I managed my first minor crashes on the mountain bike today at Palos. Luckily the worst that came of it is a knot on my shin from my pedal. Apparently decades of biking has taught me how to bail out on instinct. I’m always a bit surprised when my clipless pedal and shoes detach without any conscious thought on my behalf. Considering I went over the bars once I’m a bit shocked that I walked away from it and the bike was fine (beyond needing to recenter my bars). Now, am I researching flat pedals and shoes? Absolutely. I suspect the tradeoff in power would be worth the ability to use my foot to stabilize myself.