Affirming That Safety Gear Works

[Marty Backe 32,039]

Video courtesy of @Yellowman

During Day 3 of the 7-Day Southern California EUC tour I face-planted on a trail in Griffith Park. It was night and I didn't see the large rock in my path. The wheel stopped but I didn't.

My knee pads, elbow pads, and wristguards came into play. The Flexmeter skid plate on my right hand was ripped off and I could feel that my elbows and knees hit hard. Absolutely nothing happened to me. After a couple of minutes we continued riding.

Just reaffirming the advantages to wearing protection while riding.

[Mmhmmm 43]

Great post! I'm glad you are safe.. When riding for sport, you might as well have the best protection available, right?

[Mark Lee 1,013]

There's no video of my wipeouts... It never happened,  it never happened.  I keep repeating to myself... But it still hurts LOL.

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love 11,458]

Smart riders gear up.    The others we refer to them as “scar addicts” and “over-enthusiastic skin donors!”

[stephen 3,761]

 ooooh 

The video looked like you hit the floor hard and fast compared to the speed you was going 😬

Glad your ok mate 👍 and thanks for the post and to remind everyone it happens to us all sometime😬😬

Saftey gear did it's job 

Again,,, glad your Ok👍 

[Marty Backe 32,039]

42 minutes ago, stephen said:

 ooooh 

The video looked like you hit the floor hard and fast compared to the speed you was going 😬

Glad your ok mate 👍 and thanks for the post and to remind everyone it happens to us all sometime😬😬

Saftey gear did it's job 

Again,,, glad your Ok👍 

Thanks 

It seems that when you are blindsided (no anticipation) you fall hard and fast - no chance of running it off. The fact that my skid plate was ripped off told me it was a hard impact.

So far I've been doing good always wearing my knee pads and wristguards.

Edited October 30, 2019 by Marty Backe

[Mono 3,123]

2 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

It seems that when you are blindsided (no anticipation) you fall hard and fast - no chance of running it off.

There must be a secret though, as for some reason I seem to have stopped falling in these kind of situations.

A solution: if anticipation helps, one could ride in continuous anticipation, always in the position as if one would hit a rock in the very next second.

[Mark Lee 1,013]

22 minutes ago, Mono said:

There must be a secret though, as for some reason I seem to have stopped falling in these kind of situations.

A solution: if anticipation helps, one could ride in continuous anticipation, always in the position as if one would hit a rock in the very next second.

To be fair by the time Marty went down it was end of our Day 3 ride.  Our legs were on auto mode.  Most of us sorta had feelings below our knees.  Marty was on Tesla skinny tire, would it made a difference on 3 inch tire?  IDK I don't think anyone else went down on 3 inch tires on that ride.  It's combination of situations we just can't cross all the T's dot all the I's.  WEAR YOUR PROTECTIONS...

[/Dev/Null 110]

Glad you are ok @Marty Backe.  Since I've started @Stadler has repeatedly stressed safety gear.  I now ride with chest protector, full face helmet, knee/shin guards, wrist guards (elbow/knee didn't look sufficient for my use in this pack).  I still limit myself to 30km/max on my inmotion V10 and average typically 16-20km/h.  

Thank you for posting this topic.

[Mono 3,123]

55 minutes ago, Mark Lee said:

To be fair by the time Marty went down it was end of our Day 3 ride.  Our legs were on auto mode.  Most of us sorta had feelings below our knees.  Marty was on Tesla skinny tire, would it made a difference on 3 inch tire?

I don't think the tire makes a decisive difference, but being tired very likely does 

[Marty Backe 32,039]

5 hours ago, Mono said:

There must be a secret though, as for some reason I seem to have stopped falling in these kind of situations.

A solution: if anticipation helps, one could ride in continuous anticipation, always in the position as if one would hit a rock in the very next second.

Yes, of course that would greatly help. But that's like saying "always live in a state of mindfulness". It's just not possible. The mind wonders.

