Have you ever had a fall that dented your confidence?

[Gasmantle]

Hi all.

I'm a fairly new rider, I've had my first EUC about a month and about 3 weeks into riding it I thought I was getting the hang of things. All was great till I had that fall that lands you smack onto the tarmac, thankfully nothing was broken and I didn't need hospital but I sure as hell hurt for a week and decided on no more riding until I'd fully recovered.

A week went by and I kinda felt reasonably ok but a bit sore, however after a week off the wheel I'd lost my confidence and put off riding for a few more days, thankfully today I took one deep breath and decided to give it another go.

It turns out that a break from it has done me the world of good, after a few 100yds I felt much more relaxed and stable than I've ever felt, I can now control the wheel far more at slow speeds and turn in a much tighter radius.

Just need to get some protective gear now in case it happens again 

Edited May 28, 2019 by Gasmantle

[Olav]

Sure, I would think most people have that when learning to ride. It bruises your ego for a little while.

Unless you're injured its just to jump back onto the wheel and keep on riding.

Good to hear nothing broke! 

[kasenutty]

I overleaned a 14c 3 years ago and I'm still afraid 

[LanghamP]

Rather than thinking a fall pus a dent in your confidence, a better way is to look at EUCs being mildly dangerous creatures and therefore the distrust towards your wheel is entirely justifiable. However, once you've had your first few falls then you'll think a fall is not very bad, and while you'll almost certainly be injured, usually the injuries are mild. You are tougher than you thought.

[photorph]

What protective gear did you have on? An absolute must with EUC.  Here is mine.  I’m new still and I have gotten so comfortable that on my inmotion v8 I often want to skip gear, but I always try to dress for a fall just in case.  

Full face helmet: I have TSG Pass but you can use any downhill longboard or downhill mountain bike helmet.  Fox pro frame has excellent air flow.  If on budget try demon podium.

wrist guards: demon double sided flexmetee or triple 8 hired hands

upper body protection:  I have a Knox zephyr pro motorcycle jacket with abrasion and armor, I have a 100v MSX coming and at 30+ miles/hr not taking any chances.  But on my inmotion v8 I just wear good quality elbow pads that are CE rated.

lower body protection: leatt dual axis knee pads are the best.  You can wear those over tight jeans or under loose ones.  For jeans I recommend motorcycle jeans that have abrasion resistance and won’t tear.

shoes: high top shoes with a flat bottom and good grip should work.   I use vans high tops, but there definitely are more protective options out there.

Edited May 29, 2019 by photorph

[Werner]

Good to hear you are fine at all!

I fell also after a lean over at 20km/h from my S2, on both knees. God thanks it was only at the meadow, but i felt my swollen knees for a couple of weeks. 

So protect yourself and always keep standing.

Have a good journey. 

👍🏻🤗

 

[Blank]

1 hour ago, photorph said:

What protective gear did you have on? An absolute must with EUC.  Here is mine.  I’m new still and I have gotten so comfortable that on my inmotion v8 I often want to skip gear, but I always try to dress for a fall just in case.  

Full face helmet: I have TSG Pass but you can use any downhill longboard or downhill mountain bike helmet.  Fox pro frame has excellent air flow.  If on budget try demon podium.

wrist guards: demon double sided flexmetee or triple 8 hired hands

upper body protection:  I have a Knox zephyr pro motorcycle jacket with abrasion and armor, I have a 100v MSX coming and at 30+ miles/hr not taking any chances.  But on my inmotion v8 I just wear good quality elbow pads that are CE rated.

lower body protection: leatt dual axis knee pads are the best.  You can wear those over tight jeans or under loose ones.  For jeans I recommend motorcycle jeans that have abrasion resistance and won’t tear.

shoes: high top shoes with a flat bottom and good grip should work.   I use vans high tops, but there definitely are more protective options out there.

Just how small are the Leatt Dual Axis Knee pads? I. was considering getting them but they look quite bulky. Preferred kneepads that I can wear under some pants. 

