That's what I realized after I fell over the bars and down a rooty hill today and hurt myself. If I had gotten seriously injured I wouldn't have cared the least bit that my bicycle got damaged from the fall. And that's how it should be. As long as you are in good health you should be grateful for that and treat your bicycle as what it is - namely an item. What's important is not your bicycle and how pristine it looks. It is you and your health.
I sit here reading all of these posts and see a little of me in every one of them. I have been forced by age to change my ways.
I can't believe the number of silly little health issues that crop up while pushing the limits with TMB (To Many Birthdays) that you never even contemplated were possible when younger. The old saying "If it doesn't hurt it probably doesn't work" has some truth.
Past a certain age (different for everyone) its probably wise to take a more structured managed risk approach to strenuous, dangerous physical activities or plan on ending your career early.
For me the idea of managed risk came from the cockpit of aircraft. Mistakes there can be damned unforgiving.
The bike matters: Get on the best bike you can and maintain that bike to a high degree of mechanical shape. Make sure the bike is maintained.
Good bike fit matters: A good bike fit gives you use of the full range of motion you have.
Technique matters: Have some kind of formal training plan for gaining skills and follow it. You will have much more fun and not waste precious time.
Fitness Matters: Good fitness helps in so many ways to avoid injury and enjoy the sport. The more fit you are the less you hurt even without injury. Have some kind of a formal plan.
Nutrition Matters: You cannot perform to your potential metally or physically if the body is not fueled correctly:
Sleep and Recovery times Matter: Sleep deprivationand and lack of recovery time between rides are no doubt big contributors to injury in this sport.
Be willing to modify your plans as you find misunderstandings in you knowledge base.
Managed risk is meant to greatly reduce inherent risks. The plan is not meant to be rigid. You work your plan and your plan works magic. When you get on trail you can become metally intense and one with the bike and the trail while you open it up. Everything in you plan works its magic all without thought to make your riding superb.
One way or another you always pay for your education. I haven't got enough birthdays left to re-enroll in the school of hard knocks. Been there done that.
So how am I doing at the managed risk game:
My bike is in top mechanical condition, plush and fits me to a very high degree. Grade A
I have taken a formal approach to gaining skills and work on that often. Grade A-
My marks are not as good on the rest. My nutrition and sleep habits need improvement and that directly affects physical fitness. Grade C
I just have one area of my plan that seems to fail me. I am still susceptible to the "Hey guys watch this" crap and every now and then fall off the wagon. Grade F.
Damned, just about what school grades looked like years ago.
The bike does matter. The more disrepair it's in and the more unreliable it is, the more likely you are to be injured by an unexpected crash.
But with that said, the rider matters more. Both with having the skills to avoid certain types of crashes but also the mental fortitude to make decisions that prevent injuries.
the bike matters a little bit IMHO. If you don't have trust and confidence in your bike you are going to fail. How many of you want to go down hill moutain biking on a wallyworld bike?
I've been on rides baffled as to how poorly others maintain their bikes. No chain lube, loose crank arms, busted up pedals, sketchy brakes... One guy who is a very skilled rigid SS rider had a rear wheel that had completely lost tension and wobbled like a weeble.
I try and stay in front of those peeps and avoid the carnage :arf:
Body parts are $$$$, and by comparison bikes are cheap.
Never cease to be amazed by the # of people who'll ride with known issues.
Rain rides are brutal, wreak havoc on bikes, and at times cannot be avoided.
Witnessed last weekend's SM100 to realize that often the more I see - the less I know,
yet believe in the old adages that; a painter's house always needs paint,
the minister's daughter is truly a wild child, and the mechanics g/f's bike usually has needs.
Painter's houses need paint because they are hammered by the time they get off work. It's funny how professionals can be lax in their own field. Fat doctors are a good example.
Are you kidding me? It's all bout the BIKE and only the BIKE. 100%. Why do they call it
MOUNTAIN BIKING? If you're so concerned about getting hurt then don't ride stay home and play golf in that fake man-made environment. Or better yet become a cry baby, sierra clubber and cry complain about the MOUNTAINBIKERS and their MOUNTAINBIKES. Getting an owei is the lease of my worries when I'm on my MOUNTAINBIKE. Yes I have my share of scars. But I got them having the most fun you can have on a MOUNTAINBIKE. 100% FUN NO HOLDING BACK
thank you
remeber MOUNTAINBIKE
For me my bike is a means to an end, a tool. It enables me to get healthy, enjoy the outdoors , have a blast doing it and meet great people and assh*les alike! Lol So I maintain my tool and in turn it helps me make my life better. If I break a part then I replace it with the best I can afford. If I can't do it right away then until I can I do something else. It's all about balance
As I watched my 14 year old daughter roll away from me in that seemingly effortless way that some people seem to have about them when they turn it up a few notches I thought "good for her!" and just kept plodding along. I blow up too easily now and have to pace it better and only sprint when I'm dialed and ready.
If I had the option of bail and maybe break the bike, or try to ride it out and possibly spend weeks in the hospital, I'm bailing. it's personal values. I personally value my health and ability more than my bike. I can always buy another bike, but no matter what faith you have in medicine, you cannot buy a new spinal cord. I'm terrified of paralysis and will always ditch the bike first.
not ride until you can pay for repairs/replacements, or never ride again.
your choice.
The older I get, the more its about me. It amazes me at the chances some take. As I get on the down side of 40, it just takes longer to recover. Spent 12 weeks out of work with a broke leg, motorcycle gone bad. Could have been just as easily been on a bicycle. That's a long time without a pay check. The amount of doctors' bills could have filled my garage with s-works bikes. I love to push it hard, now I just weigh the risks more and always keep my options open.
One's post-crash concern for the bike's condition increases as the distance back to the trailhead increases.
For all you math heads, I was going to use the term 'directly proportional', but when I googled that term, I was quickly lost.
Would my points have been linear and passed through the point of origin?
Would my ratios be the same for all sets of values?
But first, there is the variable of the body's ability to ride the bike back to the trailhead.
Can anyone make this into an equation?
Seriously, though, health and safety trump risk always.
Went down a bit hard in a local XC race today. My first concern seemed to be not getting passed. The condition of my body, in this case my knee, and the bike were secondary. Not saying my priority was logical, that's just the way it was at the moment. And that was just after I passed for the second time/lap some poor guy waiting for the ambulance after he had crashed. Maybe I need my head examined.
The third race in the series is next week, can't wait.
I've been insanely lucky over the years with crashing so I think that I minimize in my mind the risks that I am taking riding. It's just too damn fun to worry about getting hurt so I don't.
I've been pretty lucky with not wrecking stuff too although the bike is always the first thing I check out as I get up from a fall. Since 2006 I've tacoed one front wheel, shredded two saddles on rocks, busted off a shifter, and put some scratches in the paint of my rides.
As for me, two things: I had bursitis in my knee last year which lasted a good 6 months due to bashing my kneecap off a rock and then later, the handlebar; I'm dealing with a torn volar plate on my right hand which I tore March 8th this year, and it's still not right.
These two injuries have really put a damper on my rides, but there's not much I can do but wait them out. The hand is better to the point where I can ride 4 or 5 hours a week without aggravating the injury too much, but I hardly rode at all earlier in the summer.
Getting on the bike is just as fun as it's ever been and certainly I haven't slowed down except for the drop in fitness caused by not riding.
I thought this was going to a "it doesn't matter what kind of bike, what brand or how expensive/cheap/light/heavy your bike is, just get out and ride" thread.
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