I'm happy for you that you never fall. Life must be wonderful 

[jonm42 110]

It also wanders.

[Mono 3,123]

16 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

Yes, of course that would greatly help. But that's like saying "always live in a state of mindfulness". It's just not possible.

How do you know?

17 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

I'm happy for you that you never fall. Life must be wonderful 

Turns out, life is in particular wonderful in the state of mindfulness 

[Mike Sacristan 2,703]

Wow Marty... that was quite a fall and that's pretty much how it goes.
Instant teleportation to the ground.
Glad to hear you didn't get hurt!

[Mono 3,123]

3 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

Yes, of course that would greatly help. But that's like saying "always live in a state of mindfulness". It's just not possible. The mind wonders.

I'm happy for you that you never fall. Life must be wonderful 

But in all seriousness: I am interested in ways to make riding safer by better understanding riding technique and mechanisms that lead to falls. This thread looked like a possible opportunity to widen this understanding. The response leaves me with the impression that you don't really care or don't see any real value in this. That's also fine, I will stay away.

[Marty Backe 32,039]

1 hour ago, Mono said:

But in all seriousness: I am interested in ways to make riding safer by better understanding riding technique and mechanisms that lead to falls. This thread looked like a possible opportunity to widen this understanding. The response leaves me with the impression that you don't really care or don't see any real value in this. That's also fine, I will stay away.

The wheel hit a rock. The wheel stopped. I continued. I really don't see what's to learn other than to wear protective gear. I'm not interested in any discussion here that doesn't focus on safety gear. I know that you're not an advocate of safety gear so we are diametrically opposed in our views of safety. Others can decide who has the better perspective.

How to fall or how to avoid rocks is of little practical use IMHO.

[Mono 3,123]

8 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

How to fall or how to avoid rocks is of little practical use IMHO.

RIght, and none of these was or is the point of my interest.

Anyways, my feeling was right:

8 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

I really don't see what's to learn other than to wear protective gear.

 

[giggidditygiggiddity 31]

Before I take my first ride of the day, take a moment and kneel to the asphalt still asleep and feel its texture and whisper..."not today..o gawd o holy ev ghost, not today...".

[RockyTop 2,545]

37 minutes ago, giggidditygiggiddity said:

Before I take my first ride of the day, take a moment and kneel to the asphalt still asleep and feel its texture and whisper..."not today..o gawd o holy ev ghost, not today...".

I think I am allergic to asphalt. It always gives me a rash. 

True story. I have less scares now than when I stared riding an EUC. My last crash kinda removed an old motorcycle scar. The old elbow scar stuck out quite a bit. The new scar is in the same place, smaller and less noticeable. For the record I had a motorcycle jacket on in both crashes. You can get road rash through an undamaged jacket if you try hard enough.  ..... So elbow pads would be a good thing.    ...... OK ! .....OK! ... I need to change my name to   "Crash test DUMMY"

Edited November 12, 2019 by RockyTop

[atdlzpae 476]

On 10/30/2019 at 12:15 PM, Mono said:

There must be a secret though, as for some reason I seem to have stopped falling in these kind of situations.

The universe is just waiting for you to get complacent... AND THEN KABOOM!!!

On 10/31/2019 at 1:29 AM, Marty Backe said:

I really don't see what's to learn other than to wear protective gear.

Maybe it was a bad choice of a unicycle for such trails? MSX while not impervious, surely would be better.

15 minutes ago, RockyTop said:

I have less scares now than when I stared riding an EUC.

I have about 4. And I have to apply sunscreen to two of them because they are not hidden behind clothes.
All of them were caused by road rash. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

Edited November 12, 2019 by atdlzpae

[Fuerte 65]

Glad you are okay, it looks like a hard hit, BUT...you should make a short video with the fall and the sounds on repeat, knowing that you are okay, it would be very funny.