O
One Step Beyond
Guest
Hello,
I am newish to cycling shoes and the cleats engaging with the pedals. On my ride this morning I kept
running into road works - I am still a bit scared about engaging and disengaging the shoes and
pedals - especially with a queue of traffic behind me and trying to pull off uphill. Any others have
this "fear" or is it to be expected when getting used to them? When I am on my own I always seem to
engage them immediatly - but with traffic at a junction I always have to fiddle around !!!!
Is my method outlined below correct???? I have found that the best method is when coming up to a
junction, start to slow down then disengage the left foot about five yards from where I'll stop.
Then, when I am about to stop, lean my weight slightly to the left, put my foot on the floor then
get out of the saddle at the same time - leaving the right foot still engaged with the pedal. I then
turn the right crank so that the pedal is at the top and then push off with the right leg, I then
have to fiddle for about five seconds getting the left foot engaged with the pedal. I have had the
thought that since the right pedal is still engaged then when I push off I can keep my momentum
going my cycling with just the right leg and pulling up as well as pressing down to keep going so
that I am moving whilst engaging the left pedal.
I had an accuident nearly when starting out with cycling shoes when I pushed off as above but
couldn't engage the left pedal and my momentum went - I fell on my side and a car nearly hit me.
That scared me a lot and I am still a bit weary about pulling off again
On a similar note, do most cyclists plan there cycling runs to avoid certain junctons becuase of
this very issue? Do you plan your rides so that most of your turns are left, merging into the
traffic as opposed to having to turn right?
Thanks for reading
OSB
I am newish to cycling shoes and the cleats engaging with the pedals. On my ride this morning I kept
running into road works - I am still a bit scared about engaging and disengaging the shoes and
pedals - especially with a queue of traffic behind me and trying to pull off uphill. Any others have
this "fear" or is it to be expected when getting used to them? When I am on my own I always seem to
engage them immediatly - but with traffic at a junction I always have to fiddle around !!!!
Is my method outlined below correct???? I have found that the best method is when coming up to a
junction, start to slow down then disengage the left foot about five yards from where I'll stop.
Then, when I am about to stop, lean my weight slightly to the left, put my foot on the floor then
get out of the saddle at the same time - leaving the right foot still engaged with the pedal. I then
turn the right crank so that the pedal is at the top and then push off with the right leg, I then
have to fiddle for about five seconds getting the left foot engaged with the pedal. I have had the
thought that since the right pedal is still engaged then when I push off I can keep my momentum
going my cycling with just the right leg and pulling up as well as pressing down to keep going so
that I am moving whilst engaging the left pedal.
I had an accuident nearly when starting out with cycling shoes when I pushed off as above but
couldn't engage the left pedal and my momentum went - I fell on my side and a car nearly hit me.
That scared me a lot and I am still a bit weary about pulling off again
On a similar note, do most cyclists plan there cycling runs to avoid certain junctons becuase of
this very issue? Do you plan your rides so that most of your turns are left, merging into the
traffic as opposed to having to turn right?
Thanks for reading
OSB