hard way...

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

I have never, ever, fallen over due to clipless pedals (road bikes only
- I imagine MTBs are more of a challenge).

I fell over at least twice back (30 years ago) when I used
clips/straps.

--
Peter Headland

Peter Clinch wrote:
Or alternatively get Time ATACs which don't have any tension settings to
set. All that affects getting out is the twist angle of the foot
relative to the pedal. This makes the system simpler and, IMHO, rather
better. Engagement is more positive and there's more float so they're
kinder to knees as well. And one less thing to go wrong that doesn't
ever need fettling is worth the higher entrance fee, I think.

While I agree in principle, one pair of M959s and two pairs of M520s
have had exactly no fettling (Unless you count the recent application of
grease to stop the cleats squeaking) despite a good many months of use.

Pedals seem to be the one part of a bike where zero maintenance actually
exists!

Jon