I’m a new rider and not so good yet. I can ride straight for a max of 150 feet so far, and I had my first fall that I got hurt at. I’m just trying to figure out what happened. I was in the street, I pushed off my van and went about 10 feet, from what I seen I hit a small bump maybe 1/4 inch. My uni just stopped and I kept going forward. I hit hard on my knees, chest, and palms. I cracked a rib sprained my wrist and elbow, plus a few small scrapes and a sore knee. I’m ready to ride again after i heal up a little, I’m not scared or anything, I’m just trying to figure out why my uni stopped which caused me to be thrown. I had a fairly good speed going, my tire may have been a bit low. So what happened that made me fall down and go boom? besides gravity
its called an unplanned dismount (UPD) unicycle wheels cant roll over obstacles as well as bikes so you have to pull up to get over bumps. If you don’t the wheel locks up and you go flying.
Especially if your cranks are straight up and down at the time. Not much leverage to keep going that way.
Gah sorry to get into the UPD argument but you definitely fell. UPD generally mean landing on your feet. I am sure you have done a hundred or more by this point. Falling flat on your chest is something a bit different. 
I don’t think that having a low tire would have really been a factor since a low pressure tire will conform to surface irregularities better and therefor be less likely to throw you like that on a bump.
My guess is you were not paying attention when you hit the bump with your cranks in the almost vertical dead position stopping your wheel temporarily and momentum and gravity took care of the rest.
More practice, a larger wheel and wider tires are all remedies for the small lump throwing you on your face problem. More practice is probably the best option.
Nothing besides gravity will make you fall. There are, after all, only four forces in nature (that we know of).
What you should be asking is why you hurt yourself so bad. It appears you don’t know how to fall. Might I suggest you practice on a softer surface and fall a lot (unintentionally or intentionally) to learn the art of falling. Perhaps research a little about Judo or Aikido falls (a.k.a.
).
Whether you’re a good rider or bad, you will fall, so you should learn it before you do even more damage to yourself.
I’d also suggest you post your unicycling-related threads in Rec.Sport.Unicycling. This forum, Just Conversation, is for conversation, not unicycling.
I know what happened!
You got pwnd by a quarter inch bump.
Yeah you definitly fell.
Wow, that was a great little video of falling! Yes, I am with the theory of hitting the small bump with cranks vertical. That’s what we call the “dead spot” and is where you have the least leverage. In addition to this, it’s possible that your bottom foot came off the pedal at that point, causing your body to pitch forward. This can lead to a hard landing.
I’ve been witness to a similar accident with even worse results. This was at the beginning of a local unicycle convention. The host family’s mom was getting on her unicycle before any events had started, for a little warm-up ride around the track. Smooth track, mind you, with likely no bumps involved. Somehow she had a very bad dismount right when she was starting out, ending up in damage to both of her wrists, a big bandage on one knee, and several other “owie” areas. That night she needed help eating dinner because both hands were out of commission…
something no one else has mentioned is trousers? could they have done something?
I’ve fallen because of that…
Wow, yeah, you really need to learn how to fall correctly if you cracked a rib from something that tiny. I’d go with Jason’s advice on falling intentionally to learn how to land on your feet, making it more of a UPD than a bail.
Yeah, learning how to fall properly helps a lot.
Doing a forward roll out of a fast UPD is ten times better than ending up spread out on your front in a Superman pose.
I did exactly the same thing as you when I was learning and cracked a rib too.
No laughing or sneezing for two weeks.
Also, watch lots of action movies to see how stuntmen handle big falls and stuff 