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F*CK Foam Pits

dan wask

Turbo Monkey
May 11, 2006
1,463
0
B-More Maryland
I broke my knee cap on my stem jumping into the pit at Ray's. First and last time I'll ever be using a foam pit. 6-8 weeks in a full leg brace.
 

Beast

Turbo Monkey
May 23, 2002
1,579
0
Where the riding is good
They can be a bitch. That's why you need to get back on the bike before landing. Oddly enough, the only time I got hurt at Rays was in the pit - stem to the nose on a front flip. Then again, being able to dial in your muscle memory before moving to dirt/another ramp is key to many tricks.
 

Stoked

Turbo Monkey
Nov 28, 2004
1,809
1
LI, NY
yea dude. i got taken out once in the foam at woodward. you really need to pad up more in the foam pit when learning oddly enough.
 

dan wask

Turbo Monkey
May 11, 2006
1,463
0
B-More Maryland
I'll be cutting it super close to my whistler trip. My flight leaves on the 28th of june, so we'll have to see how this pans out. I'll be drinking lots of milk, eating lots of vitamins, and doing everything I can to get back on a bike.

I'm gonna freak out by the end of week one.
 

j.les

Monkey
Jul 21, 2007
474
0
Chicago
That sucks dude. I cracked a helmet in Ray's foam pit when my bike got away from me and landed on my head.

Just curious, what kind of stem was it? I run Thomsons or something with rounded corners so I won't bash my knees.

One of my friends crashed really hard and his sternum ran into the top of his stem. It left an imprint for a long time.
 

sittingduck

Turbo Monkey
Jun 22, 2007
1,958
2
Oregon
Many people have the misconception that a foam pit magically allows you to do whatever you want with no consequence....
Fact is, you can get hurt just as easily. They sure are a blast though. :D
I hope you heal up fast, Dan.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,559
24,181
media blackout
shouldn't the thread title technically be "fvck stems"? :busted:


heal up quick yo. I cracked myself one good in the knee cap last night - I was on my back in my driveway w/ my bmx bike practicing barspins. Nothing broken thankfully, but boy did that smart.
 

brungeman

I give a shirt
Jan 17, 2006
5,170
0
da Burgh
Dan, I am sorry to hear that!

I guess you didn't get a chance to visit Duquesne? I didn't head up to Ray's cause we were digging one of our alternate DJ places on Saturday!
 

Castle

Turbo Monkey
Jun 10, 2002
1,446
0
VA
damn, sorry to hear, heal up quick! no fun being off the bike rolling into the warmer months...
 

Strauss

Monkey
Aug 22, 2007
111
0
I'm not sure about your feelings on this but I wouldn't blame the foam pit.

I'd blame your kneed pads. If you had them. I know a lot of people do not wear them, including me. I wear the 661 veggie knee pads every once and a while but they definitely will not save my knee with a hit to the stem.

Pro-tec makes some really bulky knee pads that are bullet proof. I have a set but they restrict movement alot, however I think they would save my knee from just about any impact.

I'd honestly try to get back in that pit if I were you. Just pad up.
 

Cru Jones

Turbo Monkey
Sep 2, 2006
3,025
2
Hell Track
Bummer. Yeah, foam pits can get you. My wrist still hurts from nosing into one from a flip a few months back. That same day, a guy got hauled off on a stretcher after landing on his head in the foam. I also witnessed a kid almost die trying 360s into the pit... he kept carving off of the lip and getting close to the side. We warned him, but eventually he carved so much that he landed straight on his hip on the wood retaining wall... bike fell into the pit, he fell out. Amazingly, he was fine.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
I also witnessed a kid almost die trying 360s into the pit... he kept carving off of the lip and getting close to the side. We warned him, but eventually he carved so much that he landed straight on his hip on the wood retaining wall... bike fell into the pit, he fell out. Amazingly, he was fine.


Trying that sh1t on dirt would have been safer :rofl:
 

homepiece

Monkey
May 22, 2006
234
0
OHIO
Cracked rib, sprained shoulder, and a tacoed rear wheel courtesy of the foam at rays. Have not been in there since, and that happened 2 years ago while learning suicide no-handers.
 

seth505

Monkey
Jun 9, 2006
519
0
CA
I tore my MCL in Pastranas pit landing on the bike/on the pedals. couldnt move my knee for 2 weeks or so aha
 

Strauss

Monkey
Aug 22, 2007
111
0
I've been waiting for this to happen and luckily it hasn't - but eventually I know someone is going to ride without the end caps on their bars and get impaled.

