What do you do when everything goes wrong?

Bleve said:

Kathy said:

Bleve said:

Kathy wrote:

>Bleve wrote:
>

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Can I suggest that clipping in and out be done at the carpark
just up behind the velodrone instead? It's flat. Dealing with
a lean (even the slight 2 degrees or so at hwtn) is only going
to make it harder.

That was the theory behind moving onto the grass, in a low gear, so it
would be easier...

Fatal mistake! You're going too slow on the grass, which means you
have less time to unclip.

Quoted message said:

Very nervous - and with Dave there watching - more nervous...

🙂

Partners are the world's worst teachers, alas. As one who has
tried to teach partners to ride, ski, dive, drive ... too hard!

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What I've done in the past with nervous riders is get them riding
reasonably quickly, and ride beside them, and get them to
(20km/h+) click out while not worrying about having to actually stop,
and then click back in - this gets them used to the action without
having
to worry about actually stopping. If it helps, you can rest an
arm on their shoulder when they do it (not necessary, but provides
a mental aid more than anything real) My golden rule with cleats is
"click
out earlier than you think you need to". You can always click back
in again and get going if the lights change!

I like this idea - will try this when I get up enough confidence to even
think about using the cleats again - which won't be today...

Suggestion - do it in this order

Get up to speed - make it 25km/h. At this speed, you can roll for
oh, 500m or so before you'll get unstable? Ages anyway ...
click out with one foot while rolling. Don't even think about
stopping etc .. just click out and then click back in again. With the
bike going that fast, it'll be stable (you can get shoved in the hip at
that
speed and the bike will just wobble a bit).

Once you get comfy doing that, do the other foot - it does help to be
able
to pull both feet out 🙂

Then, once happy with that, take a foot out, wave the leg around, pop
it
back in again .. repeat until really annoying everyone with your
showoff
antics.

Then, rolling along at 25km/h, unclip and *then* brake to stop. So
you're already off the cleat before you think about stopping. Repeat
.... As you
get better at it, you can decrease the time you give yourself between
unclipping and stopping. You'll pick it up in a flash.

Quoted message said:

The really stupid thing about it is that I know I can stop the bike and
track stand for a little while on my normal pedals - wouldn't even have
contemplated starting to use the cleats if I hadn't got to that point -
but when it came time to stop AND remove my foot from the cleat AND just
get it all together,

Wrong order, that's why. Unclip, then stop, not stop, then unclip.
Give
yourself time to unclip! If you can trackstand, balance is not an
issue,
but time is.

Quoted message said:

it didn't happen - so I hurt myself and Dave's
yelling at me cos I scared him too

There's that "partners make bad teachers" thing again!

It was pretty windy out there too I'd bet? Doesn't help when you're
learning a new skill.

Good advice. We will try this.

Dave

Claes said:

Bike serviced a few months ago, came out with rear wheel out of dish, so
now I have scraped off paint on the chain stay. Trying to get that fixed
today.

Last 3 pair of gloves have lasted less than 3 weeks before a seam has
ripped. Handed last pair in today.

Pedals have been gone for warranty repair/service, comes back after 6
weeks, just as bad as before. Waiting for manager to call me today.

Last ride, new tool, adjusted seat, scratched the seatpost. It ended up
with a puncture not far down beach road, then the rain starts, got home
wet and cold, and the bike covered in sand and muck, WTF is that stuff
that your bike gets smeared in when it rains on beach road?

I have just lost it, everything with cycling at the moment just end up
in tears. Not fun anymore.

I know the feeling. 3 out of my last 5 races have been DNFs thanks to
broken spokes and punctures. I just smile -- grimly

--
BrettS

On 2005-09-29, Dancier (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

<snip problems and solutions>

Quoted message said:

Went out on Tuesday for a big big ride and all was well, no problems
apart from that magpie that got me going each way at the end of station
street in Bonbeach/Carrum.

So you bought a nuclear weapon? Because that's what I'd do.

