So true. We've been having a ton of kids getting hurt around here lately as jumps become more common on our trails. I surmise that a good percentage of them are NICA kids who started riding/racing with NICA and went to clips ASAP after they started racing. Now they're wanting to start jumping and they've never had any practice and have spent most of their riding lives on a 29er in clips.
You don’t need a BMX bike to learn how to jump. Most people I know learned by hucking to flat as a kid on homemade wood ramps. On whatever bike they had at their disposal.
@gnarlysipes: but BMX riding will give you style and control . Also the ability to get you out of shitty situations in the air. I rode BMX for over 25 years. Now I ride Mtb and I have never had an issue jumping or doing drops.
@fraserw: I just feel bad because its really just about access to progression. So many parts of the country have public jump parks with small to holy shit sized jumps right in their back yard, but the rest of the country has to drive 3+ hours to get to a crappy pumptrack that nobody takes care of.
@Hogfly: Most modern (US) kids spend their time indoors playing video games...all while their parents indoctrinate them into a delusional mindset that "everything is going to kill you"...then, wonder why their teen is obese and has diabetes on top of their social dysfunction.
We make that argument often when talking with other parents about the "dangers" of MTB. Much less dangerous than heart disease, obesity and depression.
either way you need to learn to jump though and that means crashing wether its on a bmx or mtb i learned bmx first and my body will never let me forget it
@Hogfly: that description fits me aptly. Went to clips too early and never learned how to jump but now that I ride flats and have a DJ I'm slowly figuring out how to hit stuff without dead sailoring. The worst part about clips is the false confidence that they give.
Friday Fails are the only thing that makes me slightly second-guess encouraging my kids to MTB, especially the lawn-dart crashes that make you cringe and wish the guy was wearing a Leatt.
"Friday Fails are the only thing that makes me slightly second-guess encouraging my kids to MTB, especially the lawn-dart crashes that make you cringe and wish the guy was wearing a Leatt."
@RoadStain: I’ve got three boys ages 2, 4, and 6. They all ride having started on balance bikes and are pretty active; certainly not ‘obese or lazy’. I don’t think my slight (I did write “slightly”) concern for them breaking their neck or back on a mountain bike is why America’s kids are out of shape.
@jeremiahwas: part of it. Saw it today... kid of about 8-9 years being reprimanded by his morbidly obese mother telling him to not push it. His ride started and ended in the time my bike was off the car and I prepared to ride. This was on a pump track designed and built for kids.....
@RoadStain: I don’t think my concerns for my kids are even close to being “part of it” either. My kid ate a curb at two years old on his balance bike chipping a tooth and spattering blood everywhere - I didn’t stop him from riding at all. I regularly take them on legit trails on their Mac-ride (something many on PB abhor for its perceived danger) and the Weehoo bike trailer before that. My kids aren’t coddled and I’m not overprotective but I do have a healthy respect for a sport that has landed many in wheelchairs and others the grave.
@jeremiahwas: Just got back from a hockey game....a children's choir sang some song at first intermission...each and every one of them was crazy overweight....never did we figure out what it was they were singing. (Grandpa Simpson voice: When I was a kid we had A fat kid in school....A fat kid, and he was always first one out in Dodge Ball!!!!).
@poulail22: so sorry to hear that mate, condolences to you and your family. Good to know I brought a small ray of sunshine to an otherwise terrible day.
@poulail22: Best of luck with your path forward. I lost mine recently as well. It’s an up-and-down journey, impossibly sad some days and just a thought on other days. Take care.
At exactly @2:23 seconds you can clearly see he doesn't use his hands to help stop the harsh landing but his wrists. This made the crash more painful to watch in my opinion as I'm sure his face slammed right into the ground. Ouchie.
1:05 depants was hilarious 1:39 he almost saved that 2:03 that looked like a concussion, it was impressive he kept that endo going for as long as he did though 3:11 What a terrible place to hesitate; no commitment to that drop there
2:20 is the thing of nightmares... I literally have nightmares of hitting jumps only to notice there is no landing and I'm just free falling thinking "this is going to hurt".
I’ve only had a major overshoot once and I ended up hucking to flat from ~8ft in the air. I stayed on the bike by some miracle but as I got behind the seat to balance myself and ride it out, I nearly re-circumcised myself between the frame and tire.