I've seen it happen so many times in my head.
 

PhilipW

Monkey
Mar 13, 2007
311
0
Leominster, MA
foam pits carry their own risks...pad up, and dont try somthing completely out of your league. I've bruised my ribs landing on the bars trying barspins. Twisted ankles, etc etc.

"Real" gymnastics foam pits I would imagine are safer than "tear up a lot of couch cushions and throw it in" foam pit.

I always try to land either as a huge bellyflop so I dont sink in, or legs/feet together like a lawndart. If you land wrong on the bike or any which way you can hurt yourself.

The kid who was carving like a motha for 3's is just learning...i was like that too when i started figuring them out. Scary stuff though. My bmx friend kept drifting to the right doing double flips into the foam...kept getting within a foot of the side.

On a side note, I really like my new 08 TLD T-bones...super solid plastic kneecap, and it stays put unlike certain other rider endorsed kneepads *cough661Straitscough*
 

eaterofdog

ass grabber
Sep 8, 2006
8,186
1,425
Central Florida
I've been waiting for this to happen and luckily it hasn't - but eventually I know someone is going to ride without the end caps on their bars and get impaled.

I've seen it happen so many times in my head.
That happened at a local skatepark when I was in high school. Kid landed on the bar with his stomach. He died and the skatepark closed.
 

brungeman

I give a shirt
Jan 17, 2006
5,170
0
da Burgh
That happened at a local skatepark when I was in high school. Kid landed on the bar with his stomach. He died and the skatepark closed.
That’s pretty gruesome!

When we were kids I don't remember anyone in our neighborhood that made it out without a puncture from bar's ends! Hell we always laid the bikes down and it would chunk off the end of the grip leaving a nice hollow point for us to find at the most inopportune time usually in the middle of a yard sale with pieces of bike and clothing flying everywhere!
jump up "damn look at this hole!" (badge of honor until someone really gets hurt)

on a lighter note... what gauge piercing would that be?
 

dexter

Turbo Monkey
Sep 23, 2001
3,053
99
Boise, Idaho
i wreck myself in foam pits everytime i use them. this summer i had my bike come down on my left elbow from way way up after bailing on a double back. had a bump for weeks and couldnt move it for days. put my stem into my mouth and cut the crap out of it and got a black eye from tryin tuck no handers to twhips on the down fall.-that hurt like **** and a bled everywhere. be careful and wear pads in them. feel your pain on the knee cap did mine last septemeber and its still not healed all the way, cant bend my knee all the way close or run long distances
 

sealclubber

Monkey
Nov 21, 2007
543
10
almost broke my neck doin x-up backflips into a pit. lost my rotation and went head first and knifed thru the foam to the trampoline beneath. spent 4 days in a recliner without moving more than once a day.

dont know if ill be using a pit again, i almost feel safer just sacking up and doing it off a jump, knowing that i will NEED to get the rotation, else the consequences will be fatal
 

Strauss

Monkey
Aug 22, 2007
111
0
Nothing beats an old beater bike with a 2 liter taped to the top tube and a lake jump. But thats old school.
 

Echo

crooked smile
Jul 10, 2002
11,819
15
Slacking at work
I don't see this as the foam pit's fault. If you had been on a ramp, you would have either: a) not tried the trick, or b) broken your kneecap and several other bones as well.

When jumping into a foam pit, you still need to get yourself either back on your bike, or far away from your bike, before you hit the foam.
 

dan wask

Turbo Monkey
May 11, 2006
1,463
0
B-More Maryland
I don't see this as the foam pit's fault. If you had been on a ramp, you would have either: a) not tried the trick, or b) broken your kneecap and several other bones as well.

When jumping into a foam pit, you still need to get yourself either back on your bike, or far away from your bike, before you hit the foam.
:disgust:
 

cmc

Turbo Monkey
Nov 17, 2006
2,052
6
austin
hah hah. . . i'm about to ride a foam pit tonight... and i hear it's a pretty sketchy one with matresses and whatnot.


. . .

When jumping into a foam pit, you still need to get yourself either back on your bike, or far away from your bike, before you hit the foam.
this will be a challenge...as i'm trying to learn tailwhips... seems like a hard trick to eject from cuz the frame's coming right back around at you..