Northwestrider

+1

RobertHurst

Yeah, that's about as well as it can be done at roughly 30 mph. Notice how he uses the outside of his arm in the gentlest way possible to initiate a roll.

Booger1

After 35+ years of heavy drinking,I'd say I'm an EXPERT at falling......



I'm real stubborn ,but if I fell so much I needed practice,chances are good I would try something else.....like bowling....

rjc100

I did that and had hardly no damage to my bike. Broken Collar Bone and 4 ribs, but the bike is good to go, as soon as I heal and can get back on. (12 weeks)

gcottay

I've not yet had sufficient practice.

fuji86

Find something softer to take the brunt of the fall. I've learned to go slower and avoid objects in the roadway, so that I don't fall. Been a long time since I fell on a bike, early grade school sometime ?

Falling also is a art, choose road rash over a sudden and direct impact. Scrapes heal quicker and are cheaper than broken bones. Both s*ck though.

david58

Being a clutz all my life has had some benefit, as I have hit the ground often. No predictor of future performance, however.

I have embarked on a cyclocross adventure. Based upon my first two races, I forsee a lot, no, a WHOLE LOT of falling practice....

trek2.3bike

No technique will prevent all injuries. The hard ground is a worse threat than the 18 pound bike and I'd rather have a shallow cut than a broken wrist or forearm or a cracked shoulder joint.

You stay on while falling from riding position TO the ground, car, tree, etc. The idea is to transfer the largest impact to the bike. After that, momentum takes over.

PluperfectArson

I think you can only do so much in the instance of a bike wreck.

First time in a long time wrecking, I pedal-clipped going around a turn, back wheel slid out, tried to correct, overcorrected, bars jolted into my bike and locked up. I flew over the handlebars across three lanes of traffic, rolling into the front of a Suburban.

A couple weeks after that, I wrecked, but rolled onto and through my shoulder, stood back up afterwards and continued riding my bike.

It just depends on the severity of the wreck.

Six jours

Once upon a time cyclists at the Olympic training center in Colorado Springs were sent to tumbling practice in the gym. The idea was really just to learn to "tuck and roll" when going over the bars.

Frankly, it seems to me that people crash quite a bit more these days than they did a few decades ago. If I was king, I'd encourage people to spend their energy learning to fall less before teaching them to fall "correctly".

skinnysanta

If I see a fall coming, yes.
But my last fall (Labor Day weekend) was at high speed when I crossed a ditch going too fast for the turn I was attempting. I got myself light on the bars and off the saddle in anticipation and made it past the ditch but hit something in the tall grass on the other side that took the bike out from under me instantly. Next thing I knew I was laying 10' past my bike in wet grass with chest pain due to two broken ribs. I apparently fell on my right upper arm and it was between me and the ground fracturing the ribs. So, normally yes I know how to fall but sometimes it isn't totally in your control.

Nitram612

I took martial arts classes (with lots of tumbling) for a few years as a kid/young teenager and always wondered if that training would stick around with me as an adult. Most of my falls are riding surface related (loose sand, ice, etc.) and I seem to recover pretty well with usually no more than a scratch or two. There was one fall that could have turned out really bad but didn't. I was taking a hard right turn when I realized that the street I was turning onto was nothing but that loose gravel crap they put down before re-paving. I didn't have time to slow down and my bike fell out from under me fast. I'm not quite sure how I did it but ended up doing a shoulder tuck off the bike and landed standing on my feet, even skidding a bit on the gravel while standing. Aside from the whole biffing it on a turn part, I probably looked pretty cool.

Hippiebrian

Knowing how not to fall is infinately better than knowing how to fall!

imi

WOW!!! there should be awards for a performance like that!

ilike3bikes

From my own personal experience, I think you can have some control over how you fall. On a couple of occasions I fell so quickly that there was no time to make a plan. But, I can remember other falls when I did have some time to decide and implement a plan. The first time I attempted to climb a short but steep hill my derailleur malfunctioned and I knew I was going to fall. I was able to move to the side of the road where I could fall into the grass rather than on the pavement. I have seen people fall in such a way as to not damage their carbon fiber bike. The rider is oh his back, still clipped in, with the bike perfectly balanced in the air.