My long term riding pal came off during a Lakes ride 5 weeks ago & broke his wrist. Nothing unusual there on the grand scheme of things you might think. Wev’e been riding together pretty much constantly for 19 years & have had our fair share of spills & associated mishaps, but….it seems he has completely lost it. He’s always been on good money from work, but since his fall has been on statutory sick pay (not much) & is now doubtful as to wether he’ll bother riding again, after spending about 2K+ on a Pace HT only a few months ago! He knows he can’t afford this to happen any more, but he’s a really good rider. Goes up like a mountain goat & descends like a nutter on speed! What do I do or say to convince him NOT to sell his bike off cheap?? Any advice would be appreciated.

let him be

but since his fall has been on statutory sick pay

were they looking for a reason to get rid of him ? And what sort of job does he do that can’t be done with a broken wrist ?

No reason to get rid but a fair bit of driving involved (Smallish new private company) & he’s a commercial building surveyor.
(What this has to do with the original question of talking him out of giving up MTB’ing I don’t know. Ok, it’s my fault for filling in on the details!!)

(What this has to do with the original question of talking him out of giving up MTB’ing I don’t know

you have to establish context I guess – but then, biking is demanding – you can only do it if you really want to, and if you lose the taste for it then you might as well do something more appealing instead – you can’t force it.

If he needs a break, I’d give him a break, and there to remind him what he’s missing and to help him back in when he’s ready. You can’t force people into enjoying themselves. IMO 😉

Everyone has a point where things aren’t worth the hassle. I can’t imagine you hassling him more is going to help. Let him come around on his own.

I agree, he’s a grown man. Lots of people face the possibility of not been able to work if they get an injury or illness. It’s part of life unfortunately and injuries are part of mountain biking.
If he thinks MTBing’s not worth the risk, that’s fair enough (and understandable). Chances are he may think differenty once he’s healed, back working and missing riding.

He could always buy some body armour and slow down a little. I always wear dainese elbow/knee/shin guards and never go past what my skills allow, I love my mtbing and would never give it up, BUT, only having one leg breaking the other isn’t an option and if I break an arm I can’t put my tin leg on.
A lot of people look at what I’m wearing and snigger but never put some thought into why.
Anyway, suggest he buys some decent protection and you BOTH take it a little easier on rides….job done 🙂

He could buy himself an income protection policy from Friends Provident. basically, if you are off sick from work it replaces your income. MTBing is not classified as a dangerous sport. so the premium would be calculated based on the risk associated with his job & his historic health record.

It can be a bit of a shit to underwrite involving doctor reports (paid for by the insurer) and a fair amount of waiting. but if you are self-employed and like to take risks I don’t think you can beat it as a catch all “pay the mortgage & bills” solution for those of us who can’t afford to be off work for long periods.

And while I understand it doesn’t help for now, it might give him the confidence to go back to riding.

I say this in 2 guises:
1 as someone who is self employed & had 6 months off work with a bike related broken neck &
2 as someone who used to give advice on this stuff.

I can point you toward other resources who can tell you if this would suit your circumstances. Or find your own IFA.

Sometimes a break is needed.
I had a crash a number of years back that my mates said should either have paralyzed me or worse. I took 2 years out.

But when I looked at getting back to it, it was those same mates that helped me choose my bike (or rather convinced me to spend the money) and those same mates took me out on several weekends worth of ‘gentle tootle’ rides so i could build up my confidence and bottle again.

Give him time, and be there for him when he asks for the help.

All the best for his recovery.

Had the same thing after I bust my arm, you go from being a hardworking mad biker to a do nothing sick note. Your mate has more that likely been on painkillers and allsorts of other stuff. Give him time. If that does not work steal his bikes wait a few weeks until he is totally pi??ed of cause he can’t ride and then give them back remember to say surprise with a big smile.

Cut the poor guy some slack.

I busted an arm (badly, at the climbing wall) and sold my mountain bike frame 2 weeks later. Went back to hardtail.

Didn’t do much for a couple of years and more but back into it.

If he’s been riding for 19 years he’ll miss it and will come back.

He might just be slower and more careful however.

Mebbe try and dissuade him from doing anything rash but hey a grand will get you a ‘plenty good enough’ bike to tool about on at some time in the future…

That said I don’t regret selling that full sus frame (I got more or less what I paid for it!)

how much does he want for the bike?

I broke my wrist twice last year. It hurt like **** and is still painful after a ride which is kind of a big deal. I am now a total girl pants on the downs but the only way I can improve is practice. I had many weeks off work due to not being able to type! So give the guy some time. You could buy him a MTB dvd to remind him of the good times. Also would suggest he gets one of these http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=3543

It has helped me get back out riding and wouldn’t go anywhere without it now.

Good luck and hope your buddy gets better asap

2hottie

ah samuri? i was just a matter of time eh 😀

He’ll be reet, given time to heal and reflect he’ll come round again.

Sounds like his only thing for fun was riding and when you can’t do that you can get depressed unless you’re busy in other things and hobbies.

Wait for his wrist to mend.

Don’t sell the bike.

Get him to do something else.

Can he run/jog? get those endorphins kicking in!

Some good responses there, thanks everybody. I haven’t hassled him at all about it though, I’ve simply said what 2hottie & metalheart said & tried (& will continue!) to keep his interest/confidence up.
Body armour might have stopped his knees being skinned in the crash but I don’t suppose it would have done much else.
Join the queue for the bike, & I’m first in it!
That’s it on the left & thats him!

Very interesting actually, because I was riding with my dad in February, and he broke his wrist during the ride. Hes also a (land) surveyor as well.

However, he works for himself, so no sick leave. Of course, I offered to help him out with his work for as long as he needed, so he didnt have too many problems there. (I also recall saying something like “go on, you can do it..” right before said injury occured, so I owed him.)

But since then, hes not been as confident on rocky steep stuff, and we’re going to the Alps in the summer, so I’m worried about how he’s going to be with the stuff there. We’ve been riding plenty, and he handles the descents fine – its just the tricky, slow technical stuff. I dont know how to make him ride the same again either.. I suppose I just have to let him “get over it”.

It’s the same with Steve, he’s only ever come off on slow, daft stuff. He dislocated a finger when he literally bumped into a gate, then bust his thumb when he slid off on a very sliperry ford! I mean he’s effing quick on descents & climbs like a mountain goat. Looks like the tour of Mt Blanc’s out.