Crashing and getting back in the saddle

[Fired Yo Momma]

Those injuries build good stories and character. I used to play rugby in collage and here in So Cal for a Div 1 mens club. l had had my fair shares of major injuries. The worst I think was when I had internal bleeding from a hit I took. That was crazy, I was in the hospital for a week and was using a walker for about another two weeks and was reduced to using a capahter to urinate for about a week after I got out the hospital. Hmmmm lets see oh I fractured my left eye socket, concussions, seperated shoulder twice, had the knee scoped twice. I don't play rugby as much anymore, I am just was getting to banged up and it was always getting hard for me to get out of bed the next day, but I still have a passion for the game and to me its the greatest game in the world. I stopped playing as much because I am 33 and I still want to be able to play with my kids when I do have kids. This is why I fell in love with MTB because its a rush going downhill and the personal acheivement of making it up that climb. Also I have never ridden with you guys but you guys seem to have a pretty good pack and are always doing fun stuff with each other, like rugby wow let me tell you about beer drinking . Well back on topic I know how you feel about the mental overcome from coming back from a injury. Take baby steps, do chill rides like fire roads, do errands on your bike.

[~ Pakiha ~]

Originally Posted by Fired Yo Momma

. I still have a passion for the game and to me its the greatest game in the world.

GO ALL BLACKS!!
YouTube - allblacks haka adidas ad

[0gravity]

I know what you mean, but through a different sport.

All through college and a couple years afterwards, I was really into rock climbing, and bouldering in particular (super short, near the ground climbs, but no rope, you just downclimb or jump down to a big pad). Anyway, I had a freak injury making a relatively normal hop down to the pad. Blew my ACL out. I never got back on that horse because the risks were too high. Instead I just stuck to regular climbing with a rope. Even there, my head wasn't where it used to be.

My point is I decided to drop the risky activity in favor for a less risky one. Maybe you should chill on the fast downhills, and shuttling, in favor of safer XC style, all-mountain riding. If you were shuttling, I'm guessing going down fast is (was?) your big thing. Just pull it back a bit to regain your confidence and keep things safer.

Whether you take anything from this at all, have a speedy and full recovery.

[Fired Yo Momma]

Do some Haka

[FyrFytrRyn]

hey shu,
didnt u mention that it was a mech failure and not skill? that should help more than anything to get you back mentally, assuming it wasn't your fault the bike had a failure.

[PacMan]

Originally Posted by dstepper

Being off the bikes for a couple of weeks/months is something I am not willing to risk.

Dean

ABSOLUTELY!! I know a guy who crashed big time in October and is STILL off the bike. He gave me crap in the past for not pushing it and taking chances and now look at him. He's been off for 6 months and I have ridden well over 100 times since then.

Not only do I not want to be off the bike, but I have a job to go to and a family to support. "When in doubt, walk" is my motto.

Plus I'm a big wuss, so there's that...

[Shu]

Originally Posted by Mudd

Ya, but......Is the bike ok?

Bike made it thru like a CHAMP

[Pain Freak]

I've had a few bumps and bruises over the years mtb'ing, and it takes me a while to get back into the flow of things after a big crash. Last particular one was at a place I considered fairly easy so I might have been riding a little over my ability. It was at El Prieto in the San Gab's. I went OTB and continued on over the side. I stopped by falling into a bush. No real damage, but I was stuck there. If it hadn't been for some other DH guys that were following me I don't know if that bush would've supported me much longer. I had no idea there were drops like that on that trail. A good 30+ foot drop to the bottom that was covered in rocks. I got a good look that day and have never bounced back 100% from that day. But I'm okay with that. I'll just be a little slower down the hill, but I will ride another day.

[osmarandsara]

Loss of confidence after a bad crash is something i'm very familiar with......after a bad accident last year I basically rode around the neighborhood with my 6 year old son at first and then slowly moved up to riding around the park, then the river bike path, then fire roads, and then finally my old trails.

On April 28, 2006, while riding XC alone my front tire got caught in a deep rut while riding on a narrow trail on the side of a steep hill. My body leaned sideways (downslope) but the bike stayed perfectly perpendicular due to the rut.......I crashed and I heard a horrible snapping sound and i thought I must have landed on some bushes or something.

When I got up I realized my left foot failed to unclip from my shimano spd's and my entire body-weight fell on my ankle, shattering it in two places, tearing ligaments, and braking my tibia just below the knee.

Since I was alone I decided to make it back to my truck on my own since it was all downhill...it took me about 1 hour to ride/limp/crawl about 2 miles back to the trail head.

It took two operations, four leg screws (two permanent) and 3 1/2 months in cast to be able to walk again......about 5-6 months to ride on pavement...and about 10 months to ride at my previous level.... When I did finally get back to my favorite trails I could not believe some of the stuff I had been riding right up to my accident..it really opened my eyes.

I also reflected on the numerous times I had gone over the bars and had come away unscathed....and also those rare (but real times) my feet did not unclip from the pedals while crashing...

Since I was not gonna give up mt. biking as a result of the accident I decided on the following changes however:

1. Before each ride I remind myself that mt. biking is dangerous and possibly even fatal and i ride with a higher level of awareness and appreciation of the hazards.

2. If I have to ride alone, I stick to the fireroads behind my house...my accident happened about 15 miles away from civilization and I was completely alone.

3. And last but not least.....gulp.... I did away with the clipless pedals and went back to straps and toe clips.

This last decision was a hard one for me, you definitely lose a great deal of power, traction, and bike control by giving up the clip-less....and re-tightening the straps while moving is a royal pain in the a_ _.

But for me (I'm 38 yrs old) the trade-off is safety: the straps and plastic toe-clips are flexible, they give and bend a lot more than the clip-less, and my new pedals have nice big platforms that allow me to stand unclipped while bombing the down-hills. I can also now ride my bike with or without biking shoes.

(If I was 20 years old again, unmarried, no kids, no mortgage, I would have kept the clipless no doubt.)

Don't get me wrong, I ride with plenty of guys that laugh at my old-school pedals, but thats ok.... I ride a road bike as well and I kept the clipless on that bike since I don't ride any rocky single track on my 12 speed ......

just my two cents.

[0gravity]

Wow, osmarandsara, that was a wicked ordeal you went through and an awful recovery. I know something about that too. I could have elaborated about my knee and how when getting the ACL repaired, I got a staph infection and nearly died. Spent 10 days in the hospital and after release still had to administer the strongest IV antibiotics they have for six full weeks. Three surgeries in as many weeks, with all that immobility, you can probably imagine how long it took to recover that knee. Thankfully, I'm back to about 99% now. I hope you're back to near-normal with that ankle and leg. Good luck if there's continued recovery.

[Jordansrealm]

Took me about a month to get back into it after I did what I did to my arms and legs in the avatar pic to your left. I was timid on the bike for a while but then got back into the swing of things.

[PacMan]

Don't sweat the clipless issue. It has been discussed a lot, but: you don't lose that much power and as far as control--those who don't like platforms/flats just haven't tried the right flats. My feet never slip and I never wish I had more control.