--
TimC
A debugged program is one for which you have not yet found the
conditions that make it fail. -- Jerry Ogdin

Bleve said:

Then, rolling along at 25km/h, unclip and *then* brake to stop. So
you're already off the cleat before you think about stopping. Repeat
..... As you
get better at it, you can decrease the time you give yourself between
unclipping and stopping. You'll pick it up in a flash.

also come to a complete stop before you plant your plastic cleat and smooth road shoe. They both slide and splinter. Less of an issue with metal SPDs and treaded MTB shoes.

osc said:

Lots of SNIPS

Well, all very depressing ... 'impaired' ... problems with left leg... many and varied treatments,.... diagnosed with split biceps femoris tendon. Operation.... various niggling issues with repaired leg. Then problems with other leg. Ongoing .....inner thigh tightness which continues,...much treatment, unresovable.... tendonitis of knee.... excellent physio and support staff etc.

Stewart

Hi Stewart

Bowen Therapy ... Rest... Bowen...Rest....Bowen...
Structured light exercise

Get well soon

Hugh

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I have not used SL before. They are backed all the way off. And if I
have the pedal in one hand and the shoes in the other i can JUST
disengage em by twisting my wrist. And I aint a weak bunny. Now I know
the leverage of a leg is much more. But I can easily disengage my SPDs
with the same test. And in fact I have backed em off absolutely all the
way since so they are sloppier than when I tried that. Yeah the
movement may be greater but the effort is minimal.

Try the same, with the pedal held by a crankarm in a bike.

ummm actually with my hand I couldnt twist the SLs off under that test.

Odd.

Quoted message said:

Like I said fairly decent effort. Now it may be that they are ok in
normal use by a normal person.. but just at the moment if they are real
easy for kathy to get out of then I am going to be happier

*nod*

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Yes the SLs were ajusted right. In fact if I turn em up I cant even
clip em in with the bits in my hands.

The spring is designed to hold against vertical forces - they have
to deal with quite a lot of force in one direction. That you
can't clip into them by hand is not suprising, unless again, they're
hooked up to a bike.

Yep but if the effort increases when I adjust em one way then the other
way is backing the tension off. Which accords with the info I found on
the web site. Which proves I wasnt sending Kath out with the things
done up to deal with Lance on a good day. Which was my point.

heh, yes 🙂

Quoted message said:

I have a pair of them 2m from me right

Quoted message said:

now on my beater. The transition from SPD to SPD-SL I found to
be almost unnoticable when I did it (2 years ago or so now),
except that they're more comfortable and lighter (and easier to clip
in!)

Got space cleat mounting plates?

Nope. Got Shimano shoes though. They "just work".

HughMann said:

Hi Stewart

Bowen Therapy ... Rest... Bowen...Rest....Bowen...
Structured light exercise

Get well soon

Hugh

Thanks Hugh I might just give it a go. I have tried many and varied things over the past 4 odd years but not Bowen. I've had a quick look at the Australian Assn website.

Mind you, if my girlfriend gets wind of yet another different form of treatment I'll never here the end of it....🙂

cheers,

Stewart

Bleve said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> I have not used SL before. They are backed all the way off. And if I
>have the pedal in one hand and the shoes in the other i can JUST
>disengage em by twisting my wrist. And I aint a weak bunny. Now I know
>the leverage of a leg is much more. But I can easily disengage my SPDs
>with the same test. And in fact I have backed em off absolutely all the
>way since so they are sloppier than when I tried that. Yeah the
>movement may be greater but the effort is minimal.

Try the same, with the pedal held by a crankarm in a bike.

ummm actually with my hand I couldnt twist the SLs off under that test.

Odd.

Quoted message said:

Like I said fairly decent effort. Now it may be that they are ok in
normal use by a normal person.. but just at the moment if they are real
easy for kathy to get out of then I am going to be happier

*nod*

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>Yes the SLs were ajusted right. In fact if I turn em up I cant even
>clip em in with the bits in my hands.

The spring is designed to hold against vertical forces - they have
to deal with quite a lot of force in one direction. That you
can't clip into them by hand is not suprising, unless again, they're
hooked up to a bike.

