How to get my feet out of SPD pedals?

You aren't likely to damage anything that way. However, you may wish to adjust the tension of the cleat retention mechanism on the pedal to be a bit looser, especially since you're not yet practiced at clipping and unclipping.

There is likely to be a small screw on each pedal that adjusts the tension of the spring...loosening it will make clipping in and out easier.

That said, you may also want to tighten it back up once you become more used to the pedals and cleats.

Just practice - preferably on a soft surface!

You also need to be a little more aware, especially in traffic, think a little further ahead about where/when you will have to stop so you can be unclipped as you stop at the light.
Suddenly braking to a halt and then having to stop and think before you unclip leads to falls.

You should also get into the habit of always unclipping the same foot first - generally the kerb side - so it becomes automatic.

You might not damage the cleats, but you could tweak your calves - careful with that.

In addition to adjusting tension screws and cleats, dry lube can help.

I recently moved the clips twoards the back of the shoe (now, instead of being under the ball of my foot, they're 1 cm further back). I did that for other reasons but, coincidentally, I find them now much easier to unclip: now that the clip (about which I must pivot to unclip) is closer to the centre of my foot.

I was trying them out (on one foot) while balancing in my living room

Hold onto something, e.g. a vertical pipe, when you need to balance at a stand-still like that.

Also people advised me to:

• Practice away from traffic (e.g. on a dedicated bike path) until I'd fallen off
• Practice in winter (when I'm wearing a winter coat, when falling will hurt less)

My advice (as others have said) is to loose the tension, and with time adjust it.

The cleat will wear naturally, don't worry about that.

I just started using SPDs last week and when I tried (with an "actual" ride on the back of my house) it went very well, clipping in and out was so easy!

Until I made a stupid mistake, had the left foot uncliped and staning on the floor holding my weight, the bike was tipping over to the left side and I didn't even realise I had to twist my ancle and fell on my left shoulder. Not too painfull and a great lesson, I then spent about 30 minutes riding and clipping in and out a lot!

I believe if I didn't fall down I wouldn't have payed as much attention as I did and wouldn't train the in and out, but as with anything else, it's a matter of practice.

Just two bits of advice from me. First, make sure that the cleat is tight on the shoe. If you twist your ankle, and the cleat rotates in the shoe, that will not end well. Second, and I'm the only one I know who does this, I find it much easier to rotate my ankle in (towards the bike) than out. Maybe it's the way my leg and/or hips are built. Who knows? I do know, though, that it is much easier for me personally, and I have no problem getting in/out of my pedals in a hurry.

And as everyone else said, "Practice!"

I agree with Jarrett - I also unclip by turning the heel inwards and it is also logical in that your foot is facing slightly away from the bike on release, just seems to make more sense and going the other way seems un-natural for me.

Shimano make 2 types with the black ones (SH 51) restricted to unclipping when you twist your foot in one direction only. The silver cleats (SH 56) allow unclipping by twisting your foot in either direction. If you are new to SPDs I'd make sure to use the silver ones.

So after a few years of riding with these cleats, I've learned a couple things:

• Keep the tension pretty loose (I rarely pop out but it's still easy to get in/out)
• Twist the ankle so the heal swings outward to break loose

It happened to me twice in my first month of riding with SPDs. The first time was my first day out and was when a car stopped suddenly in front of me. I just wasn't ready. The second time was after I had become used to being clipped in and confident in my ability to get out quickly but I had a problem changing down the gears on a steep climb and came to a sudden halt. This time I WAS ready but still went over. Here's some advice that would have saved me both times:-

Get one foot out and put that foot down, making sure you lean towards that side! It's of no use waving in the air as you fall towards your clipped-in side! I now try to think of my left leg as a bike stand. I'm sure I'll get caught out again at some point but the benefits of riding with SPDs make it worth it.

As others have commented, get used to unclipping kerbside foot first - and then (and for me this is crucial) make sure the foot that is still clipped in is at the top of the pedal stroke. I made the awful mistake of having the unclipped foot at the bottom of the stroke and when a small child looked like she was about to step out (I was moving slowly up to a junction) my automatic reaction was to put my right foot down. I took myself over onto my right hand and fractured my radial head. No cycling for a while, and I'm not sure if I'll have the confidence to use clipless pedals again, even though I know it was my own stupid fault.

Combine the twisting and stepping motions.

The first couple of months I was following the algorithm

• twist ankle (heel outboard) - the cleat unclips
• move foot horizontally outboard, until you clear the pedal
• move foot vertically, until it steps.

This is a flawed approach, especially while crashing in technical off-road conditions. An improved approach would be:

• twist the ankle, at the same time pushing the heel diagonally directly towards the point on the ground where you want to step

Done correctly, this is even easier (and much faster) than the first approach. There is no mental overhead of following an algorithm. Practically after a month of training your nervous system to automate the move, you forget you are unclipping - you are simply stepping somewhere!