I had a horrid crash nearly 4 weeks ago, arsed a drop off at Cathkin and landed on face, unconscious, face surgery, few days in hospital, still sore.

Can’t get back on mtb till next week as waiting new crash replacement lid and new specs.

I’ve done 3 road rides and a velodrome session in the last week so fitness is fine but am more than a little wary of bumpy stuff, whenever it will happen,probably this time next week.

So is it just MTFU or what ? I have no recollection of crash, or what happened – one minute I was riding along, next I remember was being put in ambulance over 30 mins later….

I got my arm broke in the summer.

Knocked my confidence on drops and square edged hits when I got back riding again, worried my arm would give way while it was weak.

In the end it was falling off and landing on that arm that stopped me worrying about it.

Don’t know if that helps or not.

A goal might help. 6 weeks before the 3 Peaks I broke my arm.

I got a PB at the race.

I’m still wary on drops and rocky decents. After breaking my collarbone twice in 13. More riding I do the better I get, have learnt to say no and not be afraid to walk down something. Worst thing is to ride scared and not enjoy it. It takes time

Thanks. I think the saying no and getting off will be a requirement for a while.

I guess you get to feel kind of invincible and then a big off takes it all away

Just ride. IME you’ll have a few rides where you ride crap but then one ride it’ll click again.

How many times have you done Cathkin and not fell off? One way of looking at it is that it was a fluke or a 1 in a million accident.

Get a good couple of rides under your belt build up slowly and you will get over it. Take it slowly and think about technique not lap times

Just ride. Take your time and enjoy being back on your bike.

It will naturally come back, but may take a few months of walking over stuff and chicken runs.

Aye, that’s a point. It wasn’t a new bit for me, just a lack of concentration probably. Darned scary tho 😥

Unfortunately accidents that you can’t remember what you did wrong are harder to get over IMO. Firstly try visualization techniques where you just sit nice and quiet and imagine yourself cleaning a variety of drop offs, don’t allow yourself to think of any offs or OTB moments, just cleaning the sections of trail.
When it comes to riding off road again start small but above all else think positively. If you are at all unsure there is no harm in stopping scoping it out and then giving it a positive go once you are convinced you will clear it. If you still remain in the negative do as I would do and look for the alternate route down. Not wrong with self preservation and riding within your limits!!

MTFU about what?

I know blokes who ride bicycles who think its some manly-hardman activity. Its bicycle riding- far removed from boxing.

Learn to love it again, smooth, flow not speed. Ride for yourself.

I was out for 18 months 2007/8 with a broken collarbone. And as soon as I got back on, broke the other shoulder… 🙁
My learnings from that…
Don’t beat yourself up about it or ride scared – makes it harder to get the flow back
Listen to your self-talk, if you’re scared or focussing on the negatives and the fear, get it dealt with.
Ride easy and focus on flow rather than speed whilst you get your head straight
What really helped me was a few skills sessions to give me new techniques to learn and get the flow back

Thanks all.

hora – I know what you mean but after me having a night in intensive care my wife didn’t quite see it that way…

Have an easy ride and see how you feel, then ask.

As above, ride your bike! You will be stiff and nervous at first, which doesn’t help with smoothness and flow, so start off nice and slow, enjoy just being on your bike. Don’t put yourself under any pressure to ride any particular path, track or obsticle. Ride with others too, and let them “suck you along” and that way you’ll just find yourself enjoying it and smiling, which is what it is all about really. I’d say also, that you can use these set backs to your advantage, by taking the opportunity to learn new skills or get fitter / more flexible etc. Anything like that helps push your riding forwards and makes recovery easier.

Iainc you misunderstood (?) my post. Im not being negative to you but others; peer pressure, the feeling that you have to ride good for others.

BTW- My gf resented me for weeks afterwards.

Hora, no worries, I did read it wrong !

Ride when you are ready – don’t rush it. Step up the technicality when you are ready too – you will know when.

