Originally Posted by
curieux88
I finally crashed for the first time!
I decided to explore a new town for a 30mi ride. It wasn't too busy, so i figured it would be great cruising ride. About 6mi in, I ran over a smooth pot hole (concave into the ground?), swerved around, and then fell/crashed. I was going at 20mi/h, but i think swerving helped to reduce the speed.
I got pretty nasty scratch on my elbow, and probably strained my wrist. It wasn't too bad. the bike seems to be in a great shape, except one of the shifters got misaligned, and the wheels need to get trued.
This got me to think that i never learned to fall.
When I used to row, we learned how to get back on the boat. I was told by friends with judo experience that they always learn how to fall first. same with skiing and snowboarding.
For this fall/crash, I naturally put my hand out (strained my wrist) and then landed on my elbow.
Is there a better way to fall than what i did? What could I do better when i fall to better protect myself and the bike?
Another thing to consider is, could you change your approach or technique in riding when that pothole that pops out ahead? For instance, stand on the pedals with your bum behind the saddle and pedal harder while leaning back to lighten the front wheel? If the pothole is only a couple inches deep, this could work well. Keeping the bike stable as it takes the pothole could get you through the pothole. Turning or leaning a bike while the tires are losing contact with the ground from bumps or holes isn't usually a good thing for a bike without suspension. Assuming your bike has no suspension.
This should still work riding over a "smooth" pothole and could reduce the swerving after the hole.
For me, standing on the pedals to let the legs be the suspension, and making the bike react to a lower center of gravity contact point (weight on saddle high, weight on pedals low), plus shifting body weight as needed will make a bike more stable over rough ground.
One way to get use to this is stand on the pedals anytime you go over any "rough" ground.