I know I can do it, I just need to try it once. I think I may take scrublover's advice about wearing some extra padding. I might look funny, but there's no one around to impress anyway
As far as my current setup- I have a Talas fork that I usually keep at the 120 mm setting, and because I'm pretty short, my bars are a couple inches higher than my saddle, and I'm riding a really small frame. My shock and fork are set for my weight, though I usually have the rebound set to bounce back pretty quick after small bumps. I think I may dampen it a bit more before I go back to try this.
I think when I crashed the last time I sort of let the bike determine my direction too much- like I sat back, let gravity take over, then panicked and lost control completely (which should have occurred to me as being stupid advice, but oh well).
I don't have a day off again til Thursday to go try it out again. I'll let you know how it goes.