First Five Rides + a Fall - Turbo Turbo Tero 6.0 X

[California]

Below is what I wear, everytime I ride. I'm 65 years old, after putting a few thousand miles on my ebikes, I managed to fall a few times. I broke my ribs twice in 13 months when I fell on paved trails. I do not share the road with cars, but I admit to riding very aggressively. It stands to reason that wherever you ride, the more miles you accumulate, you will eventually fall, crash, or somebody will crash into you. Since I have worn my full gear below, I have fallen hard on mtb trails and paved trails a few times. I get up every time with nary a scratch, no bruises, no pain. It's worth it. Especially the elbow pads. When I fall on my elbows, I feel nothing, and they absorb all of the force of the impact.

Newbie here didn't realize these were options. I like the idea of elbow pads in particular.

 

[Tom@WashDC]

Newbie here didn't realize these were options. I like the idea of elbow pads in particular.

Elbow pads are essential. You can affirmatively use your elbow and forearm to break your fall with little chance of injury.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Elbow pads are essential. You can affirmatively use your elbow and forearm to break your fall with little chance of injury.

Not necessarily! The technique to avoid serious injuries on a bike crash is this:

• On the fall, hold the handlebar grips all the time
• Do not remove your feet from the pedals
• While falling, turn your body the way you fall on your back
• Wear the helmet

What happens is the big part of the impact is absorbed by the handlebar and pedal/crank, and the remaining energy will hit the wide area of your back. The back of your head will inevitably hit the pavement/ground but that's what we are wearing the helmet for. I had numerous crashes and falls and in almost any situation I was coming out with no injuries whatsoever. One of my e-bikes still has the mark of tar on the side of the handlebar grip when the bar hit warm soft Summer asphalt. A crank in another e-bike got bent on absorbing the impact.

The latest fall I had (and which turned out bad to me) occurred when my heavy e-bike was actually sent flying, and I had no time to turn my body during the accident. Funnily enough (not funny for me though!) neither my hand nor knee nor elbow were injured but my thigh and calf! (A similar accident happened to me earlier on black ice when the lightweight e-bike was already stationary - similar injuries plus my rib cage and the shoulder; the black ice crash is the fastest and the most unexpected fall of all of them!)

Wearing any kind of a body armour (including the full body armour) makes sense for mountain technical singletrack but not for the pavement or the light trail... YMMV.

 

[onlineaddy]

Ruts are common on mtb trails particularly after heavy rains. To avoid your front wheel from getting trapped, try to focus instead on coming at it at an angle. Riding parallel will cause you to sink and crash which might have occurred in the case of your fall.

This is essential. Same concept when riding around/across railroad tracks.

 

[Prairie Dog]

The latest fall I had (and which turned out bad to me) occurred when my heavy e-bike was actually sent flying, and I had no time to turn my body during the accident. Funnily enough (not funny for me though!) neither my hand nor knee nor elbow were injured but my thigh and calf! (A similar accident happened to me earlier on black ice when the lightweight e-bike was already stationary - similar injuries plus my rib cage and the shoulder; the black ice crash is the fastest and the most unexpected fall of all of them!)

Wearing any kind of a body armour (including the full body armour) makes sense for mountain technical singletrack but not for the pavement or the light trail... YMMV.

Good to know that you survived all of your crashes relatively unscathed Stefan. Unfortunately, for many that just isn’t the case. Falls can occur anywhere, anytime and the decision whether or not to don protective body protection is obviously a judgement call. I think it really depends on one’s riding experience, the ground conditions and how much self-confidence and courage one possesses particularly after experiencing a serious fall.

I agree that some form of protection is needed on technical mtb single tracks where there is a greater degree of an incident occurring but for someone who simply wants to get back on a bike after a traumatic fall, knee and elbow pads can certainly provide an extra level of assurance and even some motivation to take back one’s life and, in time, perhaps overcome the fear of riding that sketchy section of trail or road.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

While you are talking sense, Art, admit the full face helmet in the city does look out of place

 

[Tom@WashDC]

While you are talking sense, Art, admit the full face helmet in the city does look out of place

The color certainly looks out of place! I would have gone with a matching green/black helmet, or a matching red jacket and pants set.

 

[Prairie Dog]

While you are talking sense, Art, admit the full face helmet in the city does look out of place

I have to admit that it does look a bit strange in urban surroundings and would likely be more appropriate being worn on some gnarly DH trail plus you forgot the goggles to complete the MTB persona. That being said, I give you full marks for choosing to go hi vis rather than basic black which is what most would opt for.

