Two Clipless Moments in less than a Mile

[MattLiverpool]

Has it been done before?

I've recently started riding and my other half recently decided that she wanted some cycle action as well. I've made her go clipless fairly early on so that she has to get used to it.

She's been doing really well but last night fell off for the first time at some traffic lights and then again a couple of minutes later when we stopped for a break.

Is it all my fault??

 

[tdr1nka]

No, you can safely blame some of it on gravity.

 

[Dayvo]

No, you can safely blame some of it on gravity.

Yeah! That Isaac Newton fella has a lot to be blamed for - inventing gravity, FFS!

 

[Arch]

Has it been done before?

I've recently started riding and my other half recently decided that she wanted some cycle action as well. I've made her go clipless fairly early on so that she has to get used to it.
She's been doing really well but last night fell off for the first time at some traffic lights and then again a couple of minutes later when we stopped for a break.

Is it all my fault??

Hmmm, I have to say, I'm glad I'm not going out with you...

I wouldn't blame her if she never wanted to out cycling again now, to be honest...

 

[tdr1nka]

Arch has a very good point there, you can make suggestions and encourage people to ride bikes but 'enforcing' a discipline with the uninitiated will only lead to disappointment and possible resentment in the long run.

Let her find cycling her way and try not to expect her skills or enthusiasm to match yours.

 

[betty swollocks]

Get her to fall off some more: in fact push her off and then get to kiss better all those bruises.

 

[RedBike]

Is it all my fault??

Your fault or not, I bet you're getting the blame.

 

[GrahamG]

Has it been done before?

I've recently started riding and my other half recently decided that she wanted some cycle action as well. I've made her go clipless fairly early on so that she has to get used to it.

She's been doing really well but last night fell off for the first time at some traffic lights and then again a couple of minutes later when we stopped for a break.

Is it all my fault??

I did exactly the same with my girlfriend. I felt guilty the first couple of times but then she found that she was loads more comfortable on longer rides... but still had another 3 or 4 clipless moments!

It's all my fault - I take for granted that I spent my entire childhood riding a bike and after a 6 or 7 seven year break, started commuting by bike about 4 years ago. Certain things which you think are just normal such as going up curbs, unweighting the bike over bumps and potholes and using gears (don't back pedal! Keep pedalling whilst changing! Give it a little extra push past the indexing if it has trouble engaging! Change at the bottom of the hill before you're grinding!), are things which they just don't know about and are unlikely to pick up until they are told.

 

[domtyler]

Take a stick with you next time and shove it in her front wheel as she is bombing downhill. It will teach her the harsh, but essential, lesson of how to fly over ones handlebars while exhibiting both poise and grace.

She'll thank you in the long run for sure.

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

She'll thank you in the long run for sure.

... via the restraining order...

 

[MattLiverpool]

I'm glad that the majority of the replies are given in the same manner that my original post was intended.

Arch.... I'm sorry if you have assumed that I've sneaked up on her bike at midnight and fitted clipless pedals with generous ammounts of threadlock so that she can't get them off. It didn't happen like that.... honest. I'm not forcing her just suggested that learning once was better than learning twice. She is having fun and riding on her terms not mine.

She also admits that she was being cocky at the first set of traffic lights and sees that this was her downfall. The second time she selflessly risked a bloody elbow rather than run into a group of kids playing in the road.

GrahamG, we have clearly gone through exactly the same experience. It's utimately frustrating trying to teach someone something that is second nature to you but fantastically rewarding when they get it right (as well as being fairly amusing when they don't). I've certainly realised over the past couple of weeks that to those who are not familiar with gears, pedals and where to put your weight on a bike in various different situations these things are definitely not obvious.

The stick in the wheel training session has been scheduled in for next Tuesday Dom thanks to Betty Swollocks' great idea. Let's hope I don't kill her....

 

[domtyler]

... via the restraining order...

Or she may just get her BIG brother to send the message!

 

[Arch]

Arch.... I'm sorry if you have assumed that I've sneaked up on her bike at midnight and fitted clipless pedals with generous ammounts of threadlock so that she can't get them off. It didn't happen like that.... honest. I'm not forcing her just suggested that learning once was better than learning twice. She is having fun and riding on her terms not mine.

No, well, I didn't think that exactly...

If she's happy, all well and good. I just don't like the 'throw in at deep end' style of learning myself, and was concerned that it might be quite likely to put her off...

Perhaps, I'm just sensitive, I've come across a few blokes who assumed that whatever they thought had to be right for everyone, and I maybe misinterpreted your phrasing.

I use spds on my trike, but have no intention at the moment of going clipless on two wheels, since clips suit me fine, and anyone who tries to make me will soon stop being a friend...

 

[GrahamG]

Or she may just get her BIG brother to send the message!

I always get a threat of a (and I quote) "big black dildo to shove up your..."

She's a charmer

 

[chrisuren]

Has it been done before?

I've recently started riding and my other half recently decided that she wanted some cycle action as well. I've made her go clipless fairly early on so that she has to get used to it.

She's been doing really well but last night fell off for the first time at some traffic lights and then again a couple of minutes later when we stopped for a break.

Is it all my fault??

Quoted for truth.