Originally Posted by 531Aussie

I had a nasty smash at the races last night, and I had very little warning to do anything, even if I wanted to: one moment I knew I was in trouble, then I had about 10 milli-seconds to try to save myself before I hit the deck at about 40kph. I went down so quick I didn't have time to make any considered decisions, let alone get my hand off the bars, even if I wanted to, so i landed 'evenly' all down my left side (shoulder, arm, elbow, arse, hip, thigh, knee, outer calf and ankle). Luckily, my delts are so buff that I my collar bone had a lot of protection.

Originally Posted by mazdaspeed

That sounds almost identical to my crash except I broke my collar bone for whatever reason (and it was on pavement not a track). The only part of the crash I remember was hitting my head on the ground. My memory comes back when I was on my feet swearing profusely.

Originally Posted by 531Aussie

Yep, it usually happens very quickly, hey! Bummer about the collar bone, but many guys say that's preferable to busting a wrist

Originally Posted by nzjohnm

You can definitely learn how to fall. Watch people in 'extreme' sports like snowboarding, wakeboarding or bmx and the pros can get up from something that you would never expect.

Originally Posted by Skewer

Since this is the road biking forum, why not watch pro road bike racers? Do pro road bike racers have any better success mitigating injuries than amatuers when they go down? Do pro road bike racers learn how to fall?

Originally Posted by nzjohnm

Of course they do as in general they have had alot more practice at falling off their bikes than amateurs. Mark88 showed that with the Giro crash earlier. An amateur (whilst not being able to get into that position) definitely would not be in a good condition after if they had put their hands out like has been discussed.