race time..

i read in a magazine 5000 people in a race..and it says practise your pedal clip in before you enter the race..which hits me.. i am slow in clipping into my pedals. i am using LOOK KEO.

what is the right way to clip in the pedal. usually i spend 5-10 seconds to clip in...


Steve,
Back froSydney

Starting from having no feet in the pedals, standing at a dead stop:

-Clip left foot in.
-Raise left crank and push down to set off and stay in the standing position.
-Raise right leg, put the front of the cleat under the lip of the front of the pedal and push down to pedal and clip in.

It's all about practise. If you feel like you're not that quick, just spend some time on a road that gently goes down hill, practising getting that last foot clipped in. Once you've clipped in, unclip and do it again.... and again... and again until you don't have to look (Look... get it? Like the pedals Har har) down to put your feet in.

Good advice, practice and it will become easy.

But the main thing the event organizers are really concerned about is folks causing big pileups as they start because they fumble while clipping in and either swerve all over the place, come to complete stop in their confusion or are so distracted while staring down at their pedals that they run right into another slow, wobbly or stopped rider.

IOW, give yourself a little bit of breathing room when you line up if possible so you're not right on top of the folks in front of you or squeezed in too tightly between other riders. Then get a good solid starting stroke from that left foot so you have some momentum and hopefully some balance which means choosing a decently large starting gear if the terrain is flat. Don't start flat events in your small chainring, you won't be able to get up to a reasonable speed with a tiny gear in half a pedal stroke.

When you practice clipping in make sure you can ride a relatively straight line and look up as much as possible as your foot finds the pedal. Also make sure to keep your hands up on the brake hoods ready to feather the brakes a bit if you start running up on someone who's stopped or struggling to get in.

The last tip is an old time crit trick, but can be useful if you're really struggling. Practice riding a few pedal strokes before you get your right foot clipped in. It's not great and modern road pedals are pretty slippery when ridden upside down so you can't put out full power but you can ride the pedal without being clipped in. If you roll off the start and everyone is getting clipped in faster, don't panic. Just pedal a bit gently for a few more strokes to get the bike up to speed, the bike will handle better and ride a straighter line with speed. Then get clipped in. This used to be standard procedure in the toeclip and strap days and it's still very useful during fast starts or if you have equipment troubles like a bit of mud on your cleats. I've ridden the first lap of fast crits before getting securely in when I had badly worn cleats, it's not great but it beats letting the group simply ride away or being responsible for a big pileup.

Good luck,
-Dave

I'm to understand that the OP is entering a 5000-rider mass-start event?

That might be a tad advanced for someone who needs 5-10 seconds to get clipped into pedals.

I think it may be a mass start event but I'm not sure if it really is a race.

Rides such as The Deathride are pretty much 2300+ rider mass start events... and although the organizers try and get people to start at different times based on how many passes they want to to, pretty much no one ever does. LOL Now that one starts pretty much with a 40mph descent into Markleeville... How 'bout then cajones aye? Between people realizing that 40mph in 40F weather is much colder than standing still at the start and putting on jackets whilst moving, people reseting computers, checking brakes and gears etc etc it's a wonder why there's not a mass pile up every year.

Ok, I would have thought those would use more of a show-n-go arrangement. Do they hold people at the start until 6am or sunrise, or something similar, or just let people start whenever they're ready?

A 5000-rider mass-start race would be cool.

Generally, they hold the start until it's deemed light enough - normally between 5.15 to 5.30am. If you want to start earlier you can - but beware the California Highway Patrol cruisers, they stop any rider without suitable lighting.

You don't need to 'show' anything on the morning - check in is the day before during the Deathride Expo. Park the car nearby, pull out the bike and you're off.

I usually clip my left leg in first as I'm left handed. But in races I clip the right leg in first as I can clip the left one in easier. Sometimes it's hard to clip in if you have new cleats or there is mud etc. Practice clipping in as often as you can before races if you are having problems.
I'm currently using speedplay pedals on my race bike and the morning of the race I'll give it an extra coating of oil (spray).

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This is very good advice, one query i have though is this what most people do. I skateboard/surf goofy foot, and therefore clip in my right foot b4 my left one, even though i am right handed. Am i just weird or is there a correlation between ''goofy foot'' and cycling clip ins.

I'm not sure that there's a relationship between "handedness" and "legness". I'm also right-handed, but I kick a ball more comfortably with the left leg and dismount my bike on the right. That's one of the reason I don't do cross. When I tried it, I had smeared chain grease all over my left hip. I never tried snowboarding, but I imagine I'd be more comfortable with my left forward. Is that goofy?

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i am exactly the same! goofy on a surfboard and ALWAYS clip in right foot first!

Right foot forward (downhill) is goofy for snowboarding. I've never surfed or skate boarded, but I assume it's the same.
I'm right handed, snowboard goofy and dismount my bike ambidexterously (sp?). However, I find it easiest to clip in with my left foot first because I have more motor control with my right, so it's easier to catch the moving pedal with. It's strange for snowboarding, because you steer with your back (uphill) foot- so people usually will choose to steer with the foot they have more motor control with.

I clip in/out with the foot that is closest to the curb at intersections. Here in the states that is the right foot. If I cycled in a country where they drive/ride on the left side of the road then I'd probably get into the habit of clipping out on the left side.