hmmm, I am picturing this. So being bent forward you still have weight on the front wheel, and it doesn't sound like I would need to shift my rear much to get in the right position. I will experiment with this, almost every fall I've had this summer (outside of when I tested the laws of physics with the front brake) has been exactly this kind of fall. My poor right hip and shoulder is taking a beating from hitting the ground so I need to do something different.

Thanks - and if anyone else has other thoughts or advice please do add them. I had wondered about my gearing - but of course was also trying to climb at the same time. In this case I was on a new trail to me and wasn't sure how long the climb would go - which is why I was in the granny. It was still fun though