durty

does anyone have any real advice as to how to protect yourself when falling.

I'm a big proponent of planning out things in your head before they happen so you can execute them quickly and effectively. So I'm wondering today (after my first fall since I was a kid on a bike) does anyone have any real advice on how to fall safely without breaking your wrists or face or anything?

I caught myself on my wrists instinctively but as I was going down I thought to myself this may not be the best way to deflect injuries...and I may hurt my wrists. So now my wrist hurts and I'm wondering how to fall better.

Advice please.
-durty

yeah yeah..."don't fall"....

s0urce

Slide on your side... or go for a roll.. Either way, you're going to pay.

roastbeef

supposedly on the track you're taught to hold onto the handle bars and tight as you can. i can't remember where i heard this though.

rule of thumb: roll roll roll.

ianjk

You just have to make sure you look cool doing it... drag it out as long as possible, throw in a couple extra rolls and end it with a:

BoozyMcliverRot

depends,back when i rode on trails with my mtb,I did many "over the bars landing on my feet moves" but on the fixed,I havent fallen yet so I really dont know.


You could just practice falling down.

shapelike

Check for cars, quickly.

s0urce

YES...so true. Also check for women...

BoozyMcliverRot

I have a feeling this will be an awsome thread.

s0urce

At first glance I thought the thread title was "How to Fail". Either one works I suppose.

fuzz2050

All the advice posted on this forum is nothing without plenty of practice.

I didn't actually mean that as sarcastically as it sounded...take a martial art that involves a lot of falling, otherwise the same thing will happen again. Until you train your body to react instinctively, you'll just fall down on your wrists thinking about how you should roll with your back.

4zn_balla

i think the holding the handlebars tight is to reduce ankle/leg injuries from twisting and your bike going opposite directions from you and you still being attached to it.

PoopinFresh

Only way to know how to fall is to do it repeatedly. Martial arts/gymnastics/parkour (freerunning) would all accomplish that. Whichever floats your boat.

stryper

Always try to fall between your head and shoulder and roll out.

Just watch like the first 15 seconds of this video of me and friends and you will see a more or less perfect roll out while going 15 mph.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txHPDSvRJQ4

rduenas

How're all you guys falling at speed? And rolling out of it while still in the clips?

Chances are you're going to go down on one side or the other. Holding on the handlebars keeps the head out of danger and your shoulder takes most of the energy.

Geordi Laforge

the best way to approach a crash is to hold onto your handlebars so your bike stays attached to your body so the bike will take some of the blow rather than 100% of your body. when doing so, be sure to tuck and roll - you dont want to land on your face or with your palms out or land with your neck at a weird angle - always tuck in and roll.

martial arts training as a kid ftw.

~Stuart~

This is all very different to my longboarding crash rules which were "slide. Rolling breaks limbs" mind you we were crashin much faster and wearing leathers or pads built for sliding...

My advice would be land on forearms not wrists, and don't highside. And get use to unclipping fast and leapfrogging over your bars.



FYI you can't "roll" and " hold your bars tight" at the same time and if you do your gonna get mangled.



Oh yea and DONT FALL

lIRATIl

If you do fall on your side make sure to keep your elbows in. I chipped an elbow doin that once and didn't realize that the pain I was feeling for a week could have been something serious. Went to the doctor and got an X-ray. Defiantly chipped then had to get an MRI or whatever because they thought I chipped a growth plate ( I was 13 at the time). If I had, my arm would have grown crooked. Thank god I didn't.

RastamanD

man...i just fell like half an hour ago ****ing around on my bike on the patio...for some reason i cant seem to grasp the fact that clipless pedals + trying to trackstand = FAIL

rduenas

Yikes.

Geordi Laforge

why?

I've been in two serious crashes and each time I instinctively tucked in and held onto my bars tight. I landed on my right shoulder and upper arm area, rolled, bike hit the ground as I rolled over and I stopped. If I didnt hold onto my bars, I would have kept rolling and taken all of the impact on my body. I twisted my ankle from being strapped in the first time and the second time no injuries besides road rash and bruises on my arms/shoulder (and a ripped up t-shirt).

I think a tuck-roll along with your bike is the safest way to fall.

bbattle

I've only crashed once on my roadie; touched wheels with the guy in front of me. I landed on my thigh/hip and slid. I don't think my head hit; no scratches or dings on the helmet.

I've crashed several times(well, practically every time I ride) on my mtb. Yep, rolling through it is key. I think better skills is the best advice, though.

I recommend you wear gloves. I wear the half-finger ones but in the cold switch to full fingered ones. Keeps those hands from getting scraped raw and full of road grit.

Crashing while moving fast usually means you'll slide. Crashing slowly brings you down hard, usually you put a hand out but you can't lock that elbow or you might break something. I've done enough horizontal track stands to be able to break my fall with a hand then shoulder hit, rolling on my back.

pissypaw

Can't help but feel the impending "downfall" of "fixies", desperately calling from the subtext of this original post. One FG rider to the rest: "how will we fall"?

hanjin

I've fallen twice in the 3 years riding fixed only one of those times was while riding, the other was a slow tip over to one side when I tried clipless. Anyway when I fell and slid on my thigh knee area and it hurt like hell. Most of the time the front or back wheel will wash out from under you and just hand on for the ride. I don't recommend trying to break your fall using your hands, it's a great way to wind up with a palm full of glass, or syringes, or even used condoms bad all around.

~Stuart~

Well I guess you can do one roll but several will involve you tumbling over your bike which would hurt like a mofo

Meepers

drink a redbull. instead of falling you will fly away from a crash.