so you know you are gonna fall, now what?... (Page 2)

I was a soccer goalie - trust me, I *know* how to fall! That said, I was riding my mtn bike along a straight, smooth dirt road, did something stupid, and landed with my front wheel turned. 20 to zero in an instant. Over the handlebars I went. I remember very clearly flying through the air, my arms going faster than my body so coming into my vision and in front of me, and thinking, "Whoa, that is SUCH a cool feeling!" I was so focused on that, I never prepared for the landing! Fortunately, I was so relaxed and chill from checking out my cool body mechanics in flight that when I did hit, it was a pretty smooth tuck and roll. Gouged my elbow to the bone and the helmet was toast, but no other lasting damage (unless you count scars/lesions on my brain, but that's another story).

Anywho, that story didn't help you learn to fall at all. Mostly, practice. Sounds weird, but do it. When learning to ride horses, there comes a point where you spend some time learning how to fall. You are going to come off eventually, so you need to do it safely. Same thing with the bike - go to a super soft area, wear long sleeves and pants that can get filthy, and start out at slow speeds. Trust me, it will help a LOT when you need it!

I had a nice spill last night, my buddy told me it was about an 8.. lol.  I am someone who stuck their arm out during a fall when I first got my mountain bike a few years ago and dislocated my shoulder (thankfully no tears).  You've got to keep it in your head to roll on your shoulder/to back/butt.  I was a gymnast and springboard diver when I was young so this is a bit easier, but I have gone over the handlebars quite a bit while agressively learning to bike on tougher terrain. 

I crashed my bike about 50 yards into a sprint tri two weeks ago. I had a good swim (750m in 15:21) so i deciced to hammer the bike since it is my best event (or was). While standing up trying to pick up speed fast, my right cleat came out of my pedal and I jammed my calf into my big chainring putting 11 holes in my leg, all nicely spaced, and one requiring two stitches. This also caused me to tear my achilles tendon where it attaches to my calf. When all that happened, it caused me to fall forward onto the handlebars bruising my ribs on the left side and this caused me to hit my FRONT brakes, sending me over the handlebars landing on the pavement with my right shoulder (road rash). This all happened so fast I didn't have time to think about anything! The only thing I do remember was while slidding on my right shoulder I was thinking, "This Hurts!". I learned two things that day:
1) Make sure my cleat is clipped in good
2) 53 year old men don't bounce good!

You got to know how to fall down well, I have 31 years of regular high-speed practice.

I have saved my bike and my more important bits and pieces on two good wrecks by throwing my arm out, but that is not always the case. I hit a railroad crossing a year ago doing about 30 per my Garmin and had I not thrown my hand down I would have broken something for sure, unfortunately I was not wearing gloves and lost a good chunk of flesh from my palm, but again I am good at falling down.

Another time I caught a telephone pole that kept me from going into a stop sign sideways as I hit some wet painted asphalt as I accelerated to catch my group after dumping my chain during the first mile of the ride. I bruised the crap out of my bicep and got some cuts from old staples in the pole, but neither my bike nor my important parts were damaged, and I rode home on my bike vice in pieces.