How many doctor visits have you had?

[PCeBiker]

Another one who thinks it's better to learn how to crash... then it is to learn how not to crash.... smh.....

I'm all about not crashing now, but learning how to not crash requires me to practice emergency braking and testing the limits to see where they are.

I've got no problem dropping my e-bike at slow speed and I wanted to skid my front wheel to get a feel for it.
I locked up my front wheel at about 10 mph and managed to skid it on gravel a few times until I fell over.

I found out that I always seem to fall to the left, and once I started to fall, I couldn't let go of the brake because I was starting to go down and had to hold on.

Getting a feel for "falling over" lets me know how fast it falls and how heavy it starts to feel.

Building up my slow speed reflexes helps me to avoid a real crash.


I had a pickup truck purposely blow a stop sign and cut me off.
I managed to lock up my rear wheel, and I think I skidded the front wheel too, but my reflexes knew that I had to modulate the front front brake and not lock it up.


Then I swapped my left and right brake levers to make it like a motorcycle, so I had to practice emergency braking to retrain my brain.
I hammered my brakes over and over, locking the left brake lever, while modulating the right lever.

I still don't know what's gunna happen if I have to do a real emergency stop.

 

[jack sprat]

I'm all about not crashing now, but learning how to not crash requires me to practice emergency braking and testing the limits to see where they are.

I've got no problem dropping my e-bike at slow speed and I wanted to skid my front wheel to get a feel for it.
I locked up my front wheel at about 10 mph and managed to skid it on gravel a few times until I fell over.

I found out that I always seem to fall to the left, and once I started to fall, I couldn't let go of the brake because I was starting to go down and had to hold on.

Getting a feel for "falling over" lets me know how fast it falls and how heavy it starts to feel.

Building up my slow speed reflexes helps me to avoid a real crash.


I had a pickup truck purposely blow a stop sign and cut me off.
I managed to lock up my rear wheel, and I think I skidded the front wheel too, but my reflexes knew that I had to modulate the front front brake and not lock it up.


Then I swapped my left and right brake levers to make it like a motorcycle, so I had to practice emergency braking to retrain my brain.
I hammered my brakes over and over, locking the left brake lever, while modulating the right lever.

I still don't know what's gunna happen if I have to do a real emergency stop.

I really respect a guy with a well-thought-out plan. This may save you from a serious accident. You sound like a guy who knows his e-bike and knows how to ride.

 

[jack sprat]

I agree 100%
And it's not a conscious learning event.
It becomes instinct that just takes over.

I got so practiced at crashing head first that I actually turn my head to the side before impact so I don't smash my face.

My eyes pinch shut hard and my head turns sideways in a microsecond.

I actually haven't pulled off that trick in over 20 years now, but I'm sure that my "muscle memory" still remembers what to do.
Adrenaline can do some magical things.

I remember talking to a freind that crashed his bike and was airborne for 10-20 feet.
He said it felt like he had five minutes to decide how he was going to land.


I remember when I got my first ebike a few years ago, I cracked my shins Hard on the pedals almost a dozen times in the first month or so, but I haven't hit my shins since then.

I have no idea what I'm doing differently, but my shins are fine now.

You had me at crashing headfirst.

 

[indianajo]

Your parents probably wondered why they got the crazy kid

My Mother rode a bike until she got a driver's license when I was age 6. Until age 5 I rode in a seat over her front wheel, that my father built out of steel strap and masonite. Helmets were not invented yet. Child carriers & car seats were not invented yet. Plastic was not for sale yet, except melarmine dishes and bakelight radio cases. On the bike I had a steel bar wrapping me that I was supposed to hold on to, and a steel strap between my legs.
The 1966 crash over/under the pickup truck, I was supposed to propel myself to school events when the school did not provide a bus. There was no "Mom's Taxi". The district orchestra Saturday rehearsal was at a rival high school across I-10 from my own school.

 

[RunForTheHills]

My mother drove, but not at night and never on the freeway. She drove with one foot over the brake and the other on the accelerator. A yellow light meant the same as a red light to her. She was tail ended more than once slamming on her brakes at a light.

 

[jack sprat]

My Mother rode a bike until she got a driver's license when I was age 6. Until age 5 I rode in a seat over her front wheel, that my father built out of steel strap and masonite. Helmets were not invented yet. Child carriers & car seats were not invented yet. Plastic was not for sale yet, except melarmine dishes and bakelight radio cases. On the bike I had a steel bar wrapping me that I was supposed to hold on to, and a steel strap between my legs.
The 1966 crash over/under the pickup truck, I was supposed to propel myself to school events when the school did not provide a bus. There was no "Mom's Taxi". The district orchestra Saturday rehearsal was at a rival high school across I-10 from my own school.

Your dad was ahead of his time with the seat. The steel strap between your legs was questionable.

 

[LandoftheGiants]

Thankfully we lived close to the school and my mother walked me there the first day then I went with my older brother and sisters. Reading some of the posts above makes me glad I got to walk, I broke enough bones on my own just doing stupid things.

 

[jack sprat]

Thankfully we lived close to the school and my mother walked me there the first day then I went with my older brother and sisters. Reading some of the posts above makes me glad I got to walk, I broke enough bones on my own just doing stupid things.

 

[jack sprat]

Publicly admitting this is the first step to recovery. Welcome.

 

[MrClortho]

Another one who thinks it's better to learn how to crash... then it is to learn how not to crash.... smh.....

Riiiiiight...with enough preparation, training, and videos, one can prevent crashing a mountain bike and therefore should not need to know the best techniques on how to crash. Professional riders don't crash as they are the best in the world...hmmm.

Yes, that is heavy on the sarcasm and one should learn all they can to prevent a crash such as all the techniques from gear selections, braking, body position, speed, tire placement, etc. But, if you ride, you will crash and hopefully learn from it...and sometimes it just happens out of the blue. Its WHEN you crash and IF you freak out, you often get hurt.

 

[jack sprat]

Riiiiiight...with enough preparation, training, and videos, one can prevent crashing a mountain bike and therefore should not need to know the best techniques on how to crash. Professional riders don't crash as they are the best in the world...hmmm.

Yes, that is heavy on the sarcasm and one should learn all they can to prevent a crash such as all the techniques from gear selections, braking, body position, speed, tire placement, etc. But, if you ride, you will crash and hopefully learn from it...and sometimes it just happens out of the blue. Its WHEN you crash and IF you freak out, you often get hurt.

That makes sense to me

 

[Gionnirocket]

Riiiiiight...with enough preparation, training, and videos, one can prevent crashing a mountain bike and therefore should not need to know the best techniques on how to crash. Professional riders don't crash as they are the best in the world...hmmm.

Yes, that is heavy on the sarcasm and one should learn all they can to prevent a crash such as all the techniques from gear selections, braking, body position, speed, tire placement, etc. But, if you ride, you will crash and hopefully learn from it...and sometimes it just happens out of the blue. Its WHEN you crash and IF you freak out, you often get hurt.

Says the man with far too many accidents and multiple broken bones to the man with few and none respectively.
I'll stick to my plan, understanding my bikes limits and more importantly, my own.. especially as I age and they decline.
ymmv