Posts
21
Joined
1/9/2013
Location
Dallas, TX, USA
Edited Date/Time
2/23/2013 3:35pm
Why is it that most racers, if they seem to come up short or lose it in the air, hit the eject button? I'm sure I will get blasted for being an idiot or a noob, but I raced a few years locally on minis and superminis, but am just a fan now. I never understood why you would want to get away from the bike in the air? It would seem the bike would take the hit better than your legs, head, or back would. Heard RC and Fro say during the Zach Bells crash that it was good he got away from the bike. Why?
From conversations I've had with riders, they seem to always prefer staying with it...as long as they're on top of it.
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Honestly, I don't know why people do this. I've seen it happen too. I think it's because they are noobs and just freak out mid-air.
Second of all, no one is doing 50+ mph over a triple in SX.
and Last, every situation is different, but for the most part it's reflexes coupled with what the rider thinks will result in the least amount of injury. If a rider isn't prepared to land on his bike safe and securely (Zach Bell) it's better to get away from it.
The animal part of your brain makes all (or most) of the decisions in a situation like that, and it basically just ends up being a split second reaction. In Zach's case it was totally different because he didn't really make the decision to bail. Rather his feet got dragged off the lip of the jump, throwing all his momentum in the opposite direction from the bike.
But in most cases - whether to bail or not to bail just comes down to animal instincts within the moment rather than a logical decision (though with that said, sometimes the decision is good).
Pit Row
The reason for this is because when a rider does a trick, whether it's a whip or nac nac etc; regardless of what it is, they're following an arc of momentum. It's like RV throwing a big whip vs getting cross rutted on a jump. He may be completely sideways more on an intentional whip - but it's a controlled arc or line of momentum. Whereas if the bike is thrown out sideways from a kicker, rut or bump off the face of a jump... well then there's only so much he can do to correct that.
Be interesting if an FMX guy could chip in here. But that's just my personal guess anyway.
A couple of weeks back Freestyle Cam Sinclair had something happen as he was about to hit a ramp to pull a back flip.
He was already committed to the trick, but with something happening with the bike he did not have the drive he needed to
A - Complete the trick
and
B - Make the down ramp!
He was launched wheel high across the gap from the up ramp to the down ramp,
He had two choices, stay with the bike which was going to hit the flat face of the down ramp, or try to bail over the bike and make the very start of the down ramp (The flat part that before it starts to go down)
He made the smart choice to bale in that situation, His bike did not make the gap, but he was able to push off the bike and get him self feet first to the flat part of the down ramp.
He smashed his ankle and foot, but was better then smashing head first with is bike into the face of the down ramp!
NOW
If he left the jump with even less momentum, and there was no chance what so ever he or the bike was going to make the gap and both were going to be falling from the sky on to the flat ground below. Staying with the bike and letting the suspension take up some of the energy of the flat land would have probably been the better option.
All depends on the situation. If the bike is going to aid to reduce the impact stay with it, If it is not going to aid in any way, get as far away as possible to lessen the chances of a second impact as the bike follows through!
If you want to see some pretty gnarly pics of Sincs foot during surgery check out his facebook, Twitter or instagram page!
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