I told the good lady that if I'd hurt myself skiing she would be more sympathetic and she's come around.

hooray..

to Forking Our Souls: first off I nicked judo lessons idea from a bike magazine (or a motocross magazine can't remember which) but having done judo being thrown over a mans shoulder while facing foward is very simmilar to being thrown over your handle bars you go about as high but you always land on your back. The technique in judo is to absorb some of the force of the fall with your arms any time you fall and the action is done a millisecond before you fall so it is helpful any time you are about to come in contact with the ground which I think mirrors most mountainbiking falls.

Iain

teenagers bounce better as they dont spend all week sat a desk drinking coffee.

Was my 37th birthday last weekend so I like the the sentiment of this topic very much.
I was very late to biking (35!) so I am loving getting faster & faster all the time even though I am anxious over the time when that stops…

To be honest I think I MTB is fairly low risk? I stopped rallying & moto-x (enduro)…

Exactly what wwaswas says. Limit your risk. If your jumps are 'ok' and sketchy then its probably time to realise to knock that part of the head.

I say adjust your riding. That way you will ride longer into later life anyway without any complications. Keep at it the level you are and your riding could be the next few years max (extreme example but still). I was going to switch to roadbikes in my mid40s' that way I will be hopefully riding still in my 80's rather than stopped riding altogether by the time I hit 50 (I have a few old injuries from years ago)

dont listen to jedi- hes a bloody exception (mutters)- show off!

ride life! 🙂

"Frenchy", 74 year old cancer suvivor takes 5th place in MTB race..
http://www.superhumanmag.com/content/view/1591/48/

To Iain Gillam… Does judo teach you how to deal with being flung into a tree? Or cartwheeling down a rock garden? Fair enough, if you ride on nice flat, soft ground (or blue cushioned matting), you might benefit from knowing how to disperse a bit of energy. But in my experience, I only ever go over the bars on really techy, unforgiving sections.
I would say it's of very limited use.

"Frenchy" FTW!

I used to ride with a chap who'd retired from teaching at sixty. He's had a hell of a life, he's a qualified mountain guide, he served in the RAF and has recently gone into business selling organic foodstuffs.

We rode in Yorks a few years back, he smoked me on the descents (despite riding an elderly rigid) and still managed an impromptu parachute roll when he was thrown over the bars. He got back on the bike and carried on riding.

Legend.

I'm 41 but my missus (who's slightly older than me) does some climbing etc. so doesn't think me mountain biking and the like is strange.

Except night riding – she still seems surprised that sometimes I'll sit about the house waiting for it to get dark before heading out on my bike.

Aren't cracked ribs the most annoying injury ever? 🙁

Cracked ribs are a right pain, I'm moping about the house like and old man and have missed another good day of dry trails. Not sleeping isn't much fun either.

Will try and go for a gentle little spin a week or two.

+23 for doing judo

although I don't know how much use it would be if you're a giffer – old dogs and new tricks
I did judo as a kid and always seem to instinctively roll when I fall and don't damage myself
[sticks finger in the eye of fate]

I'm 46 and having picked up MTB after 10+ years off, enjoying it more and more. As you age it's slower to build up fitness but getting there; did the long course at the last Merida and had a hoot at SSUK09. I guess it's a bit easier being 10st and small with a history of sport…

Although I've busted a few ribs in my time, mostly rugby, the most painful injury MTBwise happened a couple of weeks ago – wheelying with SPDs, straight back onto the top of my pelvis, so painful even my mates forgot to take the p*ss!

Took my eldest (7) to the new jumpy bits at Llandegla over the weekend. He's keen to have a go and I'm, to be honest, just as keen. Now, which jump bike…

chicks dig scars….. I'm covered in the blighters and have permenantly knackered fingers from climbing and falling off bikes.

seriously though, your body falls apart as you get older even if you do f*ck all with your life, so you might as well abuse the sh*t out of it while you can, and then you can tell fab stories to the grandchildren about about how that limp was caused by a massive bail on a 35ft gap jump etc….

Cracked my ribs in April. Six weeks off the bike as I didn't want to risk my trip to Whistler in August.

I'm 43 and later that day I binned it about 5 minutes down from the Roundhouse Lodge and hurt my leg. Still smiling when I got to the bottom. Jedi is right, you only get old when you stop.

Growing old is inevitable growing up is optional… I'm 55

a few ribs is nothing to worry about – you have heaps more after all! 😉

seriuosly though, doing/trying to do stuff that is beyond you and getting hurt is something you do at any age… you should only 'stop' if the getting hurt is taking up more time than the getting out riding

Cracked ribs are bloody annoying. First time I did two I remember rolling over onto my arm in the middle of the night and then laying awake in a silent scream for the next ten minutes sweating like crazy!

Ride within your limits. Sometimes you should understand that maybe pushing your limits in one activity isnt wise as you are never going to be 'better' and better. I think it'll make folk slightly depressed if they keep thinking they have to ride better.
Go back to why you enjoy cycling. Why did you get into it?

Primarily I love nature, I love being in the middle of nowhere away from everyone in the woods…just like when I was a kid.

Who cares about jumps and drops? You kinda get the inkling whether you are any good at them at the start.
Jesus if I wanted to 'man up' I'd seriously question whether I have issues with my masculinity etc. 🙂