Machka 

The gloves post got me to wondering ...

When you crash, what portion of YOUR anatomy usually strikes the ground first?


For me, it's usually my knee, and usually my left one ... that poor knee has taken a beating. After my knee has made contact with the ground, then other portions of my anatomy like my hip, elbow, and hand will make contact.


They do say that you're not supposed to put your hand out to break your fall because that's the surest way to crack a collarbone, and that's probably true, but the one time I didn't land on my knee, I probably should have put out my hand to break my fall. I didn't, I kept hanging onto the handlebars, and I ended up landing squarely on my left ribs, cracking them.


Now, I have witnessed two different people, in two completely different crash situations, land on their feet. That's a trick I'd like to learn!!

johnny99

How often do you crash? I ride about 8000 miles per year and the last time I crashed my road bike was over 20 years ago.

Chucklehead

yeah, same here(not the 8000 miles part).

Machka 

I posted that here recently in another crash post ... I have some sort of "crash" about once a year.

From most current ...

Sept 2005 - fell over backward on the dismount, pulling fully loaded touring bicycle down on top of me = pulled muscles, bruised tailbone and legs
Dec 2004 - hit loose gravel on a descent = ripped up left knee cap and shin
Jan 2004 - slipped on ice = burst the bursa in left knee
Sept 2003 - fell at the top of a hill with fully loaded touring bicycle b/c going too slow to unclip = opened up right elbow, badly bruised legs
Dec 2002 - thrown from back of tandem due to a lack of communication = bruised hips

I can't think exactly when my previous accidents have been but I know I've fallen because of the clipless pedals on three other occasions between about 2000 and 2002. Also in 1997, I crashed and cracked my ribs. In 1991, I crashed and tore up my legs pretty badly.

That's all I can remember off hand.


And in terms of kms between crashes, it works out to the following:

Dec 2002 - Sept 2003 = ~9000 kms
Sept 2003 - Jan 2004 = ~2700 kms
Jan 2004 - Dec 2004 = ~13500 kms
Dec 2004 - Sept 2005 = ~9000 kms

fruitless

Have you considered taking up rugby?

rolliepollie

My first response during a fall is reach my hands out and tuck my head in (so the helmet would take the blow if my head does hit something). The reason why people crack their collarbones, from what I've read, is that they extend it fully upon impact - leave the elbows bent so they'll "collapse." Then it's usually my other hand if it didnt touch the ground yet, or the legs, then the hip. The last thing I would want hitting the ground is my actual body/spine. One important skill to do, though, is the "roll" as you land. In short, that will dissipate the force a bit more than if you crash like a stiff rock.

duckliondog

I've only fallen off my road bike once. I was sprinting to make a yellow light, but my friend who was ahead decided to stop for it at the last second. I didn't lose a single drop of blood
Rollie has the falling right. I do the exact same thing. His name is perfect! Rolling is the best way to spare yourself the extra pain of resisting momentum. The energy that goes into rolling you around doesn't go into cracking your bones apart.

Hipcycler

Take a guess.
Here, I'll give you a hint:

garysol1 

Hip, you should warn a guy before posting that mug....I was mid oatmeal bite.....

Hipcycler

SORRY!
At least I didn't post the really bad ones!

EventServices

I've been around a lot of bike races, and what I see hitting the ground first is hip and thigh.
Forearms are popular.
Helmets usually bounce AFTER the shoulders hit first.
Outer Calves.
and of course HANDS are used by inexperienced riders who think they can lessen the impact by catching themselves. Mike Walden and other good couches always take students out onto a grassy area and teach them how to tumble.

If you're hitting teeth-first, I want to see how you're riding! Are you sitting on the stem???

Hipcycler

Event...
Yeah, it's always the hip. Darned dangerous sport for me.

Anyway....the face plant thing was in my second year...first crash ever...riding a Trek hybrid, flat bar, and just blocks before finishing my ride as I was turning right I hit a patch of sand on a country road. I never knew what hit me...until I was spitting out a hunk of front tooth. Two days later I found out my wrist was broken.

I think those wrists come out as an automatic reflex, defense thing as you're going down.

DannoXYZ 

I usually hit my hip, thighs and shoulders... Fingertips kinda take a beating too from all the flipping, spinning and flying around....

johninencinitas

A collarbone fracture occurs when the impact is from the side, not from the front. Shoulder impacts from the front usually result in separated shoulders. (I've fractured my collarbone 3 times, non-cycling)

Colonel

The human body is actually an excellently designed piece of gear - and the collarbones are no exception. They are designed to act as a natural "shock absorber" and are meant to take the impact if you do indeed try and stop a fall with extended arms - to the point that they are supposed to break before any major bones do. Rolly is right, rolling is the key, and having fallen more times than I care to remember in various adventures (on bikes, from trees, chasing cows in paddocks, on the rugby field etc) I am a big fan of the "tumble roll". A lot of fall injuries come from people "fighting the fall" - go with it and roll, and you'll be surprised what you can pull off. It's even more impressive if you can jump up after it and yell TAA DAAH! at the top of your voice. Have you ever seen a drunk person take a massive stack (I have - it's funny) - normally they get out of it with no more than scrapes and bruises - they just don't have the instincts/reactions to fight the fall. Did I mention it's funny to watch? My five cents worth.

slvoid

Knees... more than others.
But what they say is, tuck your body in so the meaty parts like your shoulders and butt can take the fall.

