learning to fall and gettin use to it

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bro when fallin do you cats keep everything in tight like head arms this works good when falling sideways but i can't get the hang of what happens when i go over the h.bars i hate that one
cheers :beer:
bro I pull next to a blond in a bimmer she's like staring at my....bike i am track standing next to her then she ask me a question i look up and bang i'm down ....yeah I'm a looser so what.
happy holidays

[Ginger]

Over the bars?

Don't reach out. Relax.
Tuck and roll.

Sometimes it works for me, sometimes it doesn't.

[Fixed]

my head always gets it ..at least it's not some place i use
cheers :beer:

[Too Tall]

in the car...you fall in the car...call me.

[swoop]

try to hit the the windshield. it looks cool and tends to be the most cozy part of any car. if its a cross walk trackstand incident... reach for the girl's boobs.. any nearby pedestrian girl or fellow rider. its the only legit place to find a decent perch and hey.. why not.
if its road riding... just get it over with.. relax, and don't let go of the bars unless the bike is ripped out from you.. because that's how you keep your collar bone from snapping (as taught to me by ryan lane.. so far it worked).

and you know.. the bike goes where you look.. so don't look at the truck coming in from the other lane and keep her up... like your were just kidding about crashing. its amazing how much stuff you can ride out of by gassing it instead of checking up.


if you're overshooting a turn and a tasty hard descent... i find hitting the front door of the house is not really a good idea. its much better to try and skid along side a parked car in the driveway and deflect back into the road. they build some houses right next to the road and just off of the bad line you took to avoid the water.

its never very sexy is it?

[Blue Jays]

bro don't extend arms or legs because that's asking for an injury bro.
keep everything tucked and tight and roll to protect the head if at speed on the street.

[cadence231]

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/MG/196260~The-Man-Who-Loved-Women-Posters.jpg

[GregL]

1) Get some martial arts training. The first thing you learn is how to fall. I slipped on some ice while visiting family over Thanksgiving. The old instincts kicked in and I landed very nicely on my back, distributing the force of the fall over a large expanse of pavement. Got up without a bump, bruise, or ache. The same training and experience will help in cycling crashes.

2) For anyone planning on racing, attend a good race training seminar through a cycling club or team. In one I attended, we practiced bumping and falling at slow speed in a grassy field. It was a great learning experience.

Like we used to say in my flying days, "if you are going to crash, crash successfully..." Thankfully, I never had to heed that particular advice!

Regards,
Greg

[KJMUNC]

don't let go of the bars unless the bike is ripped out from you....

I always found going down with the bike resulted in a lot less injury than the guys I saw taking a leap.....and I'd much rather oversteer and just lay it down than overshoot a turn and deal with the guardrail/tree/ditch/etc.

Road rash heals a lot faster than broken bones and I'll take a little top tube dent over snapped fork/frame/hospital visit anyday.

[3chordwonder]

OK, so would everybody here agree that holding onto the handlebars when you know you're about to go down is by far the best option?

I guess in most scenarios it'll force you to tuck up so it could make sense.

Holding onto the bars is something I could potentially remember to do when the split second moment arrives. But in the real world, rolling properly as per what I was taught 15 years ago in ju jitsu class is not something I'll have time for with my low level of coordination.

Plus I can imagine it's hard to maintain that nice rolling form and land upright on your feet like it used to go in class when you still have a large bicycle attached to your shoes.

[lemonlaug]

I was a wannabe track-stander until I finally bit it one day. Bruised my ego, but realizing that the worst-case scenario wasn't too bad definitely had me killing it the next day.

"I say hurl. If you blow chunks and she comes back, she's yours. But if you spew and she bolts, then it was never meant to be."

