Originally Posted by mattface
Falling is easy! Gravity does most of the work for you. I't's getting back up and walking away after the fall that's sometimes difficult.
A lot of people recommended martial arts. I'd say falling a LOT in any controlled environment that minimizes the risk of injury will help you know what to do when eventually you fall not on purpose. Although crashing your bike on purpose is a stupid idea, that's one of the many things I did as a child as I strove to train myself for a career as a movie stuntman. Somehow I managed it with nothing more than a few sprains and one chipped tooth, and I know how to take a fall instinctively, but that didn't stop me from spraining my wrist last time I went over the handlebars unexpectedly.
Thanks. I was actually kind of hoping someone might have thoughts on the most instructive way to set up such scenarios. I think the 63xc(?) site mentioned trying to do this on grass somewhere. But how would people here think would be the best types of falls to attempt? (over the handlebars seems dodgy, unless your landing on a big cushion, but maybe to the sides, or something?)
I got to thinking about this b/c I watched the little NYTimes video piece on LESers who play bike polo. There was one moment where a fairly tall rider took a spill, and it just looked so un-painful the way it happened, even though it was on asphalt. I thought, "I'd like to learn to fall like that."