Why did I fall?

jrby

I was at the Gap on Sunday with my sons and they persuaded me to go down Sacred Stone (its easy Daddy, just roll the first drop). I normally just do Easy Rider and Tickedybo and down through Afterburner (bar the one drop) and happy out doing those.

In any event, went over the handlebars on the first drop at sacred stone and now have a fractured rib. The most annoying thing is I'm not sure why. Think it was because I pulled too hard on the front brake as the front wheel hit the bottom and perhaps combined with centre of gravity too far forward?

just wondering if anyone has any thoughts?

Lemming

jrby wrote: »

I was at the Gap on Sunday with my sons and they persuaded me to go down Sacred Stone (its easy Daddy, just roll the first drop). I normally just do Easy Rider and Tickedybo and down through Afterburner (bar the one drop) and happy out doing those.

In any event, went over the handlebars on the first drop at sacred stone and now have a fractured rib. The most annoying thing is I'm not sure why. Think it was because I pulled too hard on the front brake as the front wheel hit the bottom and perhaps combined with centre of gravity too far forward?

just wondering if anyone has any thoughts?

If by 'first drop' you are referring to the very top of the trail (i.e. starting off from the highest entry point, of two, from the road); yes it's very roll-able. But like most other roll-able drop you will ever encounter braking mid-commit is not a sensible thing to do because you are now trying to stop whilst gravity & forward momentum are competing against it. So in that regard I think you have answered your own question.

The simple and single most fundamentally important bit of advice here is to stay off the brakes until both wheels have cleared the feature, unless you are adept at gracefully bailing over the front handlebars like a parkour champ.

The more nuanced advice is to also stay centered on the bike, stay a little lower into the bike if you must (it's not Val De Sole levels of steep so no need to be hugging the frame either ... ) and let the bike move around you. If you were watch a video of yourself doing the drop in, your torso would simply stay in the same position and your forearms and bike would do the moving.

That particular drop is easy to migrate from roll to drop as it's small, quite forgiving and your bikes suspension will eat it up for you. If you are not confident of that, just roll it until it clicks in your mind that you can go off it the same way you might do some of the step-downs on witches cauldron for example; i.e. straight off the top, staying level and letting the bike do the work.

jrby

Thanks, that's what I thought. Still getting used to MTB and trying to keep somewhat up with the kids but hard to do that when they're on the bikes all day and I'm in the office.

I don't bounce anymore either but really enjoying the spins out with them and a nice change from the road bike.

Lemming

jrby wrote: »

Thanks, that's what I thought. Still getting used to MTB and trying to keep somewhat up with the kids but hard to do that when they're on the bikes all day and I'm in the office.

I don't bounce anymore either but really enjoying the spins out with them and a nice change from the road bike.

Just take your time with it and if you are not comfortable doing something then either don't or start small and work your way up to bigger features; "Go big or go home" is for 18 year old bodies made of rubber with no fear and experience of what pain feels like.

fatbhoy

jrby wrote: »

I was at the Gap on Sunday with my sons and they persuaded me to go down Sacred Stone (its easy Daddy, just roll the first drop). I normally just do Easy Rider and Tickedybo and down through Afterburner (bar the one drop) and happy out doing those.

In any event, went over the handlebars on the first drop at sacred stone and now have a fractured rib. The most annoying thing is I'm not sure why. Think it was because I pulled too hard on the front brake as the front wheel hit the bottom and perhaps combined with centre of gravity too far forward?

just wondering if anyone has any thoughts?

Is this a wind-up? :pac:

Tenzor07

jrby wrote: »

Why did I fall?

Answer: Lack of experience.

Don't think MTB'ing has been as popular as of late, tonnes of people out on the trails and hills many for the first time..

It's good to watch some videos on the basics, and watch how others use the trails so you can see how best to make your way around the features in the bike park:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5hLSHX_mw4

comanche_cor

Sounds like along with the fractured rib, you got a bruised ego thrown into the mix! Its the worst injury of all!!

I think as we are younger we are more included to jump back up and try it again, nail it, move on and forget. Its a learning process that we don't even notice when younger. When we get older the 'risk' element of adventure sports tends to dent our egos more and more as we think of what could have happened when something goes wrong. I know, I've been that solider!

It seems like something that you could roll normally, so it sounds like it was a once off. So don't beat yourself up, move on and give it a lash again. Build the confidence up on something else and come back to it.

Try not to make a big deal of it ... we are all learning all the time

jrby

Got back up and finished the run and then back down afterburner. A bit of bruised ego but more so because I'm not sure why, thought i had good body position and didn't think I pulled too hard on the brakes, only assuming that was it....

Won't be deterred (although will be taking a break this weekend)

fatbhoy

jrby wrote: »

Got back up and finished the run and then back down afterburner. A bit of bruised ego but more so because I'm not sure why, thought i had good body position and didn't think I pulled too hard on the brakes, only assuming that was it....

Won't be deterred (although will be taking a break this weekend)

Seriously, what did you pull the front brake for? Going off a drop: take it fast, don't go near the brakes, weight back as your front wheel is about to hit the edge, then when you're back landed on two wheels maybe touch the brakes then if there's a turn or something.

jrby

Not sure I did, it's the only thing i can think off that would cause me to go over. The guys were going slow in front so was just keeping pace with them. In any event, no major damage done.

maddness

jrby wrote: »

Not sure I did, it's the only thing i can think off that would cause me to go over. The guys were going slow in front so was just keeping pace with them. In any event, no major damage done.

There are plenty of good YouTube videos on beginner advice and it sounds like they might be worth watching.
Essentially going over an drop you should have your weight as far back as you can.

prunudo

comanche_cor wrote: »

Sounds like along with the fractured rib, you got a bruised ego thrown into the mix! Its the worst injury of all!!

I think as we are younger we are more included to jump back up and try it again, nail it, move on and forget. Its a learning process that we don't even notice when younger. When we get older the 'risk' element of adventure sports tends to dent our egos more and more as we think of what could have happened when something goes wrong. I know, I've been that solider!

It seems like something that you could roll normally, so it sounds like it was a once off. So don't beat yourself up, move on and give it a lash again. Build the confidence up on something else and come back to it.

Try not to make a big deal of it ... we are all learning all the time

And worst of all, it leads to lack of confidence (something I'm struggling with myself) which, as years pass, is almost harder to overcome than the physical injuries.

steamsey

Four things come to mind:

Pulling the front brakes over a feature as already mentioned. Never a good idea. Commit. Control the speed before the drop in

Front travel / weight over the front - no idea what travel you have up front, or how your forks are set up but small travel, and/or insufficient PSI could mean they completely compressed, throwing your weight forward. Or maybe the rebound damping is too low and it kicked you off? Or maybe the forks are fine but your weight was just too far forward.

Tyres. Any chance you lost the front wheel because of a worn tyre or low PSI?

Speed - been a few months since I was the GAP so I can't picture the drop in exactly, but often a bit more speed can help launch off a feature so you're not slowly rolling over it which makes it harder to keep the weight back. Going slower is sometimes not as safe as it can seem.

covey123

On a similar note," why did I almost fall!"
Going back a bit,but on my last trip to BPI when heading down the Red Jumps trail,I found that I was almost going over the bars just after getting some air,has bugged me ever since!Obviously a body position issue, but could anyone describe how best jumps should be hit? Lean back or just keep body in more of a vertical position on take off?

Peter T

I had similar before, bit of playing around with my rear shocks rebound helped a lot