Which part hits the ground first?

ragnor

Active member
Apr 23, 2020
115
220
U.K.
Being an extremely old git and a total wuss I tend to bimble along and try not to fall off. Due to total incompetence however I managed a total splat. Knee and elbow now not happy and daily dressings are required:mad:. New MIPS helmet didn’t get a scratch!

So which parts do you find normally hit the dirt first and how’s the recovery going?
 

Mikerb

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 16, 2019
6,105
4,636
Weymouth
Sometimes you get some warning before a fall....it maybe short but time enough to react. Other times it is sudden in which case only auto reactions work. In either case best case scenario is to tuck and roll..............as opposed to sticking out hands/arms or face planting.
So if all goes to plan you fall on your side..........sadly a more natural reaction is to stick our a defensive arm but that just leads to broken wrists and collar bones!
Apart from your head, which should be fairly well protected in a decent helmet, more so in a full face helmet, the most vulnerable part of your body for serious injury is your spine so whilst knee, elbow, shoulder, hip pads, can reduce impact damage the most important bit of body armour is a back protector.

My last crash was with a tree! Broken ribs and some lung damage as a result. Impact was partially on my back protector but also my side and no ar mour provides much in the way of protection for the ribs if you hit an immoveable object! 95% repaired now after 4 weeks but it was purgatory for 2 weeks of that.
 

Tim1023

Well-known member
Aug 25, 2020
637
555
Hamburg, Germany
I took a couple of colleagues for an MTB experience day a few years back. One of them was a big fella. Really big, tall and carrying plenty of extra padding. He handled all the interesting bits no problem at all. I was actually pretty impressed. Then on a flat piece, he was fiddling with his camera on his bar when his wheel hit a stone. Bike veered off to the left, he kept going. With all his weight, he landed on his shoulder. Really buggered it up. Has had several operations and still has problems raising his arm above shoulder level. His girlfriend hasn't forgiven me for taking him.
 

KnollyBro

E*POWAH Elite
Dec 3, 2020
855
2,074
Vancouver
Sometimes you get some warning before a fall....it maybe short but time enough to react. Other times it is sudden in which case only auto reactions work. In either case best case scenario is to tuck and roll..............as opposed to sticking out hands/arms or face planting.
So if all goes to plan you fall on your side..........sadly a more natural reaction is to stick our a defensive arm but that just leads to broken wrists and collar bones!
Apart from your head, which should be fairly well protected in a decent helmet, more so in a full face helmet, the most vulnerable part of your body for serious injury is your spine so whilst knee, elbow, shoulder, hip pads, can reduce impact damage the most important bit of body armour is a back protector.

My last crash was with a tree! Broken ribs and some lung damage as a result. Impact was partially on my back protector but also my side and no ar mour provides much in the way of protection for the ribs if you hit an immoveable object! 95% repaired now after 4 weeks but it was purgatory for 2 weeks of that.

I try to aim for my elbows (*edited... in a tucked/crash position, against my chest to protect my ribs and try to roll) as my wrists are already wrecked. I wear POC elbows with hard plastic on them for this reason. Hope for a break (or a scratch) as soft tissue damage takes way longer to heal from. Speed + Height = risk/fun

My Worse Ever Injury was a fractured calcaneus bone (*edited... from thinking I could land on my feet)

foot.jpg
 
Last edited:

Landy Andy

Active member
Feb 8, 2021
191
190
Herts
defensive arm but that just leads to broken wrists and collar bones!

I thought the broken collar bone was done by landing on your side/shoulder forcing it in to your ear, not due to hand/arm out in front of you.

I don’t ride hard enough to have practiced this, so didn’t know.
 

ilostmypassword

Active member
Apr 5, 2022
394
420
New Zealand
Last week I was lifting a 8KG object and twisted. Rooted my lower back real good. My new eBike is now finally here and I can't ride it. Now that sucks!
 
Last edited:

Rusty

E*POWAH BOSS
Jul 17, 2019
1,513
1,673
New Zealand
@ragnor Also being an old git that has had moe injuries riding MTB socially that I did as a Pro MXer and test rider, I try with all my skill luck to have my tires as the first part to hit the ground. Failing that, my feet.
Have tried hand, elbow, knee, backside, head and back - and broken all of those I really do prefer tires or feet.
 