I landed on my butt and ended up tearing a bunch of muscles on my lower back and pelvis, took a month to get over..

AtlAllez

i have eaten pavement at least 4 times this year..... I caught myself on my hands which just led to them being a little scrapped up, once my bike slipped on gravel taking me to the ER and my left arm took the damage leading to a huge crater in my arm yea the rest are too embarrasing to write about...

fruitless

ok ok, I've been in only 3 horrendous crashes and I still have the scars on the elbows, forearms and for some reason only the right hip. Broken ribs each time too but you can't see those. Thousands of dollars in broken helmets, torn clothing, bent frames, twisted wheels and one maimed dog.

Paniolo

I'm another one for a tuck and roll. Several mtb offs got me conditioned to not reach out with the hands but tuck your head and roll ... you end up sitting on your butt going whew! Not exactly an instinctive reaction without some training though!

About a month ago in a pace line a little over 22mph the rider in front suddenly slowed and moved right for a hole ... right into my front tire. I ended up going over forwards at about a 45* angle and instinctevly tucked and rolled. Back of right shoulder made first impact with concrete. Got some nice rash behind both shoulders, right elbow and both knees. After confirming nothing appeared broken (other than the helmet) I rode the 10 miles home and made my regular 60 mile ride 2 days later. I really believe I would have had much more serious injuries if I had reached out with my hands and landed that way.

puddin' legs

Machka... tuck and roll. You'll scrape your scapula and upper back. Secondary scrapes are usually elbows, thighs, but rarely knees. Never never put your hands out, just hold on your bars on the way down. You'll release just fine the moment you hit the deck. If you know anyone doing Judo, Aikido, etc... get them to show you how to fall. Like event services says, good coaches and programs teach falling (but Mike Walton is long dead unfortunately.)

About face first falls, those usually only happen when way out over the front of the bike in an all out sprint. The Keirin guys I used to ride with all have lost teeth in crashes.

endform

I always try and hit shoulder first, cause from watching football, that shoulder(and by shoulder I mean meatiest part of the upper arm) can take a lot of abuse, although it hurts bad sometimes. I took a trackstand fall right on the shoulder and was fine other than the initial 5 minutes of walking it off.

DannoXYZ 

Like this?



I think flying through the air with the greatest of ease requires practice. One of the first things they train you in martial-arts is how to fall. Before you even learn any specific techniques, they toss you around the mat for a while until you get the hang of relaxing your body to spread out the impact across a wider area. Then you roll to spread that energy out across an even larger area.

gabiker

Well I did that 3 months ago and haven't been back on the bike yet. Only I landed on the back of my shoulder tip and wound up breaking my collar bone in 2 places, tore my rotator cuff and fractured a bunch of ribs. It wasn't just a fall though because I hit the guy that went down in front of me and went airborne so I cam down from about 6' and hit directly on my shoulder.

So I guess there really isn't any good place to land. The best thing to do is not crash at all.

Inverted

The only really bad crash I've had came two years ago and involved slick roads, a driveway (comming from the street), and too shallow an angle going at the bump.

I've broken more bones than I'd like to remember, and somewhere along the lines I learned, simply by a process of elimination, that it was better to roll. So that's what I did when I ate pavement two years ago.

My hip and elbow hit first, tearing a chunk about the size of a dounut out of my left hip and leaving my elbow/forearm and outside of my left hand missing a bit as well. When I rolled over, going with the momentum, the only thing damaged was the pointer finger knuckle on my right hand (that was actually the most annoying injury). Aside from that, only a few cuts on my knees. My helmet actually hit first, turning my into a true believer no matter how hot it may get outside. The bike was worse than me.

There is no 'good' way to take a fall. Even if you roll, part of your body is going to take that initial shock and, if you have any kind of speed behind you, you are going to lose some skin. But if you roll, that's all you'll lose. Two years ago, I was right smack in the middle of (youth-onset...forget the official designation) osteoporosis. Ended up breaking another two bones that year catching a football and landing on someone, respectively. I should have done much worse with the bike....proof possitive that learning how to fall is incredibly important.

Also, helmets. Whenever/if you ever take a fall, look at your helmet. Chances are, it took a much worse beating than you felt. Not to spark another helmet debate, but unless you shave your head, road rash is the last thing you want on your scalp. Or worse.

pedex

Prettymuch every crash Ive ever had has happened so fast I didnt even have time to get an expletive out. Last thursday, wet road, car comes at me going wrong way up a one way street, I zigged and avoided the car, then zagged and the front washed out and I wound up sliding across the pavement. Very minor road rash to my right arm even thru my sweatshirt. Most of my crashes have been on slick roads, you fall, you slide, you get back up and go back to work. Minor bruises and damage to the ego. Usually its knee,hip, shoulder in that order. Although I did slide across 5 lanes of road on my chest once.