the amount of thoughts that can go through your head in a split second.

[shmoesmith]

Wow, I didnt mean to pull my right side handle bar that hard...interesting, my bike seems to be twisted in the air now..I wonder how to pull out of this? Hmm, I'm sliding on my shoulder pretty good, I wonder if it will be bloody. Interesting, so this is what what it feels like to have your head bouncing off the ground repeatedly...I always wondered how effective these lame looking helmets were..I wonder if it will be cracked clean open when I stop..How the fuck did my legs get through that section of my bike?!?!

It felt like I must have been contemplating my situation and thinking it through for a good 2 mintues while it was happening, yet my friend said I was hauling ass down the trail, was in the air looking like I was pulling a sick stunt, then on the ground bouncing in some odd dance with my bike with me ending up looking like a pretzle around my bike...he said it all happened in the blink of an eye. Yet, as it happened to me it felt like total slow motion...I think I could have counted the times my head bounced off the ground.

Anyone else experience the slow motion experience when having an absolutly spectacular wipeout? What thoughts have gone through your head in that split second? I've always wondered if its a steam of thoughts like me, or if its one big "OH SHIT!!!!!!!".

[kidwoo]

Not sure really......I've never crashed.

I'll keep it mind if it ever happens though.

[Arty50]

What thoughts have gone through your head in that split second?

"So this is how Superman feels...oh wait..."

[shmoesmith]

My friend that was with me did a superman over his handlebars today....he said the only thing that pre-occupied him was the fact that he noticed a shadow moving rapidly towards him...he said he had enough time to think the question "now what happened to my mountain bike when I went over?" before his bike came crashing down ontop of him....

[kidwoo]

Mostly....."fuck I just bought these gloves!!"

[P_McPoser]

I had a similar experience once while running practice motos on the moto when a little kid on quad pulled onto the track on a straight away where i was doin' bout 4th gear tapped (40mph?) and just T-boned the shit out of his front wheels. I remember conciously thinking,
"Shit, this going to HURT! Fuck, I don't care, I hope that little kid is ok, he's probably going to be afraid of riding now, man, that fucking sucks" Then I hit the ground and was unconcious for a few.

I don't remember, but apparently the first words out of my mouth upon coming too (about 1 minute later) were asking if the kid was ok. I'm suprised that buried deep down inside somewhere I'm actually compassionate!

[bigtrubs]

The first half of your first paragraph was what I thought riding the dirtjumps right before I broke my shoulder (cracked the top of my humerus right in the joint.)


My second big fall was me endo-ing on a bridge about 3.5ft off the ground, flying torso first toward tree trunk with legs caught up in bike frame, putting hand out ahead of me to help pad the impact, feeling crunch of hand and chest on tree trunk, falling into crumpled heap at base of tree, no breath for about 5 mins, believing I was about to die and that there was no one there to help me. scary.

[Arty50]

Mostly....."fuck I just bought these gloves!!"

Yeah, no shit. I've killed at least one pair of gloves every year. Fox should just sell them by the box and market them as disposable.

[crashnburn'd]

Mostly....."fuck I just bought these gloves!!"

I had a 'fuck, I just bought this helmet,' last weekend. It's not so brand new anymore....

edit - here it is the above format:

yeah, I love this part...oh shit, not enough speed, pull up, pull up! Hope I don't go over the....Yep, I'm going over the bars..Holy shit that was loud...I know there's another big rock and a tree in here somewhere, I wonder which direction I went...Oh shit, that coulda been bad...Damn, I bet my helmets all fucked up.

[Squatch]

makes you wonder how many thoughts JP had during those four seconds...

[crashnburn'd]

makes you wonder how many thoughts JP had during those four seconds...

I'm gonna go ahead and guess none.

[P_McPoser]

I had a 'fuck, I just bought this helmet,' last weekend. It's not so brand new anymore....

You DID kick your helmet into some rocks before ever using it, right? If not, you're stupid! Maybe helmet pre-scratching is a motocross/bmx thing.. i dunno..

[shmoesmith]

yeah, I think after my wipeout last night, it woudl be a smart thing to replace my helmet...there doesnt appear to be any damage to it whatsoever and I know my shoulder impacted first and I slid on it for a bit before my head started bouncing, but I do have a bruise on my forhead from where my helmet had impacted against it...That said, it was probably a hard enough hit that it would be foolish to not replace it.

[P_McPoser]

If you bruised, you need to replace it.

[shmoesmith]

If you bruised, you need to replace it.

Exactly my thoughts. Now time to figure out a new helmet. The question is a DH/Skate style helmet or another mtb helmet.

[kidwoo]

Exactly my thoughts. Now time to figure out a new helmet. The question is a DH/Skate style helmet or another mtb helmet.

I just bought my first xc helmet in years not too long ago. I got sick of breaking them so I just used my dirtjump helmet for xc rides. Third ride? Cracked it.


Hey arty: buy mechanics gloves in bulk. Same design and usually with thicker palms since there's no percieved demand for "handlebar feedback" or whatever the hell bike companies think justifies thin palms. Much cheaper too.

Bike gloves are a scam.

[pde20]

I had the exact same experience yesterday. As i go over the handle bars I am able to release my left foot from cleats and make an effort at stepping towards the ground, thinking, "that is a pretty long way down, but i think i can get there without eating shit." At this point I mutter "oh fuck." As this is happending I notice my right foot acting as a lever with the pedal swinging the bike around as i grind my forearm and elbow and knee over the rocks and dirt...everntually the cleat disengages and I am distinclty concerned regarding what is about to happen to my bike as there are many rocks in the immediate vicinity...I am able to watch the bike do one and a half flips, am amazed when it hits the handle bar and seat, bounce about 6 feet in the air, does another flip with a half twist and lands up right in a bush as if i had parked it there on purpose. By this time I have almost stopped sliding on my forarm and knee and the dust has settled and I am able to put a little thought to what my forarm knee and shin are going to look like and wondering what size any pepples that are portruding from the skin are likely to be.