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Comment by stronglikedan | Hacker News Reader

Agreed. My front tire slipped to the left on wet slanted concrete. My helmet hit the ground so hard that my glasses flew off my face and were flattened upon impact. I just ended up with a little scuff and a headache. (and a broken shoulder and knuckle)

There was nothing I could do to prevent the impact, as I've trained myself to pull my money makers under me in a fall and let my body take the hit (the broken finger got wrapped up in the brake lever on the way down). There was something preventative that I could do in case of an impact, and boy am I glad I did: wear a helmet.

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Your brain is your moneymaker--put out your hands!

That's what the helmet is for! ;-)

I used to reach out my hands when falling, but now I tuck them in and lead with my shoulder. that was my first major fall, but it's something that I would repeat to myself in my head while riding. In the aforementioned case, I was falling sideways and forwards. I suppose if I were leading with my head I would try to break the fall with my hands. I don't know; it all comes down to muscle memory, subliminal reaction, and how bad I'm freaking out at the time.

Relying solely on a helmet seems like a really bad idea. I recommend learning how to fall using your hands/forearms and not damage them at the same time.

Martial arts training (judo would be a good one) can help a lot here.

There are also a lot of context specific tricks you can pick up. Like if you fall skiing or snowboarding make a fist when you put your hand down instead of falling with an open hand. A fist vs. open hand won't make much of a different on snow, and the fist will stop fingers/thumbs from catching and breaking. In addition the wrist is less likely to break.

I took safety one step further, and just haven't been back on the bike since. I keep saying I gotta get it fixed up and start riding again, but I'm not in too much of a hurry. I got a recumbent stationary bike for the house, and I ride that in front of Netflix. I actually ride now more than I ever did!

On a side note, I've actually been thinking of taking up martial arts training.

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