Clip Out!!!!

I am not a fan of the old slap stick comedies; not even the modern day ones. I’ll leave it to Chad to think of some titles for me. Movies aren’t my strength in general. But I digress… I could share stories of slow motion falls due to an inability to clip out of clipless bike pedals all day long. Generally no one is hurt save a scrape or two, although someone’s pride always ends up taking a hit. And for all involved it makes a good story.

Which is why I tell my falling down story this morning with a smile on my face. I decided to sleep in this morning and ride my road bike into work. It was a relatively uneventful ride though I found my concentration a bit off as I kept thinking how different the position is from my tri bike.

Did I mention how much I love my tri bike? Anyway, I get to Memorial Bridge where the trail narrows as it goes under the bridge. You can really only pass one cyclist at a time and proper etiquette means that when there is someone else in the tunnel first the second cyclist waits. Well I got to the underpass at the same moment as another guy but he kept riding so I quickly stopped and unclipped my left foot. I was a little too close to the center of the path for my liking so I decided to inch over to my right a little.

I tried to do the old lift the seat up and shimmy over thing but I quickly lost my balance. I tried to grab on to the wall of the bridge to save myself but I could feel the inevitable. I think I smiled all the way down. The rider passed me just as I was struggling out from under the bike and asked if I was ok. Yep, couldn’t unclip. And as I got up there was another biker at the other end of the bridge but he stopped and waved me through – there would be no more stopping for me today until I reached my destination.

My knee has a nice scrape and burns a little. I won’t be able to hide it at swim practice tonight. And my pride… well, after nearly 5 years of riding with clipless pedals I can say it happens to the best of us.

;)

Happy riding! - K