[Dingfelder]

I had enough falls but much moreso simply failures to thrive that I switched to regular unicycles to learn the supposedly higher-level skill that would make this one fairly easy; upon which I crashed backward so hard repeatedly and with so much blood and scarring that I'm still good at neither.  

I have accepted that I may never be able to do either.  But I still want to try.  And I still will.  

Whether I succeed or not is an entirely different matter.

 

[photorph]

3 hours ago, Blank said:

Just how small are the Leatt Dual Axis Knee pads? I. was considering getting them but they look quite bulky. Preferred kneepads that I can wear under some pants. 

If you have thin legs and loose pants they can go under jeans.  They are less bulkier than typical knee pads (like triple 8, tsg, etc), but not as slim as something like g form elite.

so if you want some protection and want a minimalistic look, you can do G form elite under pants.  Make sure to get the elite series though as those are the only CE certified ones.

[Gasmantle]

Thanks guys 

I didn't have any protection on, I know it's foolish but I've only had my wheel a few weeks and have yet go around to buying any.

I really need to look into getting something.

[Smoother]

8 minutes ago, Gasmantle said:

I really need to look into getting something.

No. Don't look into it, do it.  I occasionally ride with no gear a few hundred yards out around the corner to see the sunset or something like that, and I feel naked without at least my wrist guards.  Pop into Halfords or "Go Outdoors" or some place like that and pick up an in line skating pad set.  It's a start and they aren't expensive.  Or you can have some stuff on your doorstep tomorrow from Amazon.  I still use the cheap inline skate pads I bought 2 and a half years ago, before I rode the wheel a single foot (upgraded wrist guards to Flexmeters 18 months later) They do a find job and cost around £15. You already know the consequences of not being protected, so what are you waiting for?

To answer your question.  YES, I've been thrown down the road enough times to respect the performance envelope of my riding environment (riding environment: the wheel the route, the surroundings and my skill set).  And by respect I mean ride more conservatively, because, like you , I don't like face surfing on asphalt . 

[Circuitmage]

Wait...you fell without any protective gear on? LOL.

I've done that before, so no...not a reason to affect confidence. Just a reminder that the pain was your fault.

Also, after about a year of riding...I was a bit too overconfident and ran into 2 cars one morning. Just another lesson for me...hasn't happened again.

And, if you DO get safety gear, don't go cheap. I was using some cheap knee pads that came with one of my wheels and the rivets inside the knee pads actually tore into both my knees when I fell. They probably needed stitches, but after about 6 weeks they healed. Now I have nice knee pads but only fallen once or twice on them. Feels much better.

Edited May 29, 2019 by Circuitmage

[LanghamP]

2 hours ago, Smoother said:

YES, I've been thrown down the road enough times to respect the performance envelope of my riding environment (riding environment: the wheel the route, the surroundings and my skill set).  And by respect I mean ride more conservatively, because, like you , I don't like face surfing on asphalt

The route and skill set may be underestimated, because the two worst crashes were dropping off a handicap ramp at an angle that I didn't notice, and going backwards. The backwards crash was awful, I had to crawl up steps for four or so days, and stupid things like standing from a chair (or toilet) seemed completely impossible.

However, I think most of the old hands separate casual riding versus sport riding, and while you wear little protection with the former, the later does require armor for the inevitable high speed crash.

[Smoother]

1 hour ago, Circuitmage said:

Wait...you fell without any protective gear on? LOL.

I've done that before, so no...not a reason to affect confidence. Just a reminder that the pain was your fault.

[eucinsea]

I just had my first wreck last week, as someone mentioned I did hop back on and ride the rest of the way home. I took a couple of days off and last night did a 10 mile ride around Seattle. I was talking to another forum member last night about it and he said (and I agree now) that wrecking helps to make you more confident in your wheel and riding. I know in my ride last night I wasn't as aggressive as I had been recently. That might have been because of the odd way I wrecked and making sure it didn't happen again or just being safer about it all.