[swoop]

crashes are like snow flakes... no two are alike but so many seem like the same.
the first lesson of crashing is.. you know, sometimes you don't have to crash.
the second is.. its amazing how you can save it by unclipping, not panicking and having an out. this includes vaulting over a barrier. its a kind of crash surfing you learn from stupid crits.

the third is.. really don't even look at it, because somehow where you look is a tractor beam.

windhields really do soften the blow.

keeping your eyes open is smart because sometimes you can find the soft place or keep from bringing others down.

and yes finally.. don't let go of the bars. that's old timer crit wisdom. your knuckles will hate you but your collarbone will love you.


but the biggest things .. don't crash unless you have to. its ike defensive driving.. there's usually a line out.

except for the usual.. all the sudden you're upside down heading for a tree and it happened so fast .. that you're screwed and i hope you don't get hurt real real bad or die. because we all have to face that it could happen any time.

[Ginger]

You know mountain bikers...

other than tuck and roll, the other fairly graceful method of dealing with an endo I've seen used successfully several times by several different people is to hold on to the handlebars initially, unclip, and jump through your arms over the bar and run out in front of the bike. You've got to remember to run, otherwise the rear of the bike whacks you in the head. (Nothing worse than to successfully get off the bike like that and suffer the humiliation of the crash anyhow)


Me, I endo too fast to be doing the acrobatic stuff. I keep everything tucked in and instead do my best to somersault.

I agree with those who say to keep moving forward. momentum is a wonderful thing at times.

[Blue Jays]

"...because somehow where you look is a tractor beam..."Also known as target fixation among motorcyclists. It's the surest way to hit a parked car, a pothole, or a police cruiser with flashing lights at the side of the road.
On mountainbikes, riders focus on rocks, logs, and other obstacles and simply steer right into them. The important thing is to peer where you wish to go and the bicycle will go there.

:beer:

[zogvee]

I completely agree that you should try to stay with the bike. It prevents the bike from pulling off a sneak attack as was alluded to earlier (I think my bike secretly yearns to pummel me.) Besides, pictures of someone laying in the middle of the road in lycra for no apparent reason elicit laughter; where as, pictures of someone twisted into the frame of a bike elicit sympathy.

As for flying over the handle bars...go to your happy place until you no longer hear yourself screaming.

[Ginger]

As for flying over the handle bars...go to your happy place until you no longer hear yourself screaming.

Who has time to scream?

[gt6267a]

Swoop is so right about the ability to save it if you just keep going. I act like the bobble didn’t happen and poof it didn’t. Sounds like BS but it works for me on the mtn bike all the time. When things are going south, I have a great superman slide into second base. Right over the handlebars and sliding like I wanna be Pete Rose. I’ve stuffed a wheel and ended up on the ground before there was time to say boo many times.

There is nothing wrong with getting a little air in a crash as long as you do it fast and act drunk. My experience on the mtn bikes is the less you do, the better. If you can land on your feet run it out and as everyone else has said, don’t let go of the wheel unless the fit hits the shan ... and then its time to act like you’ve had 20 whiskeys and let it happen. The more try and save yourself, the more you hurt yourself.

[Dave]

I've been down 9 times in 23 years. Only one was a true over the front crash, that happened about 16 years ago while I was going only 10-12 mph on a hybrid with my future wife. I was fiddling with a brake lever mounted cable adjuster and have no idea what caused the crash. I didn't even know it was happening until my helmet hit the pavement and I thought the right side of my face was being scrubbed on the pavement. Fortunately, my helmet kept my face and right eye socket off the ground and only my eyeglass frames got shoved into the corner of my eye. I looked pretty stupid, being the "experienced" cyclist.

My other bad wreck involved looking back for cars and dropping off the edge of the road at about 30 mph. I know the bike went end over end and I got a partially separated shoulder out of the deal, along with plenty of road rash.

The remainder of my wrecks have been slide-outs in corners, usually due to sandy or just dirty roads. I always take most of the hit on my hip, along with the forearm and knee. It all happens so fast, I have no recollection of what happened "during" these wrecks.

At this date, the cracked helmet count stands at five. I'm always amazed when I see old roadies riding with no helmet. I don't think I'd be here without mine.

