So I went out again this morning with my friend to ride on Coronado island. I bought shoes and clipless pedals yesterday, and yesterday afternoon I did 10 fantastic miles with them. I was very happy, and very confident!
Possibly too confident.
So we're riding along (I was following my friend) and I was in my zone and didn't pay attention to the fact that I was getting really close to the edge of the pavement. And went right over. The "shoulder" at that point was sand (we're riding along a beach, after all) and iceplant (low-water groundcover that fights erosion). Thankfully the iceplant is spongy, because I couldn't get my foot unclipped fast enough to catch myself. I went riiiiiiiiiiight over, bam. Unfortunately there were half a dozen other walkers/riders around, and everyone saw! I was fine, I was just kinda irritated with myself. Got up, got dusted off, got back on my bike. Injured dignity.
I tested all my gears, and one is kinda wonky. I'll have to take my bike to the bikeshop tomorrow. So I moved in front of my friend, and then I got this weird panicked idea that she might fall over, and if I was in front how would I know? So I turned around to look, with my foot still clipped in. This was a mistake. My handlebars are crooked because my arms extend to different lengths because of an old elbow fracture, and when I turned to look behind me I turned the front wheel. You guessed it, I went right over AGAIN!
This time I actually landed on the pavement with my rear end and slid down the edge into the sand on my hands. My bike ended up in the iceplant. I was wedged in, and my friend had to come up and lift my bike off the top of me then help me up. Again people saw...oi, SUCH injured dignity!!
When I fell the second time I just had to sit there and laugh at myself Here I was, so impressed with my bike and my shoes and my riding and my activity level...and I was celebrating by falling on my butt! I mean, who, after they've learned to ride 25 years earlier, still falls off their bike on a perfectly flat, straight, smooth road...TWICE??
So I have to confess that I'm not the world's most graceful or coordinated biker. But at least I got out there and did it! We finished our 20 miles.
Yeah for your 20 miles and for being able to laugh at yourself! I've never tried the clipless pedals, but I think everyone who tries those has to go through a few falls before they get it down. I would be freaked out! I fell off my regular old bike going down a flat road. I think my ego finally got back to normal levels by the time the gravel lodged in my hand went away a few weeks later.
I used to cycle 20 miles every Saturday morning but I never tried the clip-in pedals. I was too afraid I'd fall and not be able to get my foot out in time to catch myself.
I am glad you weren't seriously hurt on your ride.
Well, I must say that reading your post was rather humbling for me. Oh, not the falling down part. I skipped right over that! No! It's the what? Twenty miles? Your feet clipped to the pedals? What sort of professional, actual bike riding is that? I am amazed. I got a 21-speed mountain bike for my birthday in mid-April, have no idea what 20 of the speeds are for, and was feeling oh, so triumphant (as in humming "We Are The Champions") because today I rode for a solid hour and a half around my neighborhood...nowhere near 20 miles, I'm sure, and I'd be scared to death to have my feet clipped onto the pedals!!!! I haven't fallen yet at all, but I can't even imagine being stuck to my bike!!!
So, kudos, kiddo, and wowza wowza...(what do YOU care if anybody saw you fall, anyway??? Let THEM try riding a bike with their feet stuck to it!).
Oh, it must be lovely - riding near the beach. Ocean, I assume? Coronado Island, you say? I don't know where that is. Geography was never my strong suit. My son & his girlfriend ride along the beach in Malibu. I've never been there. I'm going in October. I'm going to love riding next to the ocean! (But I can't imagine EVER riding with my feet strapped to my bike!)
Very impressive.
Keep up the good work, and don't worry about the gawkers. Wink at 'em.
Jasmine: Unfortunately I was already on my way home...I just had 5 more miles to go to get there!
Leighhop: Thankfully, I don't have any embedded gravel. Sand gets everywhere and it's sticky, but it won't burn you unless you slide across it. I didn't slide, I just landed on it!
Xena: Despite my fall I still love my shoes and pedals. The biking difference is amazing. I just need a LOT more practice with them!
Ellabella: we were riding here, sandwiched between the San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean. We went from the hook (top left) to the flat bit along the bottom of the loop and back. I'm no professional rider, but I aspire. And the thing about everyone seeing me fall--I wasn't that distressed, I was laughing for most of it, but most of the riders out there ARE the ones with clip ons and bik jerseys and odometers and fancy bikes!
My three year old boy got his first bike with training wheels, he's so proud of it, but when he rode it the first few days he was waving at all the neighbors and kept falling over as he weighed. As the neighbor said, we all fall now and then when we are learning! My new bike is still hanging out with its tags, I can't wait to start riding, we are moving to a new home near biking trails, a lake, etc. I don't even know what these clip pedals are but why would one need them just strolling around biking?
Sid - glad you weren't hurt from those falls! The first time I went clipless was during a point in my life where all I did was mt. bike and a lot of it. I was a little hestitant, and sure enough, on the first trail I bit the dust big time. I was really really skittish about my clipless pedals for a while after that. But truly, you will get used to them and you will never want to go back. I can't imagine riding without clipless pedals - I have them on both my road and mt bike.
BTW, sometimes they do clip in too tight and are harder than they should be to twist out of. You should be able to twist out of them very quickly. Adjust with an allen wrench or get your bike shop to do it.
Biking mishaps
And the thing about everyone seeing me fall--I wasn't that distressed, I was laughing for most of it, but most of the riders out there ARE the ones with clip ons and bik jerseys and odometers and fancy bikes!
I don't clip in while riding in town anymore. 
