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Terminology is important here. Pedal Clips (refer here) are straps that tighten around the shoe. Clipless, such as SPD have a cleat - refer here Toe clips are not common these days - but still used by some (touring and fixed hub bikes) more niche applications. I assume you are talking about SPD style clipless pedals, but the following discussion does not ...

In "Epidemiology of bicycle injuries and risk factors for serious injury" by Frederick P Rivara, Diane C Thompson, and Robert S Thompson, the authors gave a questionnaire to 3,390 bicycle riders who had attended a hospital emergency department in the Seattle area. They found that cyclists involved in a crash at a speed greater than 15 miles per hour were ...

First let's clarify the difference between "clipless" and "clip" pedals. They are confusing terms as both have clips. Clip pedals (which I prefer to call cages) look like this: Cages have the advantage that they can be used with normal shoes. To get your foot into them you push it in from the rear and (optionally) reach down and tighten the strap. In my ...

The problem with diagnosing knee pain is there are multiple possible causes. The original cause may not even be in the knee itself! I have a cyclist friend whose knee seized up. He went to a physiotherapist, who explained that the real problem was an extremely tight lower back. The tightening back was tugging at his gluteal muscle (buttock), which in turn ...

To be anecdotal Mark Cavendish has been known to be distinctly suspicious of stretching because he believes that the tightness of his muscles assists in his ability to sprint. Not at all based on science or anything besides the 'what I am doing is working, so why change it?' mentality. But who are we to argue that? The results speak for themselves! The ...

You ask about danger, when/where to use, and when/where not to use, so...: There's the danger that you forget to unclip when you stop, and fall to your side. This is a real danger, but not a serious one except if your fitness is a bit low (risk of wrist, shoulder, hip or ankle lesion). You should then practice a lot first, both clip and unclip while riding ...

Water Some sort of antiseptic, ideally something like a small bottle of Betadine, though regular ointment/cream will do fine, and it wouldn't hurt to have both Gauze pads, in a couple of sizes Adhesive tape A few large Band-Aids Some tissues or cotton pads for wiping off a wound And, of course, cell phone, money, and ID (placed somewhere where people can ...

While it's true that your hips rocking indicates that the seat is too high, there is a different rule of thumb for knee pain related to the fore and aft position of the saddle. It's easy to remember: If your knee hurts in front, your seat is too far forward. If your knee hurts in the back, your seat is to far backward. The most important thing to ...

You'll most likely have a few light tumbles. Also, you can get "beginners cleats" for Shimano peddels. The propper name is Multi Directional Cleats and the model number is SM-SH56. These will let go if you pull really hard in any direction. I used them for around 4 months when I first went clipless. Saved me some skinned knees. After switching to Crank ...

First is getting the hair and dirt out of the wound, which it sounds like the ER has done for you. In the first 24-48 hours, I've found the gel bandages to vastly improve the time it takes road rash to heal. They seem to wick away a lot of the fluids which build up on a fresh wound. I get something similar from playing goalkeeper on occasion. I'm unsure ...

I did something similar a few years back...I hyper-extended my knee and it was swollen and sore for a few months. Never saw a doctor and continued riding once the pain went away. A few months later I put a foot down and my knee popped. Went to see a doctor this time and my ACL was shredded. After surgery, doc said it looked like a frayed rope and had ...

There are a few answers and links on a different SE site: http://answersonfitness.stackexchange.com/questions/744/which-is-more-important-stretching-before-or-stretching-after-exercising It seems that stretching immediately before exercise can reduce performance, but a long-term strategy of stretching (after warm-up) is beneficial.

Plain black coffee would be okay; it's just water and it should be nearly sterile. However, I would definitely avoid coffee that contains milk, sugar or other additives that can support bacteria growth. Now, this is going to come as a bit of a surprise, but what is an excellent wound cleanser is urine. Yeah, yeah, I know. But other than the ewwww ...

I don't think that stretching is the most important thing for preventing this injury from reoccurring in this case. Stretching after the exercise is certainly a good habit to keep. But, as you pointed out, what caused the original injury in the first place was the 150km ride with no proper training. What you have to do now is to build up the distance more ...

The main idea is to keep scabs from forming. Scabbing retards the healing process greatly, and will increase scarring. The Neosporin that was suggested above and other generic antibiotic ointments help with this; this is an economical solution. You can get gauze that is already impregnated with Neosporin-like things, or you can apply the ointment to the ...

Stretching has become somewhat controversial among exercise physiologists. I listened to one such lady on NPR's Science Friday a couple of months ago, and she said that the university she worked out of had conducted a number of fairly extensive tests and surveys indicating that very little benefit accrued from this practice. Other than that it felt kind of ...

I have been using biking shoes with SPD cleats for nearly 20 years, and I definitely fell and got banged up as a new user of clipless pedals. I have since learned how to get in and out of them to the point where it is second nature and I hardly think about it at stoplights, etc. I find them especially valuable for damp conditions, when regular shoes would ...

The ocean is not sanitary! Especially around major cities, so if you were on a bike path, there is a good chance you are close enough to civilization to where the ocean is not good for your wounds. I grew up in a beach house in Hawaii and know that until the wound closes you don't want to go swimming, you can get it infected. Happened to my foot, frekn ...

As far as I know, in any vehicle, there is a direct relationship between speed and severity, statistically speaking, with "lots" of studies showing that. This also applies to being hit, or front-to-front crashes. There's even the term "high-energy-trauma", applied by health professionals to injuries involving high energies, for example high kinetic energies. ...

It is totally dependent on the impact. If you run into a wall you want to be going slower. If you hit a bump and are launched off your bike or jump off a cliff you want to be going faster. I don't know physics well enough to explain it that way but I do ride a lot of street (jumping down stairs, off roofs, etc.) so I will explain it how I know you want to ...

There are extra risks associated with being physically attached to the pedals, however the risks are probably quite small. I found the following articles on Pubmed: Two cases of acetabular fractures sustained during competitive cycling cyclists who are attached to their pedals by straps or clips are likely to tumble with their bicycle and fall ...

Probably best to see a doc. But it would probably work to lay off for 3-4 days (at least until you can gently cycle without immediate pain), then start up again, being careful to limit the stress on the area. If your pain level stays low then SLOWLY work up, otherwise back off or stop (and see the doc). You should probably find some stretches (from a PT ...

I would say that any drinkable liquid is better than nothing at all. Given a choice, one would pick a beverage without sugar or dairy in it, and acidic drinks (especially carbonated) are apt to sting quite a bit. But cleaning the wound reasonably quickly is fairly important for promoting healing, and there's nothing inherently harmful in any standard ...

I have also done some damage to my knees. I have found that using a knee brace greatly helps to keep my knees working well. I find that even the extra heat from the knee brace dramatically helps to keep them running smoothly. I bought mine for $20 at the drug store. Best bike investment per dollar that I have ever made.

I have followed both @Jack M. and @LanceH's advice before and both worked well. I also followed that up with anti-scar cream for a nice face wound I had. I think it helped, but I'm not that interested in doing a personal comparison study. Search on amazon or head to your local drug store/chemist and ask someone there for a recommendation. You use the ...