Reminder: Keep toes up and in!

[Bandit9]

After 40 or so Enduros and 20 harescrambles, I consider myself to be an experienced enduro rider. But even I am not immune to one of the biggest No No's of riding in the woods.

Keep your feet on the pegs, and your toes up and in!!!! This ain't MX!

I broke my left foot in two places yesterday evening getting in some conditioning work preparing for a 2 Day BJEC enduro in Oklahoma this upcoming weekend. I was coming around a blind corner and slowed bit to make sure it was free of quads, and I sat down in a moment of laziness, and WHAMO! Caught it on a stump! Just like that, my dreams of maintaining 1st place in B VET ended. All the training, driving, money spent, stress, energy, vacation days, time, all of it, gone down the crapper in an instant.

So keep those toes up and in!!

[CAVSCOUT96]

bashed mine pretty good on a rock last race OUCH!!! nothing broken though. Heal up quickly.

[milje]

Good advice, something to remember when out on the trails (I usually do, but I'm sure I don't notice it sometimes and let my toes go down.

[KDXpert]

Yeah my cousin who's a AA rider hit his foot on a stump riding an enduro, and it broke his big toe, and he has a huge cut inbetween his smallest toes, which needed lots of stitches. They are in an awkward spot, and they want to pull back out.

In that same enduro, and in other rides, I've hit my toes a few times, but nothing bad enough to break anything. I guess Im not going fast enough ?

[Veccster]

I can understand keeping the 'in' but how do you keep them up? On your right foot, don't you just keep it above the brake lever so nothing cathes it? On your left foot, wher is the best position...above the shifter?

Sorry for the dumb questions! It's just a tip I have never heard on this site. I always hear elbows up and out but never anything about toes.

[Bandit9]

Basically you keep your foot level. Unless you are up shifting, keep your toes level with the peg. Don't cruise down the trail with your toes pointing down, below the pegs.

On your Brake side, it usually isn't an issue b/c your toes can't get below the brake pedal, like they can on the shifter side.

[Ocean]

Question: normal riding pos'n, do we keep our right foot over or out beside the brake pedal?

[Bandit9]

Over it, so you can stab it in a moment's notice. Now if you are cruising down a fire lane or road, then you can rest it on the peg.

This mainly just applies to woods riding on single track or quad trails. Just too many stumps, rocks, logs, and who knows what else just waiting to grab and unsuspecting rider's foot.

[Ocean]

Yup, s'what I do, except maybe on steep climbs, just see a lot of guys with their toes hanging out beside the pedal...

[wcorbett]

almost tore my ACL at my track on a rock

[DRZ400Squid]

Did the same thing about 2 months ago, on a little root that someone had cut off. Just didn't see it... broke my 5th metatarsal about 1/2" back from the joint and sprained the hell out of my whole foot and ankle. And it pretty much cost me the 125/250f/400f class SM championship.... due to missed races.

Anyway it's all good now and i wish you a speedy recovery.

[Bandit9]

Yeah, that is the exact same place mine is broken at. How long until you could walk decently? I can't walk at all right now. Hoping to maybe walk decent enough in 3 weeks. I might be dreaming though....

[STILL_KICKIN]

After 40 or so Enduros and 20 harescrambles, I consider myself to be an experienced enduro rider. But even I am not immune to one of the biggest No No's of riding in the woods.

Keep your feet on the pegs, and your toes up and in!!!! This ain't MX!

I broke my left foot in two places yesterday evening getting in some conditioning work preparing for a 2 Day BJEC enduro in Oklahoma this upcoming weekend. I was coming around a blind corner and slowed bit to make sure it was free of quads, and I sat down in a moment of laziness, and WHAMO! Caught it on a stump! Just like that, my dreams of maintaining 1st place in B VET ended. All the training, driving, money spent, stress, energy, vacation days, time, all of it, gone down the crapper in an instant.

So keep those toes up and in!!

Hope you heel quickly, and thanks for the tip. ?

To be honest I really don't know how my riding style is on my pegs. Hmmm, gonna have to think about that this weekend.

