On 8/4/07, David Mann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > OTOH it wouldn't surprise me that riders at that level have crashed > enough that they know how to react (or have even been advised/ > trained). This is generally the case in offroad disciplines > (mountain biking, urban, BMX). Riders doing the big stuff always say > that it's best to "ragdoll" as trying to control your tumbling will > only result in a greater degree of injury. > > Another very common biking injury is broken collarbones, which often > happens when a rider can't react fast enough and lands on their > shoulder (this happened at least once in last years olympics). It > can also occur when they do react in time but put their arm out at > full stretch, which transmits the impact force straight from wrist to > collarbone.
I've separated one shoulder, broken the collarbone of the other. I can attest to the fact that the shoulders of a cyclist (at least a road cyclist) are most vulnerable. I know that I've never been taught how to fall, but for some reason, I've always "naturally" rolled as I've fallen, and don't seem to have the urge to stick my arm out. Most times that's served me well; I suspect that the speed I was travelling in the above incidents caused the injury in that I couldn't roll fast enough. Still, I suspect that injuries to my wrist, elbow, arm could have been much more severe than what I ended up suffering. It does rather look like the Tour de France riders in the video knew how to fall. They came off pretty well, all things considered. cheers, frank -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
