I've finally done it. I've gone clipless. Going clipless in biking means that now my shoes have little pieces on them that connect to special pedals on my mountain bike. Just like ski bindings and boots secure me to my skis, the clips and pedals secure me to my bike.
After riding around for a week now it feels like they aren't even there...almost. Yesterday after work I went looking for an ATM somewhere along my commute home. I was slowly moving through a parking lot (about 10 miles per hour) and approaching the stopsign where slow-moving traffic was crossing in front of me. Looking left I saw a tentative SUV approaching the intersection. To the right a Jeep and a Subaru accelerating towards the intersection. As usual, I was trying to time my approach to get there after all of them had gone through. You see, if I come to a complete stop I have to unclip from at least one of the pedals to put a foot down lest I balance at a standstill (which some more skilled riders can do). But the tentative SUV came to an unwarranted stop and the traffic became a cluster@*&!.
In the past, it wouldn't have been a problem. I would have set a foot down and waved to bozo along. But I was clipped in and evidently I had forgotten that I had to intentionally remove my feet from the clips. So, I came to a standstill and seemingly in slow motion tipped over onto the street all the while my feet wiggling back and forth as I attempted to unclip. Luckily, my training as a volleyball player had already numbed my elbows and wrists from Julie-ground-impact-pain. the Subaru driver passed and asked if I was OK (only one of them expressed any concern) and truthfully I responded "just a bruised ego." So now I just have some bumps and bruises and a story to tell.
