Originally Posted by
electrik
Have you even ridden a bicycle to the ground? It only works because you get a bit of resistance from the dirt as you slid out thereby converting some of your vertical energy into the pushing out of dirt. Think about a berm. There is no such resistance on ice, the second you lean the body over you will just brutally slap right over on your shoulder and head. Not pretty, but thankfully the same lack of resistance means the bicycle can slid out right from under you so quickly that you're left standing mostly upright like a table set after the tablecloth has been rapidly pulled out from under it.
That happened to me once on a motorcycle, it went out from under on a corner and I skated on my boots all the way to the far corner of the intersection. I felt like that was freakish luck though. I still agree with you though because you can't do a proper side fall or back fall if your feet aren't free. You
can do them if you're not encumbered, no matter how fast the accident happens.
cyccommute is surely right that it's better to not crash in the first place, and the bottom line is when we do, we all just do what we can. I want studded tires so bad I can taste it, but we'll only have 3 or 4 days where I'd need them. If we're unlucky. So it's mountain bike, go slow, and probably fall a few times.