On 2004-07-06, MattB penned:
Quoted message said:Monique Y. Mudama said:On 2004-07-06, pas penned:
Quoted message said:
just clip in. Give into it!! What's your big fear?
Falling. Duh.
Just as an example, I endo'd this weekend. I was out of
my pedals, so when my bike started tipping, my feet slid
forward and I was able to keep myself from flipping
forward. If I had had my feet clipped in, I would have
gone head-first into either rocks or the tree in front of
me. And no, clipping in would not have magically kept me
from falling. I'm sure better technique would have, but
that didn't happen.
Well, you may think that would have happened, but think
about this: If you had been clipped in, chances are your
weight would have been further back. That could have
prevented the whole incident. Most of the
beginner/intermediate endos I've witnessed have been at
least partially caused by the rider not having their feet
on the pedals (or too far forward on them). The worst ones
are when the rider tried to walk down something steep
while straddling the bike. Bad!
Okay, I don't try to walk down anything while straddling the
bike. That sounds like a really good way to get brained. Who
does this??
Other than that, I knew someone was going to play devil's
advocate here. Yes, it's possible that being clipped in
would have saved my ass. I tend to think that being clipped
in would have caused a non-productive panic response, but
maybe it would have helped.
I've had three endos. In all three, I was not clipped in.
One, I rode into a mud puddle and the mud reached out and
grabbed my front tire. Over I go. Two, I nailed my brakes
going downhill over an obstacle. Three, this weekend, coming
down off a steep rock and running my front wheel into a big
nasty root (that probably saved me from a big nasty tree).
Was not being clipped in a factor in any of these? I really
doubt it, but then, I couldn't see myself from a third-
person view.
Just curious -- how can you tell that having feet too far
forward was the problem, as opposed to something else? Do
you just mean that their body was too far forward, in part
because their feet were, too?
Quoted message said:
Have you ever gone OTB while clipped in? I've come out of
my pedals every single time (without trying). It seems the
vast majority of being-in-the-pedal-induced falls are to
the side.
I'm not sure that's any better when there's a dropoff to the
side ... but in any case, no, I haven't gone OTB while
clipped in. That's because I'm a big chicken and I'm never
clipped in anywhere remotely near anything that might cause
OTB-style behavior.
(On the other hand, I forced myself to ride large chunks of
Heil clipped in last night. Well, okay, just most of the
uphill approach. Still, more than I have in the past.)
Quoted message said:Also, if you must get new pedals with platforms, look
into the Time Z pedals. I believe Carla has some and
really likes them. I'd get some, but I don't need no
stinkin' platforms! (I ride the Time ATAC Carbons and
they are great until the spring breaks after 5 years or
so of hard use).
I'll look at 'em -- I've been eyeing Time stuff covetously
of late, for no particular reason -- but wouldn't that
require new shoes as well as cleats and pedals?
There are certain situations where I just can't imagine it's
a good idea to be clipped in. There's a particular
switchback I'm thinking of, just after the trail starts at
Heil. (I finally cleared it on the way up yesterday; yay
me!) On the way down, if you don't make the turn perfectly,
you'll dive head first into a stream that's a good distance
below you. Now, if you're not good enough to *know* that
you'll manage this, why *wouldn't* you have a foot ready to
dab? I'm sure you'd laugh at this turn, but there must be
similar situations which you encounter. And for those
situations, why wouldn't you want some more traction for
your foot?
--
monique