Its probably counterproductive to ask someone if they are ok 1-10 seconds after a crash, unless they really need to get out of the trail ASAP. Their answer will not be neccisarily accurate considering all the adrenaline, the macho reflex to say "im ok", if they are not ok it is probably harder for your friend to then backtrack to not ok. it would be much better to make sure they are safe from otther trail traffic, falling boulders etc, then give them a minute or so, and if it seems posible they may be signifcantly injured, then encourage them to to take a few minutes to regain composure and assess their condition. if they dont likelyhood of spinal injury it may be good to get them out of the trail so they dont cause a pile up.
The first "are you okay" is to judge how/if they respond. That determines whether it's go time for first aid or laugh at your idiot friend. The few minutes later "are you okay" is to better figure things out.
@rrolly: obviously they are not unconcious. Obviously they dont know the extent of their injuries afteer 1/2 - 2 seconds. Your just making weak excuses for fools blurting out "you ok".
I've had wilderness first responder cerification as part of 30+ hr training. Literally saved numerous peoples lives. Seen numerous people get ko'd and severely injured. Broke many bones ligiments and concussions of my own. As wwll as seen many silly sallies lay themself out dramatically. I have an understanding of social mechanics, shock response and emergency triage.
You should not be promoting or defending the asseine immediate "are you ok"... it sucks when someone is f*cked up or trying to assess their injuries and you have a crowd of dumb unqualified punks in your injured friends face. I even have had to fend off controlling fools trying to move someone who just sustained a pontetially serious spinal injury.
The point here Is not to act outside of the scope of intelegent well to do behaviours when involved in first aid, clearly most sheeple are more harm then goodb so either get a clue or shit up.
@notthatfast: It actually refers to any Panko-crusted basic fried meat dish. Like Chix Katsu is a fried chicken breast. Ton Katsu is fried pork cutlet. Often it is laid on top of curry and rice which is frigging DELICIOUS!!
Once again, another week goes by without a single girl or woman wrecking herself in the Friday Fails. For shame.
While, it's true that some of the male-bodied riders featured here could identify as a woman, the heteronormativity of their behaviour leads me to believe otherwise.
I'm calling for the Fails to be either CANCELLED or put on hold until we see 50/50 crashes for both men and WOMYN!
In truth, the lack of women in the Fridays Fails is probably a multi-fold case of a) there being fewer lady MTBers, b) of which, women tend not to push themselves so far beyond their capabilities unlike the testosterone fuelled, peer-pressured guys, myself included, and c) those who do end up bailing it in a comedic/painful/cringeworthy/epic/dumb fashion are less likely to broadcast it to the world.
Update: He didnt pedal.
I have to wash my eyeballs now.
#2 learn how to ride and jump a bmx bike
#3 repeat step #2 for 6 months
#4 ride mtb and attempt to jump
#5 never fall again.
We make that argument often when talking with other parents about the "dangers" of MTB. Much less dangerous than heart disease, obesity and depression.
Thinking like that is most of the problem.
I don’t think my slight (I did write “slightly”) concern for them breaking their neck or back on a mountain bike is why America’s kids are out of shape.
You have kids btw?
Now, seems they have the skinny kid.....sheesh.
1:39 he almost saved that
2:03 that looked like a concussion, it was impressive he kept that endo going for as long as he did though
3:11 What a terrible place to hesitate; no commitment to that drop there
I've had wilderness first responder cerification as part of 30+ hr training. Literally saved numerous peoples lives. Seen numerous people get ko'd and severely injured. Broke many bones ligiments and concussions of my own. As wwll as seen many silly sallies lay themself out dramatically. I have an understanding of social mechanics, shock response and emergency triage.
You should not be promoting or defending the asseine immediate "are you ok"... it sucks when someone is f*cked up or trying to assess their injuries and you have a crowd of dumb unqualified punks in your injured friends face. I even have had to fend off controlling fools trying to move someone who just sustained a pontetially serious spinal injury.
The point here Is not to act outside of the scope of intelegent well to do behaviours when involved in first aid, clearly most sheeple are more harm then goodb so either get a clue or shit up.
Once I heard it, it seemed appropriate for every other OTB in the mash-up.
Even if it is not really nice to say let alone write
While, it's true that some of the male-bodied riders featured here could identify as a woman, the heteronormativity of their behaviour leads me to believe otherwise.
I'm calling for the Fails to be either CANCELLED or put on hold until we see 50/50 crashes for both men and WOMYN!
In truth, the lack of women in the Fridays Fails is probably a multi-fold case of a) there being fewer lady MTBers, b) of which, women tend not to push themselves so far beyond their capabilities unlike the testosterone fuelled, peer-pressured guys, myself included, and c) those who do end up bailing it in a comedic/painful/cringeworthy/epic/dumb fashion are less likely to broadcast it to the world.