Posts Tagged ‘clipless pedals’
9/1/12 – First crash
Remember how awesome I was on my bike? Yeah, that feeling carried over to Saturday when I decided to ride my awesome self on my awesome bike to Dr. Larry’s office.
All was going well until I got behind the bus. Since there were a lot of cars, I decided to stop behind the bus as it unloaded and loaded passengers. No problem! “Unclip, then brake!”
Well, the bus looked like it was about to go. So, I reattached to the bike, started to pedal, then realized that the bus was not moving.
I braked. The bike stopped. I fell over.
Yes, I did it. The classic new clipless pedal user fall. The most embarrassing fall of them all because there is no reason except for user error. BAH!
I checked my left elbow because I wasn’t wearing sleeves, and I was sure the road had eaten it alive. Not a scratch! SWEET! My left knee was hurting, too, but since my elbow was okay, I assumed it was good, too.
I picked up my bike, put the chain back on, then thought about actually checking my knee. Blood! What? Then, I kind of felt really cool for having an injury. I finished my ride to Dr. Larry’s office, locked up my bike, and bought some large bandaids for the new cool wound.
Needless to say, having a chiropractor appointment after a crash is very well timed! He was worried about my knee, but I told him that since the adrenaline was still going, I was feeling pretty good. He adjusted my wrist, ankles, hips, full back and neck. Then, I had a massage with Jennie, who did the most amazing release on the hip flexors (or the iliopsoas) from the back. Usually, a deep release of the this muscle is from the front with the massage therapist pushing their hand down into your stomach area, following the hip bone until they reach the hip flexor muscle attachment point close to your spine. Instead,she had me lay on my stomach, and while she kept her forearm on my low back applying steady pressure on the back side, she reached up the hip bone to the hip flexor from the front side. This is a great way to release that muscle as well as get the lower back muscles to relax at the same time. I greatly enjoyed this!
After all that, I made it home on my bike without incident, but I learned to have a little more respect for it, for sure.
8/30/12 – First Ride With Clipless, or Scariest Ride Ever
Posted by admin in Triathlon Training and Races on September 9th, 2012
So, after my trip to the PT, I immediately went to meet up with my triathlon training group for a 15 mile ride along the Burke-Gilman Trail. One catch: I had just installed my clipless pedals (Yes, they are called “clipless” even though they make a “click” when you actually attach your shoe to the pedal. For an explanation see the REI website: http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/bike-pedals.html)Â the day before.
Yeah.
I got up Thursday morning and tried the clipless pedals out while leaning against the house. After about 2 minutes of practicing clipping in and out of the pedals, I felt that I should ride around the driveway. NOPE! I almost fell off the stupid bike in the driveway – OMG!!!! How on earth am I going to make it through an entire 15 mile bike ride?
Back to present time, I arrived at the group meet up spot and put on my new clipless bike shoes, which are shiny and white. Why anyone would ever make a bike shoe white is completely beyond me. And why would I buy said idiotically white shoes? If you must know, I tried on every pair in my size at REI, men’s and women’s, and the crazy, shiny white shoes felt the best.
Ok. I put on my shoes and with every tightening of the velcro, my anxiety grew. I got my bike off the bike rack on top of my car (another invention that is not as good of an idea as it may seem), and I began to search for Linda, who is the resident bike expert for the team.
Then, I realized I did not have my bike helmet.
For someone who had been dreading this bike ride all day, I was crestfallen. I realized that I had wanted so badly to make this initial ride with the triathlon training team because it is such a safe and nurturing environment. I knew that I could ride and fall without being judged and with lots of encouragement to keep going. So, the thought of having to go home (It is against the law to ride without a helmet in the state of Washington. Thus, no helmet, no ride.) was devastating.
One of my teammates pulls a size small or medium helmet from her car, but, alas, my huge head was too big for it. With tears in my eyes I began to haul my bike back up on top of my car when I realized I had not taken my haul to Goodwill. In my trunk, in all of it’s 15 year old glory, was my old helmet. YIPPEE!!!! HOORAY! I had never been so freakin’ happy to have not actually done all of my errands as I was in that moment.
With my helmet on my head, I excitedly crossed the parking lot to Linda. She told me to stay away from people and cars and to practice clipping and unclipping before we actually started the ride. I have not been that nervous in a very long time. I rode several laps around the lot, and I found that I could actually get my foot off the pedals if I thought, “I want to slow down. UNCLIP, then press the brakes.”
Sweet! I decided to make “UNCLIP, then brake” my mantra for the night.
And away we went.
The ride was excellent, even after it got dark. I realized that a black jacket in the dark was a bad idea, and that a light on the front of my bike would be a very good idea (I do have reflectors!!! They don’t emit any useful light for me, though.).
I did NOT fall down once. I kept my mantra going, and I was able to maintain the average pace of 16 MPH. It was rad.
Needless to say, I felt really badass when we returned to the parking lot. What a great ride! I couldn’t wait to ride my bike everywhere!