Face plant du jour

[djiles]

Yesterday, after my first week of gliding, I went for a test glide trying to learn to estimate the distance I could go. It turned out to be about 6 miles with two bars left by the time I got home. Anyway I had the pleasure of my first face plant. While trying to avoid going on a heavily traveled street I went where a sidewalk would be if somebody would put one in. As those of you who have had the experience know, it can happen VERY fast. For me it was gravel with varying levels of traction. Forward fall and sliding on my right arm and right leg through the gravel. The helmet was worn but not needed. Fair amount of road rash but because of the heavy traffic a whole lot more embarrasment.

Moral of the story: Go slower than you think you need to or just power assist around the problem. I wasn't going fast at all (1.5 mph?) but apparently not slow enough. My lesson learned.

Darrel

[defenbaugh]

Glad you're ok. Gravel is difficult to pick out of the skin. Been there done that. It took me two face plants to learn my capabilities. It won't happen again.

Ron
"Literacy requires reading, change requires effort and enlightenment requires courage."

[Sal]

Darrel,

Glad you're okay... Live and learn, and now that you have come through that rite of passage, you'll hopefully never have one of those again.

-Sal

Think Different
www.apple.com

Answers that Matter
www.lilly.com


http://home.earthlink.net/~sal1k/images/si2f.jpg

[Stewbonz]

Gravel, wet grass, steel plates, sand, tile, all very slippery, proceed with caution...

JEFF JARVIS
http://www.thailandsegwaytours.com/

[Lohja]

This is the type thing we should have a discussion on at Segfest 2004. I have done two face plants. Both my fault. We could pass a lot of needed information on to each other. A Segway HT faceplant is WAY faster than a New York Minute.

[rob2831]

I've found that things happen very very quickly during a accident. Just the other night I was testing the Segway limits on sand under a layer of pine needles and it got away. Was prepared and didn't go down but could not recall totally what happened seconds after it occured. If a alligator had horns.....................

Robby

[tomamil]

One of the consistent themes in these faceplant stories is the relatively slow rate of forward travel at which they occur, contrasted with the rapidity of the faceplant rotation. It's almost as though slow and careful forward motion fools the rider into thinking that he can cope with any unexpected behavior by the Segway. But "it can [indeed] happen VERY fast" -- too fast for our reflexes to kick in with appropriate defensive moves.

So I think the most appropriate defense against faceplants is not "go slow" but rather "Stop! Dismount and power assist." You can be going very slowly through a hazard area and still get thrown.

Djiles, I feel your pain and send you my wishes for a speedy recovery.

Tom A. Milstein

[defenbaugh]

quote:Originally posted by tomamil

So I think the most appropriate defense against faceplants is not "go slow" but rather "Stop! Dismount and power assist." You can be going very slowly through a hazard area and still get thrown.


This is my secret. It will never happen to me again. Never say never.

Ron
"Literacy requires reading, change requires effort and enlightenment requires courage."

[snakeman3451]

My first and only Face plant was due to a steel door jam. It's been about 2 weeks and it's a little tender.

Matthew

[BruceWright]

Going slow actually can lead to a face plant.

Best to be very careful and learn the limits of the machine. Dismount if you aren't sure.

-Bruce Wright

Segway: Vehicle of Dream

[Sal]

Okay, going fast can cause falls, going slow can cause falls....

Well, I've now begun to stand still on the Segway, NO FALLS, but I seem to get nowhere! LOL

-Sal

Think Different
www.apple.com

Answers that Matter
www.lilly.com


http://home.earthlink.net/~sal1k/images/si2f.jpg

[dhugger]

I almost fell a few days ago... I did something that'll I'll never do again, a no handed curb drop (about 5" high). What I didn't think about was where the HT's center of mass was... in the front. So, when I went off the curb, the machine tipped forward, and when we hit the ground, it bucked back really fast to re-level, and almost smashed us back into the curb. It was a really spooky feeling when you're in the air and you feel your toes lose contact with the mat. As I said, there was zero harm done, but I was lucky... the moral: think before you act.

http://segwaychat.com/photos/dhugger/dhugger2.gif

[Sal]

I'm glad you were okay, Derek... From what I have seen of your movies, and pictures, you don't wear a helmet... and with all the extreme gliding you do, I think you should wear a helmet AND have wrist guards too... At least when you're trying drops off of picnic tables, and the occasional handstand.

-Sal

Think Different
www.apple.com

Answers that Matter
www.lilly.com


http://home.earthlink.net/~sal1k/images/si2f.jpg

[Sal]

Just to be fair, I don't wear one, and I have never worn one, but I think that was NOT the most prudent thing for me to do.

It just shows the confidence we have for our machines. Well, I'm trying to rationalize my stupidity! LOL

-Sal

Think Different
www.apple.com

Answers that Matter
www.lilly.com


http://home.earthlink.net/~sal1k/images/si2f.jpg

[Lohja]

I did a face plant in my driveway today. If I were on my Segway, I wouldn't have fallen. I was walking across my driveway with my banjo. I must have stepped on one of those nasty "gum-balls" from my neighbors' trees, twisted my ankle and fell face-down on my banjo (strings down). I skinned my right knee, abraded my left hand and tore my right pant leg at the knee. I had to re-install the strings and re-tune my banjo. When my wife saw the blood and my torn pants (at the knee), her first reaction was that I feel off my Segway. In this case, the Segway would have been safer. This gives new meaning to the phrase "with a banjo on my knee".

[Mr_Laurenzano]

The face plant is a right of passage for the segway riders. Those who have never done it will never know the pure fun of it. The first time I spun off a curb , the first words out of my mouth were "Like a Dream."
wipe out and break something. I have a whole wall of face plant and wipe out memoribilial.



Find the way. Everything comes full circle.

[Sunday]

How about a Faceplant Drill Team at Segfest:)

Segway-more fun than you can stand!