[DRZ400Squid]

Yeah, that is the exact same place mine is broken at. How long until you could walk decently? I can't walk at all right now. Hoping to maybe walk decent enough in 3 weeks. I might be dreaming though....

Well I'm stuborn and a little stupid, so I was walkin on it right away and only took 1 week off work. I tried wearing the soft cast the Ortho gave me, but it sucked ass and didn't seem to keep pressure from focusing on the break(I could feel it clicking with every step). So I made my own cast out of fiberglass that supported my foot from the arch and ankle and kept the break from moving(very stiff) and it fit in a shoe. It was about 3 weeks after I broke it that I went to Washougal for the AMAs and spent the whole weekend on crutches and took monday off to lay around, the bone fused over those 3 days. I wore my cast for 2 more weeks, walking very softly, and it's been good since then. I got back on the trail after about 5 weeks. I broke it on July 10 and as of 2 weeks ago calcium had bridged about 50%, it takes a while.

So really it was about 6 weeks before I got my strut back and another week for my knee to stop hurting from walkin funny for a month and a half.

I've also been taking "Bone Maximizer II" ? , I got from Super Suplements. It's for osteoperosis(old people), but it helps with bone production and density. I highly recommend getting some.

I wouldn't worry too much about keeping it totaly still for the first 2-3 weeks, it won't heal at all while it's swollen,(too much fluid) it takes a while for the calcium to start building up. But as soon as you feel it set, take it super easy for a couple days. It's hard when it first fuses, cuz it's kinda like fresh glue on a model, you don't really know how much you can play with it before the glue breaks off.

Good luck man... keep the faith

[Bandit9]

That is about what I was thinking. In the back of my mind I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, I could possibly ride on Oct 15th, but that is just stupid. Oh well.

Thanks for that suplement tip!

[sonobob]

Not to be taken the wrong way, because I can tell from your orig. post that you had to be wearing moto boots...but this is yet another good reason for them. They do help to keep the feet protected. They arent perfect, but a good insurance policy in most cases. Reading this thread made me remember another great reason for wearing them...I was riding in n. Ga. a couple years back, following another rider on a single track, both sides covered in 2' tall ferns. He went through a tight left with me hot on his heels. The big nasty Timber Rattler that he rolled over hit me in the left shin with both of those long fangs, one of which broke off and was stuck in the boot. The expense of the boots was justified right then and there.

[xstroker]

... big nasty Timber Rattler that he rolled over hit me in the left shin with both of those long fangs, one of which broke off and was stuck in the boot.

thats sick! truth can be stranger than fiction... i agree & would never ride w/o my mx boots.

sometimes i have a hard time keeping my toes up since i have long legs & my feet cramp up...

any supplement out there that will postpone cramping?

[DRZ400Squid]

any supplement out there that will postpone cramping?

Bananas...... 2 of em.... Or a potasium supplement, but bananas are better.

[sonobob]

thats sick! truth can be stranger than fiction... i agree & would never ride w/o my mx boots.

sometimes i have a hard time keeping my toes up since i have long legs & my feet cramp up...

any supplement out there that will postpone cramping?

No doubt. Of all the reasons I had for buying the boots, I'll have to admit that's one that had never crossed my mind!

Even though I wasn't actually bitten, it still shook me up pretty badly. I had to stop (a couple hundred yards down the trail, in an open area) to kinda catch my breath. That sucker's mouth looked big enough to swallow a Volkswagen!

As for the cramping, I'll go along with the bananas. And plenty of pre-ride day fluids.

[Bandit9]

I thought it was a no brainer to ride with riding boots. If there are idiots out there riding with out good riding boots, I don't know if they can be helped. I would like to think my boots helped, it could have been broken worse I guess.

Cramps are still a mystery to even experts. Answer this question: How come cramps only seem to effect one particular muscle group, in my case legs, and not effect the other muscle groups, like your arms, shoulders, or back????

I can eat 4 banannas before a ride, take potassium pills each day 3 days prior to a race, drink over a gallon a day for 3 days before race, replace the amount of water I lose during the race accurately, take Electrolyte replacement pills every hour during the race, and still get cramps. It is a weird phenomenon.