Originally Posted by
DrIsotope
The goal in a fall is to spread the impact over as large an area as possible-- back, side, hip. Sticking out an arm or leg is pretty much the worst thing you can do. When I fall (which seems to happen too often) I've always ended up with both hands still on the bars, and both feet still clipped to the pedals. Some road rash here, a couple of bruised ribs there, a broken helmet (or two) but I've fared quite well overall. Didn't even cut into my weekly mileage in most cases.
Originally Posted by
NoWhammies
Ok, I'll bite. Why the recommendation to keep your hands on the bars during a crash?
I'll add to DrIsotope's excellent post that the it dissipates the energy of the impact as well. Your bike doesn't have crush zones like a car but the principle is the same. A hand is a very small area attached to two rather small bones. Taking the full impact on the hand translates the energy up the arm and will likely end up breaking those two rather small bones.
The reason that we put out our hands to "catch ourselves" is because bipedalism is a rather awkward method of locomotion and we are prone to falling. At walking speed, this isn't that much of a problem and our arm bones are able to withstand the impact. Put more speed into the system and the bones won't do their job. At running speed, you've likely hit the limit. At bicycle speed, you've far exceeded it.
One thing DrIsotope didn't mention is to relax during a crash. The absolute worst thing you can do is to "brace for impact!" Bracing yourself doesn't do anything except tighten up your whole structure so that the impact is transmitted everywhere. We are bags of mostly water but we have hard bits inside. If you can make the "mostly water" part take much of the impact, the hard bits fair better. The best thing to do when you find yourself in the middle of a crash is to relax and just go with the flow. Yea, it's going to hurt but it will hurt a whole lot less than if you try to fight it. From a bit of a ghoulish sense, the reason drunks fair better in car crashes is because they are relaxed and just let whatever is going to happen, happen.
Originally Posted by
63rickert
Decide not to fall. Don’t assume cyclists fall all the time. Get stable on the bike. Take no advice from those who do fall all the time. Last time I fell was August 1999. Others I know, others who also ride all the time and rack up big miles, have gone 40 years without a fall.
Sorry but those who don't fall are the ones whose advice is to be avoided. I don't go out and say "I think I'll fall over". It hurts. I don't like it. But it happens. People who have gone 40 years without falling may be stable on a bike but when they do fall, they won't know how to do it because they have no experience. I'm not an unstable rider who can't handle their bike. I just push the edge harder than some.
Training yourself on how to fall while reducing injury takes effort. It takes thought and planning and
some "practice", although I'd call it experience. I've crashed more times than I can count or remember. I've seldom ended up with more than scrapes and/or a broken helmet.