:) yes, I meant sorry about the falling, not the almost! I recently went back to cleats, and in no time at all had a complete (not an almost) fall. The good part was that I discovered I have enough muscle on my thighs to be able to fall heavily sideways and not be bruised or injured – and the other good part was the happy fact that no one was there to see me fall (and if a cyclist falls in a forest and no one sees him, did he fall at all?) Therefore, good advice about practicing in seclusion, Graeme!

I’m assuming you’re sorry about the “falling” part, and not the “almost”. It kind of goes with the territory of learning to use cleats, and I am happy to say I didn’t once completely fall while learning. I did manage one rather spectacular crash that crossed the whole width of a multi-use path, but I managed to land on my feet.

By the way, my advice to those learning to use cleats is to bike on secluded routes for a couple of weeks. Murphy’s law being what it is, it seems the most potentially embarrassing incidents always find an audience.

Again, they want us to do a figure 8 – WHY WHY WHY? It just makes me CRAZY! Sorry you almost fell :(

I almost fell navigating this gateway when I was getting used to clipless pedals. I still get a little nervous every time I approach it on a bike.

Yes, that’s exactly the process I went through, Alex. At the time I felt uncomfortable, but then I thought – what on earth else COULD it be except intended for cyclists … still it would be great if there was a sign, or painting on the ground, so that all cyclists don’t have to wonder about it …

Hello again Katherine. I am sorry to hear about your sister’s problem with the gateways. That’s really awful. I know that the vision and the dream for the CVG is for it to be completely accessible. As I said to Stephan, there are major plans for the CVG – you can read what Translink has to say about it in my post “Translink Planning Department’s Response to my Critiques of the Central Valley Greenway (CVG)“. This post also identifies who is responsible for the various parts of the CVG, so it might help you and your sister to know who to address your concerns to.

I find that part scary in the morning and the evening, Stephan – it’s pitch dark when I’m going to work, and pitch dark coming home. On the positive side, there are major plans for this area – you can read what Translink has to say about this matter in my post “Translink Planning Department’s Response to my Critiques of the Central Valley Greenway (CVG)“

thank you Joe for highlighting these problem areas. I say hear hear for here’s hoping that one day all the gates on the CVG will look like the one in the lsat picture.