Stihldog

Handheld Power Tool
Subscriber
Jun 10, 2020
2,894
4,085
Coquitlam, BC
Thank goodness for helmets,(I’m alive). Thank goodness for eye protection, (I can see). All the other PPE depends on where or how I’m riding.
I think everyone try’s to balance fun vs risk. Even a moment of zero gravity whilst going OTB can be fun…for a moment. 😉
 

2WheelsNot4

E*POWAH Master
Oct 17, 2021
889
686
Scotland
I've had a number of offs over the years and for the most part luck has stuck with me and I've landed on my head.
Outwith that i favour the right side, elbow cheese grating down the road
 

B1rdie

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Subscriber
Feb 14, 2019
829
1,031
Brazil
Foot first whenever its possible, then knees and hips, if rolling sideways is possible. Using the elbows to take the first hit and then bringing them close to the chest to protect the ribs while rolling.
If going otb I use the arms only as a gauge to know the moment to tuck, chin to chest and roll to the font.
 

JetSetDemo

🍦Two Scoops🍦
Patreon
Apr 1, 2018
408
572
Ashby de la Zouch
defensive arm but that just leads to broken wrists and collar bones!

I thought the broken collar bone was done by landing on your side/shoulder forcing it in to your ear, not due to hand/arm out in front of you.

I don’t ride hard enough to have practiced this, so didn’t know.

Correct that’s how I broke mine last year, slid out on a berm at llangdegla it was so fast I just went down on my right side

9BBAD46D-2670-4750-A9A6-37BDA7CE3253.jpeg
 

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
8,362
8,590
Lincolnshire, UK
My most frequent injuries are to my shoulders. Not from direct impact but from my elbow or forearm hitting the ground and jolting the shoulder joint. I always wear elbow guards now, following a fall at speed onto gravel. :eek:

My next frequent injury has been to my ribs. When I fall onto my side, I often end up with my guarded elbow next to my ribs which then get sprained by the impact with the guard. Haven't broken one yet though, thankfully - sprains are bad enough.

The injury that has had the most long-lasting effect was to my left knee. I was riding down a zig-zag trail as fast as I could (edit: no knee guards). I was testing tyres to see which one cornered best. I was cornering as hard as I dared when a smooth stone was ripped out of the trail by my front wheel. I went down and my left knee hit the ground. It seems that I chipped the knee cap. The chip was later incorporated back into the knee cap but not as it was. Now when I kneel on a hard surface my left knee cap is pushed upwards, which is uncomfortable and best avoided. In addition, my left knee joint will not bend as far anymore, so I can't squat or sit on my heels without considerable discomfort.

I have broken every helmet I have ever had except the two I own now. No concussions yet, so they work!
 
Last edited:

Daev

E*POWAH Master
Jan 15, 2022
249
289
Cornwall
As long as i manage to get my body to cushion the bike i'm happy ( 61!!)
Thought i was in for a broken neck last week but managed to shift weight to land on the right side - heart rate 250bpm 😱
 

Doug Stampfer

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2018
736
751
NZ
My main injury is the thumb joint as it's the last thing left on the bike & has all the weight of my body yanking it off the bar.
 

Choppersquad

Member
Nov 10, 2021
199
84
Leatherhead
A couple of years ago I caught a peddle on a root down the really stoney bit of the old Summer Lightning. I didn't even have a chance to let go of my bars before my face hit the floor. That hurt quite a bit but nothing a bit of superglue at A&E couldn't fix....so for me it's my face that hits first.
 

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
8,362
8,590
Lincolnshire, UK
I was descending Jacob's Ladder in the Peak District. (It's a steep rocky trail, with a big drop to the left). I was on a Norco Sight 1 26er mtb.

I didn't like the look of one section that lay ahead, so I went as high as I could up the left side to get past it. I'm no good with heights but I still couldn't help but look at the drop. My subconscious screamed "NOOOOOOO!" and I involuntarily eased the bars away from the drop. My bike shot over to the right, my front wheel hit a large boulder and I did a full superman over the bars. I sure as hell did not want to land flat or on my head, so I tucked in an attempt at a forward roll. To my absolute astonishment, I completed the roll and ended up standing upright, very much like those gymnasts that do an impossibly difficult dismount from the parallel bars and land on their feet without swaying. I stood there waiting for the pain to begin, but nothing, not even from my shoulders that had taken the brunt of the impact. :)

Then I took off running to catch my bike that was still bouncing end over end down the trail! :eek:

When I caught up with it, there was not a mark on it! Amazing!" :D
 

EMTB Forums

Since 2018

The World's largest electric mountain bike community.

518K
Messages
25,448
Members
Join Our Community

Latest articles


Top