new bike....scared by clipless pedals...advice?

ok so I am still pretty new and I am sure I have more falls ahead of me, but what I did to get my confidence up was practice on my trainer - a lot - actually even before I got my bike and trainer I got shoes with mtb cleats for the spin bikes at the gym - that got me used to the motion.

I still have to think about it outside  - and I clip out probably more than I need to due to fear of falling over....

now I have all sorts of other things to be afraid of...... 

The clip tension is adjustible, so if it is really hard to clip out you can have the shop tweak the tension a bit to make it easier.  Also it will loosen up a bit as you use them ......

Always "anticipate" your stops and the need to clip out so that as you start to slow down you've already clipped out your comfortable side.  I stay clipped in on one side at all times unless it is a really long light and I want to stretch out.

Even after riding clipless for 15+ years I've still fallen over by trying to cheat a light and doing a track stand.  Nothing like falling over at a busy intersection trying to be a cycling stud and mis-timing the light .........

Welcome to the club!

Clip in and out a couple hundred times before you get out on the road (although not all at once, of course!!!). I'm not kidding. On the trainer, practice braking, feel the bike slow down, and clip both feet out at the same time, plant them down (and slide off the saddle, if that's how your bike is fit. I doubt that the seat's high enough that you can't touch your toes to the floor, but if it is, then make sliding off the saddle part of your clipping-out practice). Do the second one-hundred (again, not all at once!) with your eyes shut.

Worked great for me. I lasted a whole two weeks with clipless before I ate it at a stop. Haven't since, though (it's been eight months). So it'll probably happen again tomorrow. 

There, you've done it - you've jinxed yourself!  Better wear some knee pads on your next ride

It's like losing your virginity - the anticipation with a big build-up, only for it to be over without any fanfare or what you were expecting, with you looking back thinking, "is that it?" or "well, that's not what I expected!"

or maybe I'm just a freak.

This is the best advice - it's one thing to practice on the trainer, or in the house holding onto something but it won't let you practice falling down. Riding in circles on the grass in the comfort of your own backyard it a great place to fall down a few times to get a feel for falling without leaving skin on the asphalt. It will take some of the fear out of it, and allow you to see what happens to your feet when you go down, the tension/torque that lets your feet unclip and more importantly, how to get up off the ground in a hurry! 

after my first ride - when I fell straight on my knee, ripping my BRAND NEW tights and well hurting myself (thankfully not serious) I did where knee pads for the next oh month....

if I ride tomorrow, where I might hit ice, I will be wearing my knee pads!

I might look like a dork, but at least I won't get hurt 3 weeks before first tri!