Diligum

I think being catapulted off my bike causes some kind of temporary insanity.
Im new to MTBing still and on 3 different occasions I have been tossed from my bike, all 3 crashes were caused by my front wheel getting caught in a rut between rocks.
Anyhow I have been lucky enough to avoid any serious injury so far, but I always break out into laughter when I fall. Is this normal? Do I need to seek professional help?

KevinG

Yes to Ques. 1. More than likely to ques. number 2!!

toolfreak

Don`t try to reach your frontire with your nose, instead, get your arse almost on your backtire, this should improve handling
If not; go home and watch MTB video`s

Mmm, this thread remminds me of my own crashes, (i lost the counting!) Sometimes its good to crash, it sets you with both feet on the ground (again)
Crash and learn, its not a shame, all MTB`ers do crash, even if they won`t tell you!

cheers,

KevinOfCanada

Wipeouts rule!!! I got a Giant atx840 with mech front disc it rules! my friend fell in front of me and instinctively i hit the brakes. HARD. I flew over my handlebars, over his falled bike and him, and landed a few feet past him, LOL good times.. good times..

a2psyklnut

Advice on crashing from an old BMXer. Read-Lots of crashes! The last thing you want to do which is the first thing you do instinctively is to put out you arm to stop your fall. This WILL break you collarbone like a twig. You will hear a snap, (sounds like breaking a chicken bone) and then you will not be able to move your arm. The best thing to do when you're going down is to tuck and roll.(think-ball!) I've almost perfected this manuever and can usually end up rolling all the way over and I end up in a sitting position. Yes, you do hurt and yes you do get scraped up and yes you do get dirty, but that's a heck of a lot better than breaking a bone!

No need to practice this move, just going out and riding will give you enough practice.

L8R G8R

fubar5

Diligum, I don't laugh, but most of the time I am really happy after I wipeout, and I think its kinda fun. I didn't know about sticking my arm out thoughm I'll have to try the roll.

riderx

Better to laugh than to cry!

coop

i was riding down a step hill when i hit a huge rock and fliped over my handle bars and landed on my head. good thing i was wearing my safty gear.

coop

who likes candy

Joe Gardner

Coop, Welcome to the forums, could you do me a quick favor and re-read the forum guidelines? The link is in my Sig, or under the FAQ's link at the top of each page.

KleinMp99

I've crashed on my right wrist 2 times this year and cant believe it didnt break. And the other crash I had was when i was going down a really steep hill...not some newbie stuff, and my tubeless tire hit a root of a tree, and blew. I flipped over my handlebars and landed right on my FACE, and yes, it did hurt. But since i'm not a little umm...cant use that word... I rode all the way out, and more. I bet if some of the other little kids on that ride would have crashed like I did, somebody would have had to carry them out. And....yes, i like candy. Later - matt

*WildHare*

I slipped a pedal several years ago, went over the bars and broke my collar bone and my wrist. Thankfully they were both on the same side leaving me one good arm This was on a fire road with 3 miles to go to get to the bottom. We Used my buddies fanny pack as a makeshift sling and road the rest of the way down. I was just waitin' to crash again, but I made it, slowly but surely. Wasn't much fun... Hurt like HELL.

Diligum

Wow, wild hare if that was me I know I wouldn't get back on the bike. You've got brass ones for sure. Was your adrenaline masking the pain at first?

HardBall

Riding MTB in the Southwest Virginian Appalachian mountains (read quite hilly) a friend tied a shirt to his stem/bars and...well you know what happened the shirt worked it's way into the front spokes causing an at speed endo. Sustained broken collarbone and several other less serious injuries. He RODE out 18 miles. Probably the most awesome display of will power and brute strength that I have ever witnessed. Sadly, he has all but given up biking after a driver forced him off the road about a year after the MTB incident and he broke another collarbone, wrist etc...

*WildHare*

My buddy made the same comment I wasn't gonna take an hour to get to the bottom walking. Believe me, I didn't want to get back on and it wasn't exactly easy either. Try getting on your bike with one arm from a stand still with a really high seat. You'll see what I mean Caught my shorts on the seat and almost fell over. Fun.

No adrenaline mask. Instant pain. My fourth broken collar bone. You get kind of used to it

*WildHare*

That's too bad he gave it up... I've retired from motocross/desert riding. My street bike is coverd with a nice thick coat of dust as well. Time to clean it up and sell it.

I'm just gonna stick with pedal power even though I've broken lots of bones doing that. What can ya do? Ya gotta ride something! Right?

redfox

I love these crash stories! My worst was while we were staying in houston last year. I slipped the pedal midair and landed flat on my foot. Broke my leeg just below my knee(tibia plateau). Now i've got 3 screws.Now i've lost a lot of my nerve riding,i'm a little to careful now.Still had a few good endoflips lately though

Quadzone.com

Sounds like me

mtnbiker66

True dat!!!! Now all together.......Tuck and roll...... . It's hard not to but the worst thing to do is stick out your arms and lock them.

alexlit

Does anyone have a video of this tucking and rolling motion? This summer I stuck my arms out on a fall and broke the bone between the wrist and pinky.

iamthetas

yes, even when I fell and separated my shoulder and cracked a rib, I laughed. its a sense of exhileration at the sudden speed of sound as you fall, followed by another sense of euphoria as you discover you are not dead. at least thats my take on it.
when I did the afore mentioned, I rode the rest of the way out on a singletrack course, at the beginning.
I tried to take a corner that I thought id slide in a little and the front dug in instead of slide. barend to the ribs,rolled but landed on my shoulder wrong . I just raised my arm over my head as far as I could and twisted the shoulder back in. popped in, no problem.
I thought the whole thing was great until the pain centers in my brain woke up. that was a long 2 miles back to the truck.
anyone ever ride singletrack with 1 arm? with climbs? at dusk with no light? Im getting giddy remembering the incident.
the only crash I remember not laughing at was the one where the deer cut me off on a downhill when I first started riding. I was too pissed at the deer to laugh because my left side was a strawberry from ankle to head and ruined a perfectly good set of Swarzenegger(sp) weight gloves that were no longer made and fit really well