 

[California]

Well it's been 3 weeks since the fall and my side still bugs me but I can at least move around and do most of everything. Not being mobile is a challenge. I did take the bike out for a 1/2 mile ride so I wouldn't be afraid to get back on it.

I went on a hike with a friend to the spot I fell. They said "yeah I wouldn't have ridden where you did" and it was the rut that made me fall over.

Lesson learned. Thanks for all the help.

 

[Jim in Central CA]

About a year and a half ago I was doing some slow-speed gravel riding. The gravel was a couple inches deep and my front wheel washed out as I tried to negotiate a rut, and I went straight to the ground. Thankfully, because I was going very slow I didn't grind along the ground. I landed on my left side with my arm tucked against my left ribs. Nothing broken (other than my pride) and no blood, but it knocked the wind out of me and I was quite sore for the next four to five weeks. I may have cracked a rib, and it hurt to laugh, cough or sneeze, but after a few weeks I was good as new. Hopefully your experience will be similar to mine and you will heal fully and completely.

 

[California]

Well it's 4 1/2 weeks later and I can happily say all the pain and weirdness is gone.
I'm ready to get back on the bike within the next few days.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[Kayakguy]

My first four rides on my new bike were very enjoyable. I didn't stretch myself too much as I am getting used to riding a traditional bike again. I rode both on dirt trails and pavement. I think having a mountain bike has really opened up where I can go and enjoy the ride without having to worry about being able to maneuver around an obstacle (which is quite hard with a very long wheel base on a recumbent and skinny tires).

I also thoroughly enjoy being able to go up very steep grades and not having to insanely exert myself to get to the top. The amount of battery is far more than I need, but I like having a ton of torque.

The drop seat has been helpful for getting the bike into a car, and I was surprised that despite the weight I didn't have any real trouble getting it into an electric sedan even with a several inch jump between the seats (the seats don't fold flat). The only challenge here is the front fender gets in the way and bends a bit, and I have already removed it.

Specialized is supposedly ordering me a thing where I can carry a bag on the back as I would like somewhere to carry a lock, a jacket, some food and whatever but nothing as large as the panniers they are promoting.

I have had my bike for about a month, and I somehow managed to fall off my bike already. After riding a recumbent road bike for 20+ years, I think I only managed to fall off once. In general I am cautious with sporting activities whether skiing (avoiding steep drop offs), hiking (avoiding scary cliff edges) or biking. So I am not sure what happened.

I went to an area with mountain biking trails and looked at the steeper sections but I was not comfortable with the road surfaces. I decided to be very cautious and just ride along on the flat trails in the park. The trail I chose was somewhere where the rangers road their trucks, and during the heavy rains of this year, a lot of grooves were present. I wasn't really sure where to ride and moved from spot to spot. The trail was flat but somehow I did manage to fall. I think I was going about 10 mph. I may have used my brakes a little, but I was not trying to stop.

I fell mostly on my right side, but impacted both arms, one leg and the core area. The first day the core area hurt a lot, but now it's mostly my right side in general. I conveniently had a big celebration to go to that evening with 3 doctors in attendance and they said it will take 6 weeks to heal.

The crash happened 6 days ago, and I am a bit cautious about returning to ride when I am more healed. I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts about what I did wrong or how to ride in this messy kind of stuff. Most of what I have found on the internet seems to be geared towards people who want to "mountain bike" whereas I want to ride on trails away from traffic and have no real interest in technical mountain biking other than to not fall down.

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Early on in your e biking career is the right time to fall. Once you gain more confidence, you won't fall (as often).
I'm with you on the avoidance of precipices, which is why I was never a good skier. I always regarded gravity as my enemy

 

[California]

Five weeks in I went on a real bike ride. Did 12 miles with 1,072 elevation gain.

I did only a few feet of dirt, I'll let that come in time... And the trail was quite busy as it is a weekend.

 

[Bob J 6.0]

I have been dropping the seat going downhill, but hadn't thought of using it in difficult terrain. I'm not sure I understand exactly what you are saying here. Brake a little and put more weight on your feet? I remember knowing that I was falling but I can't imagine in that brief second doing anything. Or is this how I should be riding?

I believe he was saying with a lower seat position, and the going gets "rough" in the lower position your feet will reach the ground in an instant.
Nothing like reaching for the ground and feeling nothing,,, Until you fall over that is.