Ride with supportive people if you ride with others.

Dislocated my shoulder in August,was riding again shortly after but had “the fear”.

Been riding a lot recently and seem to be getting back up to speed and the “Fear” seems to be going,just get out and ride your confidence will come back.

Have just been told i may need surgery on my shoulder due to my accident.Its a lot better but having issues with it.

If you’re not a squid and could ride drops in the first place? This is what you need to do.

Go into the woods with a spade.
Find slope with run in/out.
Build a 1ft drop.
Hit it until you’re loose and not remotely scared.
Built a 2ft drop.
Hit it until you’re loose and not remotely scared.
Build a 3ft drop….etc.

Never fails.

Just start slow.. after snapping my collarbone I just started riding Fireroads just to be out on the bike, then chucked in some easy single track and slowly worked my way up as confidence grew.

After a sleepless night had a cracking ride with GMBC this morning, with lots of slippery singletrack and no drop offs. All came together after about an hr and had a superb ride. Thanks for all the encouraging words

Similar position. Crashed in the Alps in August 13 and fractured my wrist. Cast stayed on for 10 weeks. I rode for the first time in the Peak 5 weeks after the cast came off. My wrist didn’t feel strong enough, I rode with pain and in fear. That was mid November and I’ve not ridden since.

Granted I’ve had the arrival of my daughter and a house renovation to keep me busy but I’m hoping to get back riding this month. Slow and steady will be my approach. First focussing on fitness, then building trail/technical confidence again. After a previous crash in 11 (which coincidentally fractured the same wrist) it takes months but I came back a stronger, improved rider.

Knowing this my biggest fear is my wrist.

I was lucky to not lose any fitness and due to injuries I actually lost weight. I did 3 or 4 road rides on CX bike and a couple of velodrome sessions while off MTB, so thankfully fitness is fine. Got rid of a few demons today which was good

Good stuff, Iain, see you soon.

I’ve had multiple broken bones over the years. More due to the fact I’m made from cheese rather me being super rad. So I’ve had to pick my self up few times to try and get back into biking.

For me it helps to analyse and understand what went wrong and why I crashed. Sometimes its my fault using the wrong technique so I try to improve in that area either with tuition or just practice to minimise the chance the same thing will happen again.

But overall I try and take things in small steps, even if the ride is going really well, I try and end the ride on a high wanting to do more. Sometimes you can keep pushing your self until you hit your limit and it feels like a backwards step. This keeps the fun factor up and is not tarnished by anything. This makes me want to go out and ride again and before I know it my Mojo is back!

I landed on my face in June last year too. Stitches and a few weeks at home.

I was nervous for a few months, and now pretty much back to normal. All you need is time. Confidence will come back, I rationalised it by thinking how many times I’ve been riding on my bike, and how many times I’ve landed on my face. By that count I’ll be over 40 when I land on my face again.

All good advice above, just get back into it slowly and start out taking it easy etc and work back up to it.
I broke my collar bone back in July and ended up with a plate and 6 screws. Was off the bike for 8 weeks then started back doing gentle XC rides to get some fitness and gradually built back up to more technical trails as my confidence came back.
When you start back, the injury and fear of falling is always in the back of your mind, then it gradually diminishes,then one day you will get to the end of your ride and you will realise part of the reason you had such a good time was that you hadnt even thought about it….job done!

like everyone is saying start slow have fun and relax/flow ( so don’t think too much)

I started doing some non bike strength/flexibility exercises again, so when I do fall off next time I will hopefully be in better shape to take the hit and get bruised and grazed as opposed to broken. it gave me some confidence back and feels good too!

and I felt a lot better after I crashed again and the old collarbone held up 🙂

lots of great ideas, very helpful, appreciated, cheers

well the mojo was coming back quite well, until…

another trip in an ambulance 🙁

so, maybe time for Golf, or Dominoes ?? 🙂