djtrackie

Okay, so the scenario is that you're flying down a slight downhill at 30mph... hit a rock, and now you're front wheels are wiggling around. In about .75 seconds your body will hit the pavement.

What do you do when you're about to go down? How are you going to break your fall while doing the least damage to yourself?

furiousferret

Aim with your head. The helmet will break the fall.

Joe Dog

Roll when you hit the ground. Unless you are next to a cliff. If you are next to cliff, try not to roll.

mrkott3r

i guess also with the roll, try and get your feet out of the cleats, dont want to drag that bike with ya

cs1

I don't know about high speed falls but read the article in bicycling about Police bike school. I actually tried that technique and it worked very well. The asphalt was still hard though.

Tim

macca123

Pray, even if you're not religous.

bkrownd

Shoulder roll! (easier said than done...) As he said above, get out of those cleats while you still can.

socalrider

There is that split second when you are going to go down where you have to make that decision to let go of the bars and try to roll.. If you apply the death grip to the bars and go down, usually a dislocated shoulder will happen..

When I raced I had a few crashes and people who did not ride would always ask, what did it feel like?

I told them to imagine themselves in the bed of a pickup truck, in lycra material, the truck gets up to speed at 30mph or faster and then you jump out of the bed of the truck onto the asphault..

Jared88

Ok so you are about to crash in 0.75 secs. Here's what i usually do...
0.10 secs : Move hands to cover shifters.
0.20 secs : Make sure i am clipped in.
0.30 secs : Try to fall on my left.
0.40 secs : If falling on left is impossible , i would unclip my right foot.
0.50 secs : Brace for impact.
0.60 secs : Close eyes.
0.75 secs : If falling on left use body to adsorb impact. Make sure hands are on shifters to protect shifters from being scratched.
0.76 secs : If falling on right , swing right leg back on the last moment to protect drivetrain , falling as usual , with hands on shifters.
Please note that this is only the OCP way of falling , it is only effective in preventing scratches on bike. This WILL NOT WORK FOR CHEAP BIKES.
For cheap bikes :
0.50 secs : unclip
0.60 secs : look for safe spot
0.70 secs : jump
0.75 secs : roll
The cheap bike method is also useful in preventing serious injuries.

macca123

lol ^^

mimis

what a catastrophic advise, think you're only joking! what you' re suggesting will probably twist or break one's neck causing an injury with major consequences(paralysis) let alone the brain injury which will probably be minor thanks to the helmet..

patentcad

Car crashes happen in slow motion.

Bike crashes happen so fast that by the time you realize you're crashing, you HAVE crashed. So there's no time to be afriaid. Which is the good news. Or react. Which is the bad news.

The best way to enhance your crash experience is - not to worry about it until AFTER you have one.

Hipcycler

Exactly patent! As I was reading this thread I just kept thinking about the three times in five years I've crashed...and not one of them gave me a bit of warning. One second I'm riding, the next second I'm in a daze on the ground wondering what the hell just happened!

Barese Rider

Read Eddie Bs book he has a section in it on falling and how to go to the gym to prepare for the inevitable..When my time came, I wished I had practiced what he preached..Simple advice, resist the urge to stick your hand out to break the fall, tuck the head in,and try to roll with the fall..

Hipcycler

resist the urge to stick your hand out to break the fall

Been there.
Done that.
Broke my fall (and my wrist)

slvoid

Pull the ejection lever.

Boudicca

Nah. You actually have a fraction of a split second to realise you are crashing. But it's far too small a fraction to do anything about it.

Just hope the momentum will carry you into someone's front lawn. Grass rash is a lot less painful than road rash.

-=(8)=-

^^^^ Wut he sed.
This same nonsense is discussed on MC boards too.
If you have the ability to make a decision, why wouldnt you just decide not to crash ??

chipcom 

Joe Dog = Jack Handey

telenick

When possible... protect your bike with you body.

chipcom 

But the bike would be safe, so what's your point?

LA_Rider

I haven’t had a bad bike crash, (knock wood) but I did once ride my motorcycle off a cliff. All I remember is going off... and then laying in a heap at the bottom. In bad crashes, there seems to be a moment where you black out - which is probably just as well.

rule

If you know that you are going to go down, separate from the bike, just like the stunt guys do. That can save you from a face plant, busted arm or collar bone, or torqued up knee from trying to hang on. Next thing is to roll into the fall and either slide it out or just tumble to a stop. If you are going to hit something, keep your arms up and protect your head.

Drayko

Anyone remember when Contador lost a pedal on a high speed descent and saved it, front shimmy and all? He kinda stood up on the ground with one foot, letting his shoe drag along, on the pavement until he gained control again. If possible, that could stabalize you enough before having to bail and try fall techniques. Besides, I'd rather replace a cleat than large patches of skin. It definately worked for me when I pulled out going from a stop light in a high gear; albeit I was going 10mph. The technique is the same.

Here's a link to a thread on it:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...light=contador

alanbikehouston

None of my crashes provided any "thinking" time. One second things were fine, the next second, I was on the pavement. But, my most recent crash had good results, so I'll try to crash the same way next time. I figured out later that the crash was caused by my front tire getting caught in a one inch wide gap in the asphalt. Such gaps in the road are everywhere in my inner city bombed out neighborhood, but I didn't see that one coming.

By pure luck, I had a firm grip on the bars at the moment of the crash, and continued to hold onto the bars until after I hit the pavement. I hit the pavement with my well padded right hip and thigh taking most of the impact. So, I had some scrapes on my right shoulder, hip and thigh, and my right knee was swollen for a couple of weeks. But, I was able to finish my ride, and ride again the next day.

Why was this a "lucky" fall? Several of my friends have had serious injuries to the hand, wrist, arm or collarbone because they took their hands off the bars and tried to use their hand to "soften" their fall. The result was broken bones, surgery, and ten thousand or twenty thousand in medical bills.

So, my plan for my next crash is hold on tight to the bike, and use the "fat" parts of my body as padding. Luckily, I have lots of padding almost everywhere on my body.