Joined the "fell over" club today...

Welcome to the club! Bruised hip members please form a line to the left. Scraped elbows to the right please.

At least you can laugh about it. 🙂

tiggere said:

...what made it worse...the damn light changed two seconds before I fell so I had a total of 6 lanes of traffic staring at me...most were laughing hysterically at me as I licked my wounds while crossing the intersection...[censored] 😄....

I've often said the odds of the stupidest thing possible happening to you increase as the number of rando bystanders goes up.

Chavez said:

I've often said the odds of the stupidest thing possible happening to you increase as the number of rando bystanders goes up.

I have made it a new rule that I unclip completely if I'm tired or severly lean the bike into my unclipped shoe if not so tired...rode 14 miles today without even the slightest incident...as for the bruised hip/scraped elbows lining up...believe I would have to start another line...the both line...

Chavez said:

I've often said the odds of the stupidest thing possible happening to you increase as the number of random bystanders goes up.

Words of widom Chavez, words of wisdom!😉

The other day I stopped at a favorite water fountain to strectch and fill my bottles. I wasn't thinking clearly so I clipped in the right foot while leaning against a trash can with my left hand. Bad combination. I started going over to the right and couldn't unclip in time. landed hard and scratched my "brand new", Ultegra, pedals and put a hole in my saddle. DOH!:eek:

Ken.

My motto : "Free your feet or your ass will follow" 😄

I recently picked up a new Cannondale Synapse. I had the LBS put on pedals with toe clips. My plan was to ride it wearing my running shoes. But everytime I got out about 10 miles or so my the middle 3 toes on my left foot started to go numb.

I tried different shoes, thicker then thinner socks, more then less toe clip tightness. Nothing helped. After some research both online and at the LBS I picked up some clipless pedals and shoes.

On my first journey out of the neighborhood I was pulling up to a rural intersection with every intent on just rolling slowly to turn right w/o acutally stopping. Glancing both left and right there were no oncoming cars.

But then I was startled by a pickup truck pulling up beside me. He had been behind me but I did not know he was there. I then attempted to stop without unclipping and promply fell over going about 1 mph.

I quickly got up and looked the bike over and not a scratch. My water bottle didn't even fall out of its cage. I then continued on with my ride but I remembered to unclip early for the stop signs.

It's a great big club...

I've been a member for a long time.

My worst one was when I got new shoes, installed my crank bros. cleats w/o shims [heck, didn't need them on the old shoes] clipped in [tougher than usual, what's up with that?] road to my first rest spot, slowed waaay down because it's loose gravel on pavement, kind of like ball bearing on teflon, start the turn...

And couldn't unclip. Couldn't: without the shim, it was too tight. So I was frantically trying to regain momentum and equalibrium while pulling off the shoe...

Shoe and I come off at the same time. Down I go, bottom foot bare and free, the top one clipped in. Then I'm bleeding but unbroken, still fastened to the bike. And had to wrestle that shoe off, too, before I could get untangled.

Then had to figure out 1-how to stop bleeding 2-how to get the bike and shoes and me home again.

Couldn't hear any of the dozen or so bystanders laughing, probably because I was swearing so loud. They didn't offer to help, probably for the same reason...

Oruboris said:

It's a great big club...

I almost renewed my membership yesterday. My clipless pedals are on the Felt, so I repacked the bearings of my old clipped Campis and reinstalled them on the Gios, where they hadn't been for about nine years. Took it out for a spin and forgot to loosen the straps when I got home.

I was a member of the club in the late 1990's. Bought a set of Look Pedals and Specialized shoes and I was set. I learned how to clip and unclip in a deserted department store parking lot. On my first ride, I approached a stop sign at a busy intersection and darned pedal wouldn't release. I did an emergency U-turn into some bushes and made it through them only to have to stop for a 2 foot high flowerbed wall. Still couldn't get unclipped and fell over into some tulips. The lady who owned the tulips called the cops and I had to pay $125.00 damages. Expensive flowers and more than I paid for the pedals.

I fell over four more times that summer. Prior to this, I had only had one fall when a car forced me over into loose gravel at 17 MPH. Each time I fell, I wasn't moving, I was stopped, so all I got from them were bruises and a busted ego. After the last time, the pedals were unceramoniously removed from the bicycle and heaved into the middle of the Little Miami River. I hope they're no more than little lumps of rust by now. I went back to my toe clips and have not made an unplanned trip to the ground since.

If you read other posts of mine, I talk about only having one crash. If I fall over while I'm not moving, I don't consider that to be a "crash". I consider that to be stupidity, and it was awfully stupid of me to buy clipless pedals.

About four years ago, I was riding around with several friends. We were about two miles from home, and pedaling down the side of the street. I was in the back.

My chain was loose at the time, but I didn't realize how loose, It ended up getting caught just as I was pushing down hard on the right pedal, and the chain snapped.

My bike fell sideways and I on top of it.

The end of the handlebars hit me right in the chest and broke my sternum :p

So I end up just laying on the ground in agony while everyone else rode on. They finally notice that I'm on the ground a block behind them, and come back to help me up. Then I had to walk home 2 miles.

Ah, memories....hehe