[michael white]

Last time I crashed was just a couple weeks ago, I tried riding through a big puddle on the road, because the alternative was 5 pm traffic, and there was apparently a pavement seam I couldn't see that just wiped out the tires. I was down in a split second, as it usually happens. There's never time to think about how to crash, at least not for me. Seemed to take most of it on the side of the face, the temple. (I was going about 18-20.) This was one time when wearing the helmet really did save me. I was able to ride home. No helmet, I'd probably either be dead or really damaged. Just sayin.

[Orin]

1) Get some martial arts training. The first thing you learn is how to fall. I slipped on some ice while visiting family over Thanksgiving. The old instincts kicked in and I landed very nicely on my back, distributing the force of the fall over a large expanse of pavement. Got up without a bump, bruise, or ache. The same training and experience will help in cycling crashes.


I agree. It's a good thing to do those cold dark nights in the winter too. Any art which involves falling/rolling would be good.

Orin.

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good advise thanks imho cheers and happy holidays

[rounder]

I don't know too much about what it is like to fall when you are moving fast...or the best style. But when you are standing still and fall...usually at an intersection with a car(s)...there is probly nothing dumber looking than a guy dresssed in bike stuff tipping over with feet clipped in (especially next to a cute girl in a bmw).

[TimD]

Last time I crashed, my mirror hit the ground first and absorbed most of the shock. The 128 oz. water barrel I was carrying in my custom Chris King lithium / Kevlar bottle cage took up the rest.

Plus I was wearing hi-viz green head-to-toe, including my shoe covers and face mask, so no one ran me over.

Cool, huh?

[DarrenCT]

i think its pretty tough to think about how to fall if u ask me. i think u either know it or u don't.

i guess u could practice falling and figure it out but that wouldnt make much sense would it? :crap:

[northbend]

new safety apparel

[Fixed]

Last time I crashed was just a couple weeks ago, I tried riding through a big puddle on the road, because the alternative was 5 pm traffic, and there was apparently a pavement seam I couldn't see that just wiped out the tires. I was down in a split second, as it usually happens. There's never time to think about how to crash, at least not for me. Seemed to take most of it on the side of the face, the temple. (I was going about 18-20.) This was one time when wearing the helmet really did save me. I was able to ride home. No helmet, I'd probably either be dead or really damaged. Just sayin.
bro that sucks fallin in a puddle imho cheers

[William]

Doing gymnastics/tumbling (and later martial arts) when I was in 4th grade really has helped me many times over come through skateboard and cycling wipe outs with minimal injuries. Mainly being able to dive and roll. During one rain soaked crit in downtown Portland, four of us were off the front and hammering away. I had just finished my pull and cycled to the back when going into a corner the guy in front of me went down and I had nowhere to go but right into him getting launched right over the handle bars. It's funny because I could see the ground coming in slow motion, and the word reverberating through my brain was "ROLL, ROLL, ROLL... Basically I believe I went into a shoulder roll, rolled over, then ended up back onto my feet in a very strange sort of "TA-DAA" moment. I'm standing there for a second trying to process what had just happened when I hear a "WHOOSH!" coming up behind me and start to see a blur in the corner of my eye as I turn my head. As I instinctively jump away from the noise, the peloton goes racing by just missing me and averting a nasty pile up. Two tacoed wheels and a smashed helmet ended that day of racing. But other then some scrapes, I was fine...basically by instinctively knowing how to fall.


William

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bro when you think your cool that's when you fall on your face
watchit bro imho
cheers

[Orin]

... I had nowhere to go but right into him getting launched right over the handle bars. It's funny because I could see the ground coming in slow motion...

The moment when many think "Oh my God, the ground!", fixate on it and hit it face first. My martial arts instructor says, "Don't worry about the ground, it isn't going anywhere, you'll get there soon enough".

Orin.

[William]

bro when you think your cool that's when you fall on your face
watchit bro imho
cheers


That's right bro. When you think you're cool, the humbling experience is always waiting around the corner for you. Watch it is right.

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william do you ever help other cyclist with getting over their fear of bumping
into each other ...it's a fun thing to learn on grass imho you'd be a great teacher for that stuff
cheers :beer: