Clipless pedals....the learning curve.

Ok, wifey is generously donating the content for this blog entry.  In preparation for Cycle Oregon (a week long bike ride) she has ventured down the path of clipless pedals.  Which if you are unfamiliar, still means you are clipped (lock in) to the pedals.  I'm a fan of the crank brothers brand/style of clipless pedal and decided to go with a model called the mallet. 

One of the nice parts about this pedal is that if you don't have your bike shoes it has a platform the size of a normal peddle, and you can ride about your merry way with street shoes or sandals.  The only down side might be that they are harder to clip into / out of because the bike shoe treed actually makes contact with the platform of the pedal at the time of clip in.

Now....before we go any further, I will say that using clipless pedals is a "learned skill" meaning there is some trial and error at learning to clip in and, perhaps more importantly, clip out.  Everyone (and I mean everyone) eventually fails to clip out at the desired (or required) time and does some less than articulate flailing just prior to falling over while still connected to the bike.

During wifey's first outing she had successfully clipped in and out a couple times.  I had smartly left the dog in the house during this time to avoid any possible "extra" confusion.  However, since the dog was trying to tear the window blinds down to join us, I ran into the house for a couple seconds to escort her to the back yard..... 

When I returned, wifey had already experienced her first round of not unclipping...

She was still in good spirits but a bit of damage was done.  The damage included her first chain ring tattoo and a pretty scrapped up knee.  So if you don't like blood and gore proceed no further.

If you do then scroll down....