Leebo

I'm with the tuck and roll group. One of the most common injuries in biking is a broken collar bone. Yes, you need to put out your hand, but not to keep it stiff. Tuck and roll. The shoulders, back and hips will fare better in a crash than your spindly bits. I have done it lots of times mt biking. Crashing comes with the territory there, most of the time at much slower speeds with some thoughts to exit and landing strategies. On several occasions, I have kicked both legs over the bars after an endo, landing on running feet.

BicycleNutsy701

Learn an abandon ship/flying dismount maneuver. However crazy it sounds, it has saved me and my bike a number of times. Essentially, you hammer both brakes while removing one foot from the pedal and pushing down on the other pedal (which lifts you slightly off the saddle). Since your bike is suddenly moving slower than you, the result is you land straddling the top tube, between the seat and the handlebars. (As soon as you're off the saddle you also put your other foot down.) Yes, if you're going a decent speed you may get stabbed in the back with the nose of your seat, and/or slam your gut into your stem/handlebars, but the end result is that you and your bike are stationary and upright. To me, some bruises beat either hitting whatever I almost did or wiping out.
I practice this whenever I'm stopping and there isn't a curb I can put a foot on and stay seated. Without a curb, I'm built such that my only safe option is dismounting (though, on the road, I usually leave one foot in the clip and put one foot down; in a driveway, I'll put both down for practice). I've done the flying dismount enough times slowly that when I've had to do it instantaneously to avoid wiping out or hitting/being hit by a car, I can do it safely and without thinking.

Worknomore

Knock on wood. My last crash was 20 years ago and happened so fast there was no time to do anything but get up after the fact. I wear a helmet and ride within my abilities, and I don't much think about it.

79pmooney

Shave your legs. It is far more pleasant to shave before you crash than after. Running a razor over red raw skin right next to the open wound is no fun and hurts! Seeing the hairs ground into the wound and feeling the nurse scrub them out isn't much fun either. By contrast, the words from that nurse "thank you for shaving" are music to the ears. And over the next week you will be thanking yourself every time you or someone else has to pull off a bandage if you did that homework.

I am also a firm believer that there is less skin damage when shaved vs unshaved because you aren't ripping hairs out by the handful as you slid over the pavement, hence the skin around the actual wound will be in much better shape (and far more pleasant to tape that bandage to). Anyone who doubts me is welcome to do a side by side test of shaved skin vs unshaved skin and see for themselves. I did that research many years ago.

Ben

MichaelW

I have used toe clips with straps for years. I use them loose, not cinched tight and not with old-school racing cleats. On a number of slides, my feet are out, on the ground without thinking. On my few slides and crashes, they haven't caused any issues at all. Tight straps are another issue.

I found that the best part of your body to take the initial impact is upper arm/shoulder, like a shoulder barge.
Hip impacts can be really bad. Holding your hand out often results in a clavicle break.
I prefer to keep hold of my bars in a crash, if possible.

The road rash graze injury of a slide on the road may be lessened by wearing 2 layers of clothing that can slide against each other. Beware of solid or sharp objects in pockets.

Prevention is better than protection so work on bike handling skills, hazard perception, ride predictability and communicate with road users, look and think ahead. Pilots have a saying "fly the plane". Ride the bike. Don't faff around with pockets, bottles, gears etc when you should be riding.

wphamilton

Except that with a low-side fall where the front suddenly slips while cornering there is no tuck and roll. You're going straight down - I was shocked to break a collarbone hitting straight-on on the shoulder. You can do some sort of break-fall if you can react and move in less than half a second, but that's not always possible no matter who you are.

I think that you can prepare for that kind of crash by developing upper body mass and keeping toned (more shock-absorbing muscle) but I doubt that anyone is going to that extent just for bicycle crashes.

Chris516

It depends on where, and how, a cyclist crashes.

Drew Eckhardt 

Wear a helmet. Don't reach out to stop your fall. Don't wait three weeks to get on a trainer after breaking your collarbone - that can cost you 20% of your FTP and 240 hours of training to get back where you were.

Anything heavy enough to protect you will be too hot cycling, and anything light enough to ride in won't protect you.



( the broken collarbone and sprained AC joint were worse than the road rash and bruising )

Drew Eckhardt 

I did both without reaching in a 21 MPH low-side crash.

Tony Martin didn't put his hand out breaking his in stage 6 of the 2015 Tour de France. You can watch his high-side crash on youtube.

EastCoastDHer

Tuck and roll.
Take some martial arts courses, you'll learn how to fal, improve coordination and balance and have faster reactions.

Rollfast

You can't prepare much for an accident...it's an ACCIDENT.

As to what type and if you can really prepare, depends. Being hit by another vehicle (regardless of size), road hazards, animals, mechanical failure...Klingon attack, lightning assault from Mount Olympus...

In the last two instances I guess don't tick off Klingons or flirt with Zeus's daughters.

AlmostTrick

Mom was right... always make sure you're wearing clean underwear.