Is there a drill to practice getting out of cleats.

[dodss]

Is there are practice drilI to imprint quick release from the shoes, I do check that they are working, shoes are adjusted to come out quickly.
I am not that knowledgeable about bikes although I have biked for a while as an elite triathlon vet. The issue is that three times over a few years, once recently, I have just toppled over nearly at a stop and just fall over onto my shoulder always to the right. I then beat myself up thinking why didn`t I just unclick and put my foot down. I am also a skiier and think I am programmed to drop onto my side rather than any other evasive action.

 

[cougie uk]

If you're coming up to a junction - unclip the left shoe. If you have to stop you can put the foot down, if you don't then you can just reclip.

If you're waiting until you've stopped to unclip - then its too late - you will fall.

I have had clipless since Look in the 80s and never had an incident.

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Set the release to lowest. Think ahead.
Three times in a number of years isn't really too many. There are always times when the potential for a fall exists - I usually unclip the wrong foot.

 

[Arrowfoot]

1. Unclip on less dominant leg. Left leg for most of us.
2. Do not unclip on dominant right leg.
3. Do not dangle the unclipped left, but place the heel on the pedal until you are coming to a stop. This is for stability.
4. As you grow confident and you will progressively reduce distance from unclipping to total stop. Then you no longer need to place heel on pedal.
5. The right leg remains clipped and is the leg to move forward with a power stroke.

Once you do all 5 steps above comfortably and without thinking, you can then move to unclipping the right foot if you want to. But the order of unclipping remains the same.

 

[Smokin Joe]

The most common cause of so called clipless moments is trying to pull your foot upwards as you twist to release. This won't work as the pedal is designed to prevent just that. Sideways movement only, if necessary pushing down a little on the pedal as you do so.

I used clipless from when they first appeared in their present form around the mid eighties and never suffered a single problem (Apart from trying to clip back in at 2mph on a 20% gradient after having to stop at some roadworks 😢).

 

[matticus]

Is there are practice drilI to imprint quick release from the shoes, I do check that they are working, shoes are adjusted to come out quickly.
I am not that knowledgeable about bikes although I have biked for a while as an elite triathlon vet. The issue is that three times over a few years, once recently, I have just toppled over nearly at a stop and just fall over onto my shoulder always to the right. I then beat myself up thinking why didn`t I just unclick and put my foot down. I am also a skiier and think I am programmed to drop onto my side rather than any other evasive action.

I *think* you're saying that your issue is *remembering* to unclip?
(if so, all the advice on technique is irrelevant :P )

I've never heard of a drill, but (putting my neglected teacher hat on) I can suggest finding an empty car-park with lots of junctions that one might stop at. Keep riding round, unclipping-then-stopping at junctions that are maybe 10 seconds apart.
I imagine that it will start to feel automatic. repeat every few weeks months as necessary.

 

[numbnuts]

Just fall, after that you'll never do it again, it worked for me

 

[fossyant]

Ah, I see you are a triathlete. I'm afraid, falling off bikes is in-built into the DNA of triathletes, so sorry.

Just practice leaning against a wall. In practice, unclip just before you need to. Practice hakes perfect. Comes in dead handy if you ride clipless MTB'ing, then you can unclip just as you are crashing !

My road pedals are very stiff to unclip, so I just plan ahead.

 

[Sterlo]

I misunderstood the title, I thought why would you want to take your Black & Decker to your cleats

 

[Baldy]

You need to get into the habit of thinking ahead. If you think you'll need to put a foot down unclip one foot. I just twist my heal out.

 

[Eric Olthwaite]

Is there a drill to practice getting out of cleats

This sound really painful. I just twist my feet. No need for any Black and Decker action.

EDIT - beaten to it by Sterlo in the final sprint!!

 

[Drago]

Always left foot out in the UK, regardless of which is your dominant leg. If you cock it up you'll fall away from the traffic.

Don't be inclinded to have the cleats super loose either. Even new riders getting used to them shouldn't go slacker tham 1/3 up from minimum.

As a trainer I generally advise that people with problems simply dont have the fundamental skills and experience, and should revert to flats for a few more years/10,000 miles until their basic skills and coordination have improved. However, you say youve been spudding up fine for years, so it seems something else is awry.

Check your cleats, check your tension, learn to read the road and unclip well in advance, and not simply as youre coming to a stop and have lost all gyroscopic balance from the bike - thats far too late.

Good luck.

 

[purpan]

A lot of people here are advising to think ahead, and that’s good advice. But in my experience the problem comes when the need to unclip is sudden, like a car pulling out unexpectedly.
(The first time I ever used Looks was on a randonnée in Ireland, where I arrived at the food stop and couldn’t unclip. I keeled over in front of two grizzled old timers, who started musing about how they wouldn’t trust these fancy new clipless pedals.)

 

[Drago]

Nothing is truly sudden or unexpected. Vehicles don't teleport into your view.

Side roads, driveways, parked vehicles, blind curves, pedestrians on the footway...all such things are telltale 'markers' that represent either hazards, or the potential for a hazard. Having done ones obs drills and scanned properly, one will adjust ones speed and position accordingly. The only thing we cannot avoid is deliberate malice - everything else is foreseeable for those that are motivated and disciplined enough to want to do so.

You only need to look at most helmet cam footage to realise how poor most riders are on the road, staring dead ahead, keeping the same line regardless of hazards, etc.

 

[Sharky]

If you are getting to a planned junction and forgetting to un clip, create a label with the words "Junction Unclip" and celotape to the top of your handle bars. A few rides and it will be burnt into your "reptilian" brain.

PS reference to reptilian is not an insult. It refers to part of the brain that deals with self preservation and reflex actions. Google it.

Good luck