Crashing is generally a part of learning on a bike – whether that's a little off caused by a stupid mistake or a big off from stuffing a drop. Yes they get less common with experience, but sooner or later everyone stuffs up.

Some may think that worrying about falling off is a negative thing, but perhaps learning to fall off could twist that into a positive – for instance when I do mess up I generally land with a bump whereas Mrs P did a lot of gymnastics in her youth and automatically breaks her fall. The result is that she doesn't get injured so will go back and try again without that mental block.

Similarly when you see the fancy YouTube vids the guys getting the big air seem to be able to bail out and walk away from potentially bigger crashes than most of us will ever face.

So is there some benefit in spending some time down at a gymnastics/marshall arts type class learning how to tumble when we hit the ground? Surely it's like learning to use cadence braking in a car – a skill you hope not to use but when that you hope will kick in when it's needed?

Personally, I'd rather learn how NOT to crash, but each to their own I guess….

😉

YES. I do aikido which is a martial art that involves a lot or rolling and break falls. I think it helps me no end. It's also a big plus with balance and focus.

The wife studied it as well for a while and even though she no longer trains, she can still impress people whith her ability to come off at speed without injury. The last one, people actually said it looked like she picked her spot to land on and just rolled into it seamlessly. Wish I'd seen that one.

It's no0t going to make you invincable but it doea help. It gets you past that instict to try and stop yourself as quickly as possible by putting arms out and the like. It also means I can mess up on my snowboard and 9 times out of 10, right my self and carry on riding in one smooth motion. (would be better if I didn't crash on the 'board so much though).

I did judo as a kid decades ago – you learn to breakfall and it is still with me now in that when I fall I tend to roll not go splat.

bailing out is a bit different. You need to realise its going wrong and make a decision to pick your landing and get rid of the bike. Breakfall is reflexes / muscle memory

Tuck and roll. I'm sure with a bit of cross training in martial arts it'll come more naturally.
I do it instinctively cos I fell off A LOT in the early days, just riding like a loon (and being crap, of course)

my bike showed me how to crash last night. got the grazes to prove it!

you just need to go around an off camber turn with loose gravel!

crashing is part of the sport sometimes.
rolling out of stacks is the best way. or slow speed high ladder bails do the parachute roll 🙂

crashing is def a skill, but there's little point in doing a martial art.

just slam on your front brake! you'll get it soon enough. 😉
or when jumping, stop worrying about your pride and joy, if it's going whong, fling the **** thing while you are still upright!

fact. high5 gw!

Its definitely not as daft as it sounds. I used to hurt myself crashing all the time, even fairly innocuous falls lefted me badly bruised. These days I crash less often but when I know I'm going I go with the crash rather then fighting against it and if possible try and part company with the bike.

Body armour helps as well!

High 5, Jedi 😀

When you up again? my memory's buggered!

I have found there is a positive correlation between my confidence and injury/crashes! Guess I just need to let my skills catch up to my confidence!

I'm with BezB, Tuck and roll every time! I'd go as far as saying I'm awsome at falling off! 😆 Not something to be proud of 😆

Re: big bails – ditch the bike. It's far less likely to break when it hits the ground under its own weight, rather than its own weight plus 12 stone of bloke (and you're less likely to get hurt hitting the ground and rolling than hitting the ground tangled in 30 pounds of metal and sharp bits)!

I definitely think some people crash 'better' than others. If it's down to training or experience I do not know. I did martial arts for nigh on 15 years and did lots of 'mucking about' as a kid. When I crash I tend to be able to get up from it, I find myself rolling out of things. In saying that I haven't crashed in a long time but I don't know if that's skill or I'm not pushing myself.
Well that's me scuppered. I'm due a big fall this weekend. 😀

another vote for learning to break fall. i haven't been to a ju-jitsu session for about ten years but its drilled into second nature now.

plus I think some people are just built tougher than others. I know riders who seem constantly injured/broken from not particulary heavy crashes. Others will walk away from absolute bangers.

A hell of a lot of spills can be avoided by just keeping the head up and riding through – on a beginner level anyway. As you get more experienced you realise that what you would once have taken as a sign that you need to bail-out is not nearly as serious as it felt back then. So, whilst I do agree that a tuck and roll will very often save a lot of pain, these days it just doesn't seem to happen.

Having said all of that, I must confess that a few years ago I was cocking about in the car park and did end up deciding to roll out of the silly situation I found myself in… but I misjudged the roll and clipped by shoulder blade on the way over. Separated shoulder – ouch. So – if you go for the roll, do it big style or not at all!

As glenp pointed out, if you've time to think through how your going to react in the crash you've probably got time to sort it out and avoid the crash. Half the crashes you see with beginners tend to be in situations where they're trying to bail out (riding a difficult section with one foot scooting allong the ground for eg) and as a result tend to mess up.

Most of the big bail outs you see on videos tend to be off jumps, which are easy (relatively) to bail on as you just kick the bike away and try and land on your feet taking most of the energy before sliding downt he transition.

I'm no saint and do have plenty of bad habits, but an easy one to get out of was thinking about crashing, simply swapped to flats, and voilla, no need to ride difficult sections constantly planning how I wass going to get off the bike if I had to. I can now ride the same sections just as quick on spd's but after theyve failed me once they still give me the heebie jebies soemtimes.

if your riding a section expecting to crash, you blew it…

I do boxing. Doesn't really help you learn how to tuck and roll or break your fall or anything. Definitely helps you MTFU, which I think is probably more important.

However, I am still young enough to bounce most of the time.

I crashed last night. Excellent tuck & roll technique … straight through a patch of nettles …

I'd rather have used my chin as a brake TBH.

*scratches*

However, I am still young enough to bounce most of the time

I used to be that way 🙁

I seem to be quite natural at falling off safely. One time I went straight over the bars into a forward roll, pushed the bike away from me with my feet whilst upside down, rolled to my feet and began running, picked up the bike from next to me and jumped back on. Aboslutely perfect, not even a scratch.

Other times I've sensed disaster and been able to bail out before any damage has occurred.

Kev

I seem to be quite natural at falling off safely. One time I went straight over the bars into a forward roll, pushed the bike away from me with my feet whilst upside down, rolled to my feet and began running, picked up the bike from next to me and jumped back on. Aboslutely perfect, not even a scratch.

Are you from Yorkshire?

no, a different shire.

I've got the tuck and roll thing down pat from mountain unicycling. It works great there, as you're free of the unicycle the moment you fall, but unless you're doing big jumps, or you fall down a mountainside, I can't see how it helps in bike falls, as you're tangled up in the bike.

Or at least the sort I have, where I tend to fall to the side, and land still on the bike. I guess if you're over the bars it could help, I don't really do any big enough drops to have to worry too much about that yet.

Joe

stolen from another thread but a prime example of how not too crash. he doesnt even seem to realise until its way to late….