The Inevitable... My First Fall!

Any falls that don't require skin grafts, stitches, or casts are a "good" fall. It sounds like you have passed your initiation into the "real" world of cycling. Bruised and embarrassed are normal, soaked was just a bonus. Good luck on future rides and way to go attacking the hill that always gave you problems in the past. You are well on your way to beating it.

Irongirl2011 wrote, in part:
"With my left foot clipped and my right not so, I didn't get enough momentum going but couldn't get my right foot down in time."

To which I must reply:
Gotta' wonder what the benefit of those toe clips is when I read something like this. I guess I'm paranoid about having my feet, already clumsy enough, "clipped in" to my pedals. I also don't like the prospect of walking around on something that may be slippery like those aforementioned clips. I want my feet, and everything else, to be free to instantly move at my whim.

The aforementioned aside, I'm so glad you weren't injured by your fall. Last fall, I had the only fall I can recall in over 35 years, which went thusly:

I was going along the bike path on the west side of Lancaster, Ohio, when I came to the concrete bridges that cross, then re-cross, a small stream just south of SR 188. Seeing one small puddle in the middle of the lane, I thought: "How bad can THAT be?" and proceeded through it. The moment my rear tire hit that tiny puddle my bike went out from under me and I landed with an unceremonious "thud" in said puddle, on my right cheek (the lower one, thank you) and slid across the lane. As soon as my rump cleared the puddle and I hit the DRY pavement, the increase in friction jerked me upright, causing me to slide across the remainder of the path on BOTH cheeks to a stop. Other than making me look comically inept, I suffered no injury, and my Bike-E recumbent suffered a small scrape on the outer surface of the deraileur cover, which didn't affect it's operation. I got back on the bike and rode on without further delay. I now wish someone could've recorded this incident from behind me and posted it online for others to laugh at, because it IS funny, now that I think about it. As mentioned previously, ANY fall that doesn't require medical or mechanical maintenance is a good one.

Oh, and one more thing....the reason the puddle was so slippery? This occured in the FALL, and the puddle had fallen leaves in it, which make it like an oil slick, so beware, my dear, and ride safe!

I had a dumb little incident (not a fall, thankfully) on Day 6 of my 7-day tour in May. I had always ridden with toe clips up until last fall when I switched over to clipless, and I didn't find it to be a big transition at all. I've never had much trouble getting my feet down when I come to a stop. Anyway, we were assembled in the parking lot, almost ready to go. I was on my bike, talking to several people with my right foot clipped in, leaning on my left foot. Somehow, adjusting my stance, I put too much pressure on my right foot (pedal was up) and lost my balance momentarily. I managed to get my right foot unclipped, but in doing so, I spun the crank, so the left pedal smashed into the back of my left ankle, causing me to leak a little, of course. In typical male fashion, I didn't get it bandaged or anything, I just rode with it that way. The tendon was pretty sore for a week or so, but not debilitating by any means. Then, after the end of the ride the next day, on the way home, I noticed the inside of my right thigh was pretty tender. I figured it was just some soreness from 360 miles of riding in a week, but when I got home to the shower, I discovered my personal record for size and diversity of color in a bruise! I figure that when I started to go over, the top tube of my bike must have smacked me in the thigh pretty good, but I didn't notice at the time because the impact to my left Achilles' tendon was far more painful.

Jason

Hey, IGirl!

CONGRATULATIONS on going after that hill the way you did. Sierra is verrrry impressed.

I'm glad you weren't hurt badly. I think we all remember our first fall. I was terrified of mine for months, and when it finally happened, it was such a relief to figure out I could live through it, lol.

Keep up the good work. You're an inspiration!

Mine happened a couple of hours after I picked up my bike from the store!

I got the bike home, its all pretty and has that new bike smell! I put the pedals on it (first set of clip-less... see where this is going?!?), get the cleats on the shoes and go for a test ride. I made a couple of mistakes right off the bat. I road a familiar path (always with road bike with flat pedals) and it starts on a busy street with highway crossings. I was in the area of a friend and she tagged along. She is a path hog and does not have much situational awareness... but she is great to ride with and adventurous. We were crossing the highway at a crossing and it took me a couple seconds to clip in and as I looked up, there was the curb and she was in the ramp area... Not realizing I was clipped in I tried to put my foot down to stop... down I go! I look up at the guys in the car (who had a road bike on his rack) and I just yelled out "first time in clip-less pedals... gotta love the learning curve!" The curb took a couple of tips of teeth off of the big chainring but not enough to make it not work. An hour or so later I fell again in the parking lot as my partner decided to stop and look back to talk... Still not realizing I was clipped in... I went down.

Today -Partnerless but got a good 40 miles in. I learned there is a lot of ergonomics involved with properly setting up your cleats. Ill be sore tomorrow! But I love the bike and the freedom it provides.

Congrats on tackling that hill! We have a few up here that absolutely hurt! Keep up the training
-Teo