Tips for reducing outdoor-recreation injuries

At one of my shows, I asked if anyone in the crowd had ever broken a bone, received a significant scar or faced a moment when they felt their life was jeopardized. “If the answer is yes,” I said, “then please stand up.”

Guess what happened? About every man in the room was on his feet. Most of the women stayed seated. Let me tell you, there were some strange looks back-and-forth between couples.

It seems that “things happen,” as we call it, to a lot of guys. We just can’t seem to help it. I’ve been on a pretty good streak lately with no “accidents,” but we never see them coming, right?

What brought this to the moment is that another pal of mine broke his collarbone in a bike accident. He was riding a mountain bike down a hill when his front tire hit a hole with a rock in the back of it and he was catapulted over the top and landed on a shoulder.

That makes four buddies and a brother who have fractured their collarbones on bikes, one way or the other, after they ended up sailing over the handlebars. Another broke his wrist when he put his hand out to break a fall.

Between my own mini-disasters and quite a procession with my brother and two boys, I’ve ended up talking to a lot of emergency room doctors and have been told, “Maybe if you explain what happens all the time, guys will stop getting hurt.”

Well, that’s unlikely to be a success, but here goes:

Biking: It seems that road biking and mountain biking can be more dangerous than riding a motorcycle, and I’ve done plenty of all three. There’s one trick that can keep you out of trouble: When you face a screwup moment, visualize an invisible line ahead of you, and then ride that line out to get yourself out of a tight spot. A lot of guys freeze, look at the trouble spot and then plow right into it (or off the side of the trail), because that’s what they’re looking at. The same is true when you look behind you or to the side: You can pull your bike right into what you’re looking at.

If riding with a friend, don’t let your front tire hit your partner’s back tire (that’s how brother Rambob went over the handlebars). Don’t ride too fast downhill. You can out-speed your ability to stop for trouble or what lurks around the bend.

Then, when you fall, and you will — I’ve kissed the concrete a few times, mainly from hitting gravel on turns — learn how to fall so you roll over on your shoulder or back to diffuse the energy. You can practice falling (as if by accident) when you ski.

Hiking: Hiking is not the demure, non-impact sport that many believe. I have three friends who have hurt their knees so severely that they needed surgery and another who needs a brace. The moment of truth is when you step on a rock and your knee twists. You can learn how to “give” in a semi-fall so you do not put your full weight or pressure on your knee when it is vulnerable to injury in a contorted position. Same with trail running. And remember the No. 1 rule: No falls.

Snow sports: Snowboarding is the most difficult thing I’ve ever tried. About 75 low-speed falls are required before you start to figure it out. And that’s when it gets dangerous, when you think you know enough to go downhill fast. Catch a forward edge and you’re looking at an instant biff, likely a face plant or, worse, a broken collarbone or wrist. In winter, on any Sunday afternoon in Truckee, go into the emergency room at the hospital and you’ll see the snowboarders lined up for shoulders, collarbones and wrists. Skiers, if their boots don’t release in a fall, tend to break their legs and knees. The only way to solve it is to slow down, and then when you fall anyway, try to fall in a roll to keep from breaking anything.

Surfing: The biggest concern is that other people — especially on stand-up paddleboards — will get too close on the same break and, in a state of self-absorption, ram you with their boards. I’ve had two close calls, one in Hawaii, one at Santa Cruz, and it made me question survival in general. In addition, your rotator cuffs can take a terrible grinding with all the paddling required to get out past the breakers to catch the wave just right.

Water sports: The problem is simple: People get drunk and dumb on the water and don’t pay attention. A dumb drunk with a fast boat — out wakeboarding, skiing or tubing, or on a personal watercraft — is like Russian roulette: Sooner or later, the bullet will fire. Impaired boat drivers are the cause of 50 percent of accidents in California, and those with little experience cause many of the rest. If you’re on a boat with a dumb drunk, jump off — with a life jacket.