Yep but if the effort increases when I adjust em one way then the other
way is backing the tension off. Which accords with the info I found on
the web site. Which proves I wasnt sending Kath out with the things
done up to deal with Lance on a good day. Which was my point.

heh, yes 🙂

Quoted message said:

I have a pair of them 2m from me right

Quoted message said:

now on my beater. The transition from SPD to SPD-SL I found to
be almost unnoticable when I did it (2 years ago or so now),
except that they're more comfortable and lighter (and easier to clip
in!)

Got space cleat mounting plates?

Nope. Got Shimano shoes though. They "just work".

HMMM my fairly worn road shoes are shimano. I didnt have the right
plates. Maybe I chucked em? In which case they ought to be in the
spares crate. Ahhh well. I do now tho. Thanks Bike life. I am just
about to play with the pedals .. will try em on tomorrows mornington
ride 🙂

Btw My video project for uni is nearing completion. 3 min video staring
Ian and Kathy. Called commuting. If anyone is interested I will put it up

Dave

Claes said:

I have just lost it, everything with cycling at the moment just end up
in tears. Not fun anymore.

chin up geezer, we'll have some nice weather soon, you'll have all yer kit fixed
and it will but fun to ride 😉

cheers,

Kim
~ i have a stressful but productive week and looking forward to that good weather myself =)
hmmmm hmmmm i want to ride my fixie, i want to ride it where i like! hmmmm hmmmm hmmm, i want to ride my fixie!

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>> "dave" == dave <[email hidden]> writes:

dave> Btw My video project for uni is nearing completion. 3 min
dave> video staring Ian and Kathy. Called commuting. If anyone is
dave> interested I will put it up

I'm interested :-)
--
Cheers | ~~ __@
Euan | ~~ _-\<,
Melbourne, Australia | ~ (*)/ (*)

Euan said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>>>"dave" == dave <[email hidden]> writes:

dave> Btw My video project for uni is nearing completion. 3 min
dave> video staring Ian and Kathy. Called commuting. If anyone is
dave> interested I will put it up

I'm interested :-)

OK tomorrow sometime I will do a render and shove it somewhere.. probly
the web server at work.. Fairly sure noone will notice 🙂

In article <[email hidden]>, Kathy <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Claes said:

Bike serviced a few months ago, came out with rear wheel out of dish, so
now I have scraped off paint on the chain stay. Trying to get that fixed
today.

Last 3 pair of gloves have lasted less than 3 weeks before a seam has
ripped. Handed last pair in today.

Pedals have been gone for warranty repair/service, comes back after 6
weeks, just as bad as before. Waiting for manager to call me today.

Last ride, new tool, adjusted seat, scratched the seatpost. It ended up
with a puncture not far down beach road, then the rain starts, got home
wet and cold, and the bike covered in sand and muck, WTF is that stuff
that your bike gets smeared in when it rains on beach road?

I have just lost it, everything with cycling at the moment just end up
in tears. Not fun anymore.

Oh no!
I know how you feel though (or at least partly...) Was prepared to leave
(new) bike at velo two days ago and walk home - give up cycling for good...
My problem - fell off old bike and broke wrist, fell off Dave's bike and
scratched it up as well as hole in jersey, fell off new bike and hurt
right thumb and left shoulder, tried cleats and new shoes... Firstly on
trainer (note to all - they work just like training wheels and don't
teach you about the real world..!) and was doing just fine at getting
feet into AND out of cleats - so Dave felt that it was time to go down
the velo and do a few laps in reality... That's when I found out that
the action required to remove foot from cleat was sufficient to throw
body weight totally off - in the direction of the foot that is still
clipped in!!!****!!! So - one lap of velo - fell off spectacularly (and
thanks if you're on here to the bloke in the blue jersey who DIDN'T run
into me as I slid down the ashphalt AND asked on the next lap if I was
OK....) - sit in grass for a while - go and do another lap riding off
onto grass so that at least any fall wasn't going to hurt as much - and
Dave there to grab me - did that twice - nerves totally shattered...
Eventually decided to move over onto grass area on other side of fence -
supposedly safer - where I stood for somewhere up to about half an hour
TOTALLY unable to lift my left foot off the ground and try to clip it in
and then try and get out again... When I finally did - guess what - I
fell over again...
Switched back to normal pedals and rode back to Dave's - totally
shattered - not at all a happy camper...
Now trying SPD's instead of SPD-SL's... the pedals are Dave's - they're
old and a bit worn - new cleats - seems OK - but only on the trainer so
far - absolutely no confidence to take it off the trainer yet.... ARGH!!
Oh yeah - skinned knee and LOTS of bruising - again - I think Dave's
getting a bit sick of picking me up and trying to put the pieces back
together again.....

