Twonks and cleats

[Undy]

Okay so I am new to cycling and not only have I squeezed myself into Lycra but I have also bought myself a pair of cycle shoes complete with cleats. And the inevitable happened, on their maiden voyage I pulled up to a set of traffic lights and forgot to un-clip until too late. It was like time slowed down, I very slowly fell into the gutter all the time with a bunch of onlookers laughing and saying look at that twonk. By the time I had picked myself up there were four Iphones pointing at me and a bunch of teenagers telling me that I am "keeping it real"?!

Is this supposed to happen? Is it only me that has done this?

 

[Pat "5mph"]

By the time I had picked myself up there were four Iphones pointing at me and a bunch of teenagers telling me that I am "keeping it real"?!

sorry, I shouldn't laugh!
Hope you're not on YouTube ...

 

[Neilsmith]

I was told everyone falls off when they first use clip ins. My mate who encouraged me to get a pair of cycling shoes told me I would do it at some point. He wasn't wrong, my first ride I clipped in and told myself a few times over in my head don't forget to unclip when I stop I went round the corner of my street realised my brakes needed adjusting stopped and did as you say the slow motion fall. Luckily for me there was nobody around, mind you I hadn't even reached the road as I live up a lane. Only ever did it the once.

 

[Seevio]

I've only done it the once, onto a grass verge luckily. There have been quite a few close calls involving sudden unexpected stops though.

I suspect it's a rite of passage thing. It's the second time it happens when you have to start asking questions.

 

[the_craig]

It's not the unclipping that gets me - I struggle to get clipped back in.

Cue waiting at a junction to cross a NSL A road, right foot clipped in, left foot on the floor. I push off and almost get across, but I don't get my left foot in. I end up pedalling across with one foot to keep momentum and manage to avoid certain doom.

Character building stuff.

 

[mjr]

Fashion victims. Literally.

 

[Sharky]

Okay so I am new to cycling and not only have I squeezed myself into Lycra but I have also bought myself a pair of cycle shoes complete with cleats. And the inevitable happened, on their maiden voyage I pulled up to a set of traffic lights and forgot to un-clip until too late. It was like time slowed down, I very slowly fell into the gutter all the time with a bunch of onlookers laughing and saying look at that twonk. By the time I had picked myself up there were four Iphones pointing at me and a bunch of teenagers telling me that I am "keeping it real"?!

Is this supposed to happen? Is it only me that has done this?

Don't like to mention, but fails go in threes, so two more to look forward to.
But worth it in the end.

 

[buggi]

Hahahaha. It's what is known as a clipless moment. Well, technically, the 3 second panic before you recover is the clipless moment, yours was more than that and yes you are probably on youtube or at least shared on fb.

And yes it happens to everyone... 3 times to me... Once when I failed to clip in on a hill, two when I failed to clip out. One of those times it was coz one of the screws on my cleat came loose so when I twisted my ankle my shoe just twisted with it and stayed clipped in. In my panic,I forgot I had another foot to clip out. Ended up sprawled up a garden wall holding on for dear life haha. So regularly check my cleats now. They make for hilarious stories when you get over the embarrassment.

It rarely happens full on more than 3 times as it becomes a natural habit to clip out, however you will still get "clipless moments" which will remind you that your alive

One of things I learned is that it's more natural to unclip the lower foot but its the higher foot you naturally put down. I learned very quickly to clip out and back spin my feet half a turn so that the unclipped foot was in the 12 oclock position when I actually stopped.

 

[Racing roadkill]

Okay so I am new to cycling and not only have I squeezed myself into Lycra but I have also bought myself a pair of cycle shoes complete with cleats. And the inevitable happened, on their maiden voyage I pulled up to a set of traffic lights and forgot to un-clip until too late. It was like time slowed down, I very slowly fell into the gutter all the time with a bunch of onlookers laughing and saying look at that twonk. By the time I had picked myself up there were four Iphones pointing at me and a bunch of teenagers telling me that I am "keeping it real"?!

Is this supposed to happen? Is it only me that has done this?

I've never ever done anything remotely this daft, ever.

 

[screenman]

Not here, I did a cross race the day after buying my first set about 25 years ago, that was a steep learning curve. Of course it goes without saying that when learning to use them you unclip well before you need to, not at the last second.

As for mjray, well he cycles everywhere in slow mode some of us prefer different, I would not say he is wrong in his choice but he seems to point out the rest of us are if we are not the same as him.

 

[Hugh Manatee]

I don't think I have ever had a clipless moment either. They just feel very natural to me and I really do not feel safe (off road) without them.

My moment came before they were widespread. The old clips and straps held you in the pedal via slotted cleats bolted (or nailed if you're even older than me) very firmly indeed. I once held a set of lights up for an entire cycle (drivers seemed more chilled in the early 90s) whilst I struggled and fiddled with the damn straps.

This process wasn't helped by me laughing and an old lady thinking I was having some sort of cardiac crisis!

 

[raleighnut]

Welcome to the club.

Funny thing is now I'm slowly getting back onto 2 wheels (after breaking my femur 2yrs ago and riding a trike for the last 18 months) I haven't dared ride any of the 5 that have clipless pedals on em (apart from the Equipe but I've swapped the pedals for 'track' flats on that)
Thing is I still remove my foot from the pedal long before I come to a stop, habit I suppose.

 

[Tin Pot]

Okay so I am new to cycling and not only have I squeezed myself into Lycra but I have also bought myself a pair of cycle shoes complete with cleats. And the inevitable happened, on their maiden voyage I pulled up to a set of traffic lights and forgot to un-clip until too late. It was like time slowed down, I very slowly fell into the gutter all the time with a bunch of onlookers laughing and saying look at that twonk. By the time I had picked myself up there were four Iphones pointing at me and a bunch of teenagers telling me that I am "keeping it real"?!

Is this supposed to happen? Is it only me that has done this?

Brilliant!

Virtually all of us do this...once, early on.

 

[Profpointy]

Okay so I am new to cycling and not only have I squeezed myself into Lycra but I have also bought myself a pair of cycle shoes complete with cleats. And the inevitable happened, on their maiden voyage I pulled up to a set of traffic lights and forgot to un-clip until too late. It was like time slowed down, I very slowly fell into the gutter all the time with a bunch of onlookers laughing and saying look at that twonk. By the time I had picked myself up there were four Iphones pointing at me and a bunch of teenagers telling me that I am "keeping it real"?!

Is this supposed to happen? Is it only me that has done this?

None of us have ever heard of that happening before. No wonder they laughed !

.... mind you there was a, ahem friend, who'd just bought a fixie and was riding it back to where he'd parked his car. Middle aged bloke, not ridden a fixied before, nor ridden in London, so I (sorry he) tried to do a track stand at some traffic lights....

 

[Profpointy]

oh and there was the river incident, but that wasn't really my fault