close call for me today

[Brink]

I was riding in the middle of the right lane on a 2 lane street today. Both lanes travel in the same
direction. The street was moderately busy. Posted speed limit was 30 miles per hour. This is the
part of the road where I work on sprinting and holding as a high speed I can maintain for about 0.3
- 0.8 miles long.

I was hitting 28 miles per hour for a good portion of the way and then there is a slight incline. At
this time cars are passing in the other lane at about 35 miles per hour, and I was dropping to
around 25 mph. I got up off the seat at this time to really crank up the incline for the last 3
block. My feet suddenly came off of my speedplay X2 pedals. Both feet were suddenly on pavement
skidding. My tender area came down on the top tube (not too hard though) I maintained balance,
skidded over to the edge of the road and let all traffic pass.

I don't think the car behind me got very close, but I was really worried about getting run over for
about a second. (I should have taken this opportunity to record my maximum heart rate as I am sure
sprint plus fear of death is about as high as one can get.)

I do not understand how my feet came off the pedals. Maybe I twisted one leg out of the cleat in
my sprint and then the other foot came out when i tried to catch myself with that leg. The cleats
are tight and i cannnot make my feet come out by pulling. Guess i should sprint in traffic only
while seated.

Anyway it was really just an embarrassment in the long run. I do not even have soreness where i came
down on the top tube.

Be careful out there..... Brink

 

[Walter]

Hi,

When I was about 8 years old I was riding a full size bike and had a similar problem. No traffic and
only doing about 15 miles an hour, but I came down on that bar hard.

It was at that point I wondered why Mens bike don't lose the top bar, like woman's bikes. It seemed
like a no-brainer when I was 8, and I'm now 42, and I haven't changed my opinion.

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected]
(Walter) wrote:

> Hi,
>
> When I was about 8 years old I was riding a full size bike and had a similar problem. No traffic
> and only doing about 15 miles an hour, but I came down on that bar hard.
>
> It was at that point I wondered why Mens bike don't lose the top bar, like woman's bikes. It
> seemed like a no-brainer when I was 8, and I'm now 42, and I haven't changed my opinion.

Welcome to the world of Compact Geometry! I think you'll enjoy your stay.

Seriously. A while back, mountain bikes started trending towards smaller frames combined with tall
seat tubes, for the express purpose of gaining stand-over height (landing on the top tube being an
even more acute danger on MTBs than road bikes).

"Compact" road bike geometry takes a similar concept to the road bike. There are notional claims of
greater stiffness and lesser weight, but the gains are marginal at best. However, if you rely on
long seat tubes and wildly variable stem sizing, you can make a few compact frames fit almost
anyone. Some compact frames are made in as few as three sizes, at least on the MTB side.

I'm greatly in favour of compact sizing for a grossly selfish reason: I take about a 52 cm
standard-fit frame, or a small compact frame. This means I can pretty much ride a large-size compact
frame (a "large compact" frame?) as if it was a standard-fit frame, so I get lots of options .

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

 

[Peter Cole]

"Brink" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> I was riding in the middle of the right lane on a 2 lane street today. Both lanes travel in the
> same direction. The street was moderately busy. Posted speed limit was 30 miles per hour. This is
> the part of the road where I work on sprinting and holding as a high speed I can maintain for
> about 0.3 - 0.8 miles long.
>
> My feet suddenly came off of my speedplay X2 pedals.

> I don't think the car behind me got very close, but I was really worried about getting run over
> for about a second.

Important safety tip: DON'T SPRINT IN TRAFFIC!

 

[Jeff]

"Ryan Cousineau" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>, [email protected]
> (Walter) wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > When I was about 8 years old I was riding a full size bike and had a similar problem. No traffic
> > and only doing about 15 miles an hour, but I came down on that bar hard.
> >
> > It was at that point I wondered why Mens bike don't lose the top bar, like woman's bikes. It
> > seemed like a no-brainer when I was 8, and I'm now 42, and I haven't changed my opinion.
>
> Welcome to the world of Compact Geometry! I think you'll enjoy your stay.
>
> Seriously. A while back, mountain bikes started trending towards smaller frames combined with tall
> seat tubes, for the express purpose of gaining stand-over height (landing on the top tube being an
> even more acute danger on MTBs than road bikes).
>
> "Compact" road bike geometry takes a similar concept to the road bike. There are notional claims
> of greater stiffness and lesser weight, but the gains are marginal at best. However, if you rely
> on long seat tubes and wildly variable stem sizing, you can make a few compact frames fit almost
> anyone. Some compact frames are made in as few as three sizes, at least on the MTB side.
>
> I'm greatly in favour of compact sizing for a grossly selfish reason: I take about a 52 cm
> standard-fit frame, or a small compact frame. This means I can pretty much ride a large-size
> compact frame (a "large compact" frame?) as if it was a standard-fit frame, so I get lots of
> options .

Many years ago, I heard a comedian (sorry, I don't recall who) make the observation of bicycles
that he didn't understand why the ones with the balls got the ones with the bars. Darn good
question, IMHO.

 

[Steve Knight]

On 11 Oct 2003 14:25:05 -0700, [email protected] (Brink) wrote:

>I do not understand how my feet came off the pedals. Maybe I twisted one leg out of the cleat in
>my sprint and then the other foot came out when i tried to catch myself with that leg. The cleats
>are tight and i cannnot make my feet come out by pulling. Guess i should sprint in traffic only
>while seated.
>
I have that problem with my speedplay's I tend to let me knees spread apart and that causes my foot
to turn and out I pop. never had it happen while standing but I have had both feet pop out at once.
usually in the middle of an intersection.

--
Knight-Toolworks & Custom Planes Custom made wooden planes at reasonable prices See
http://www.knight-toolworks.com For prices and ordering instructions.