"One Step Beyond" writes:

Hello,

I am newish to cycling shoes and the cleats engaging with the pedals. On my
ride this morning I kept running into road works - I am still a bit scared
about engaging and disengaging the shoes and pedals - especially with a
queue of traffic behind me and trying to pull off uphill. Any others have
this "fear" or is it to be expected when getting used to them? When I am on
my own I always seem to engage them immediatly - but with traffic at a
junction I always have to fiddle around !!!!

Young people these days don't know they're born, do they? When I was
first using cleated shoes there was none of this quick release
stuff. If you got stopped at traffic lights there were three options:

1) balance (diffidult);
2) put a hand on the roof or gutter of the nearest stopped car (easy,
but got you dirty looks);
3) put a hand on the upright of the traffic light itself, or a
convenient lamp-post or road-sign (easy, but not always possible
especially when turning right).

When you actually did want to get off the technique was to lean down
and release the strap on the pedal while still in motion, then pull
your foot out. If you waited until you'd stopped it was too late and
falling off was the only option.

Is my method outlined below correct????
I have found that the best method is when coming up to a junction, start to
slow down then disengage the left foot about five yards from where I'll
stop. Then, when I am about to stop, lean my weight slightly to the left,
put my foot on the floor then get out of the saddle at the same time -
leaving the right foot still engaged with the pedal. I then turn the right
crank so that the pedal is at the top and then push off with the right leg,
I then have to fiddle for about five seconds getting the left foot engaged
with the pedal.

With cleated shoes you can pedal the bike with just one leg. So you
can uncleat early, secure in the knowledge that if you don't have
enough momentum to get to where you wanted to stop you can put a bit
more energy in. Also, with pedals which only have cleat fittings on
one side (most road pedals, some hill bike pedals) you can just flip
the pedal upside down and pedal on with the uncleated foot secure in
the knowledge that it won't recleat itself. So if you're nervous,
uncleat early.

It's also worth getting into a low gear before you stop, but I'm sure
you've already worked that out.

You shouldn't need to get out of the saddle at all, unless your bottom
bracket is very high. You should be able to get a tippy-toe on the
road, and that's all you need.

I have had the thought that since the right pedal is still
engaged then when I push off I can keep my momentum going my cycling with
just the right leg and pulling up as well as pressing down to keep going so
that I am moving whilst engaging the left pedal.

You can do this, but also you can pedal perfectly safely with one of
the pedals upside down until you have the momentum and time to flip it
over and cleat in properly. I don't bother to get cleated until I'm up
to cruising speed.

On a similar note, do most cyclists plan there cycling runs to avoid certain
junctons becuase of this very issue? Do you plan your rides so that most of
your turns are left, merging into the traffic as opposed to having to turn
right?

No, I don't. I didn't even in the old fashioned firmly-strapped-on
days. You will get used to cleats very quickly and will no longer
worry about them.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; Women are from Venus. Men are from Mars. Lusers are from Uranus.