Jesus Kath! What is he doing to you??? Sounds like too much too soon to
me. Don't let Dave push you so hard.

osc said:

HughMann said:

Hi Stewart

Bowen Therapy ... Rest... Bowen...Rest....Bowen...
Structured light exercise

Get well soon

Hugh

Thanks Hugh I might just give it a go. I have tried many and varied
things over the past 4 odd years but not Bowen. I've had a quick look
at the Australian Assn website.

Mind you, if my girlfriend gets wind of yet another different form of
treatment I'll never here the end of it....🙂

cheers,

Stewart

Stewart, if it works, she won´t CARE whether it´s ýet another one... I
assure you! (Kathy)

Sara said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Kathy <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Claes wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Switched back to normal pedals and rode back to Dave's - totally
shattered - not at all a happy camper...
Now trying SPD's instead of SPD-SL's... the pedals are Dave's - they're
old and a bit worn - new cleats - seems OK - but only on the trainer so
far - absolutely no confidence to take it off the trainer yet.... ARGH!!
Oh yeah - skinned knee and LOTS of bruising - again - I think Dave's
getting a bit sick of picking me up and trying to put the pieces back
together again.....

Jesus Kath! What is he doing to you??? Sounds like too much too soon to
me. Don't let Dave push you so hard.

Thanks Sa! It´s OK - it´s just a tough way to learn this stuff - and
he´s been riding for so long a lot of the ´ordinary´ stuff is just built
in... Easier to get out of the SPDs and he´s trying mine - interesting
to see how it goes - but they definitely ARE tougher to get out of than
his (confirmed by the Dave), so it WASN´T just me...! Kathy

In article <[email hidden]>, dave

Quoted message said:

Sara said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Kathy <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Claes wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Switched back to normal pedals and rode back to Dave's - totally
shattered - not at all a happy camper...
Now trying SPD's instead of SPD-SL's... the pedals are Dave's - they're
old and a bit worn - new cleats - seems OK - but only on the trainer so
far - absolutely no confidence to take it off the trainer yet.... ARGH!!
Oh yeah - skinned knee and LOTS of bruising - again - I think Dave's
getting a bit sick of picking me up and trying to put the pieces back
together again.....

Jesus Kath! What is he doing to you??? Sounds like too much too soon to
me. Don't let Dave push you so hard.

Thanks Sa! It´s OK - it´s just a tough way to learn this stuff - and
he´s been riding for so long a lot of the ´ordinary´ stuff is just built
in... Easier to get out of the SPDs and he´s trying mine - interesting
to see how it goes - but they definitely ARE tougher to get out of than
his (confirmed by the Dave), so it WASN´T just me...! Kathy

I'd just use flat pedals meself... but that's up to you of course.

Must go to bed soon.

--
Sara

iChat: sarakirk (AIM)
So, what are you going to do? Sucker me to death?

dave said:

Thanks Sa! It´s OK - it´s just a tough way to learn this stuff - and
he´s been riding for so long a lot of the ´ordinary´ stuff is just built
in... Easier to get out of the SPDs and he´s trying mine - interesting
to see how it goes - but they definitely ARE tougher to get out of than
his (confirmed by the Dave), so it WASN´T just me...! Kathy

I narrowly avoided an embarassing fall at the local shops this morning
when I couldn't get my foot out of toe clips (yes toe clips). I wore a
different pair of runners to normal that were a bit wider and higher
than the runners I would normally wear. Pulled up just short of the
gutter, went to pull the foot out and ... Oh [censored] it's not coming out.
Managed to get it out just as I was trying to decide which parked car to
fall on.

DaveB