This honestly happened last Wednesday evening
I was walking up Highgate Road, came to a T-Junction and while I was doing my Green Cross Code a woman on a very flash mountain bike, with all the gear on, stopped at the junction.

Suddenly she toppled sideways, landed on her shoulder with the bike on top of her. Being the nearest person, I naturally helped her up and said "Are you OK?"
"Yes" she replied, a bit embarrassed, "it was very silly of me"
"I expect it was your cleat that got stuck, eh?" I asked
She gave me a look, shouted "YOU FUCKING WEIRDO!" and cycled off.

By the time I'd crossed the road, it dawned on me that she must have misheard.
( fred zeppelin II: Electric Boogaloo, Thu 9 May 2013, 15:54, 9 replies)

This to win.

( BraynDedd Natasha Kaplinsky's labia majora, Thu 9 May 2013, 15:56, closed)

^ What Dappy said ^

( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Thu 9 May 2013, 16:01, closed)

Thank you
you've saved me from a day of total failure.

(Just noticed the coincidence in that it was just round the corner from Ed Milliband's house, which was only pointed out to me yesterday)
( fred zeppelin II: Electric Boogaloo, Thu 9 May 2013, 16:17, closed)

I like this.

( Wet-chinned bag shanker Cannot parse Wogan, Thu 9 May 2013, 16:19, closed)

Nice one.
Cleat Eastwood to the rescue.
( edjogs Collared doves are shit., Thu 9 May 2013, 16:20, closed)

Is it just me,
or does this happen a lot?

I ride a motorbike in and out of London every day, and see a cyclist do this at least 3 or 4 times a year.

The best ones are when they pull up next to another cyclist, and topple into them.
(username failed moderation, Thu 9 May 2013, 16:51, closed)

It takes a couple of months to get used to locking cleats on pedals
because you need to twist sideways to get out of them. Most people, early on, panic and try and pull upwards, which doesn't work.

So, yeah, it happens a lot. At least in those situations at traffic lights you just look like a prick but it's only pride that's damaged. I once toppled off a narrow path down about 6 feet straight into a river head-first because I failed to unclip. The utter fucking tool that I am.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Thu 9 May 2013, 16:55, closed)

Worst I managed was chinning the road
after doing an emergency stop on an icy road, when the car that had just overtaken me decided to come to a complete halt at an empty roundabout.
I've since gone back to normal pedals, as most of my cycling is very stop-start, these days.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Thu 9 May 2013, 17:00, closed)

yeah ... I was never convinced in London that they were worth the hassle.
Worth their weight in gold generally though in terms of maximising energy transmission to the bike.

And being able to do big bunnyhops over shit.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Thu 9 May 2013, 17:03, closed)

hooray for big bunnyhops
and hooray for big bunny beer.
( tickle I was away, Fri 10 May 2013, 0:15, closed)

I'm not laughing at the thought of you two falling off your bikes, but I have to say
Oh, OK, well I am laughing actually. There is a slight edge of sympathy to my laugh, but not that much.

Head first into a river . . . Not funny at all. :D
(username failed moderation, Thu 9 May 2013, 17:05, closed)

The people I was riding with certainly found it funny.
the cunts.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Sun 12 May 2013, 8:36, closed)

So that's the trick.
I've always refrained from buying any on the grounds that they were alien technology and I could never figure them out. Sports shops are a scorched wasteland of cleats I have stuck on and been able to unstick.
( .Yeti. El amor en los tiempos del cólera, Fri 10 May 2013, 8:01, closed)

Unless you're going a good distance,
I wouldn't bother with them - maybe just get some toe-cages instead. Riding around town in cleats is just asking to lose your head under a bus.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 10 May 2013, 9:23, closed)

hahah

( browser still relating boring anecdotes into a void on, Fri 10 May 2013, 15:01, closed)