Originally Posted by
tjspiel
Bigger tires and/or lower pressures can help with the bumps. Coasting over them is fine if you can't go around them but keep both feet on the pedals and get off the saddle a little bit. Keep your arms and legs flexed and use them as shock absorbers.
+1 Tires, tires, tires. A few millimeters of gel in a glove or on your bars can't begin to compare to a couple of inches of air in your tires when it comes to absorbing bumps, and elbows and knees are even better.