gurana

After returning to riding a couple of years ago, I finally put clipless pedals back on my non-commuter bikes. Having not used them for many years I did the sensible thing and practiced with them like I did when they were new to me. Surprisingly I went like a month without incident.

I don't really think clipless pedals are super complicated. Including today, I've only fallen because of them like 5 times since 2004 that I can recall. It's not something that I really thought about to be honest. The first time I did it in front of other cyclists I had successfully unclipped but actually clipped back in when I went to put my foot down. I kind of consider that to be a freak accident. The other times it was simple inattentiveness.

Fast forward to yesterday. I'm at a traffic light at a huge intersection. It's up hill and I just wasn't really paying attention to my pedals. I was looking at traffic and the light and as I slowed down unclipped my right foot as I started leaning left. I simply panicked in the moment and instead of even trying to unclip I just kind of accepted my fate and fell.

Then earlier today I was on a multi-use trail with a short but steep hill leading up to an intersection. I went in hot just to get up the hill and was going to stop at the top to check traffic. At the top, a car slammed on their brakes and honked their horn... Startled and distracted at the critical moment, I fell in very much the same way as the day before. My only regret in the situation is that there's no simple way for me to convey to the person in the car, "Hey, I know it looked like I was just going to blow across the street without looking, and it appears that you had to slam your brakes to avoid hitting me and then I got scared and fell. I assure you that I was always going to stop here and I just got startled and fell because I'm still getting the hang of these pedals apparently. Further, I definitely am the one that messed up here as there was no real way for you to know my intentions. I'll do better about approaching this crossing in the future. BTW, thanks for looking out in the first place as I'm sure this particular intersection is an issue."

Anyways, I went about my ride and kind of forgot about both incidents. That is, until I got to my house and as I'm slowing down and unclipping, I had to actually think about *not* leaning left when my right foot came out and I came to a stop. Now, apparently, I'm in my head about this whole stupid thing. Is something wrong with my bike, or am I just imagining this draw towards my left side? I guess I'll find out tomorrow.