[Closed] What's the best tactic after falling off at age 46?

Just let it heal and carry one as before, If you arent buggering it every ride then dont worry about it, everyone has an occasional off. I'm 43 and knackered my shoulder last year, that was about a month off the bike. (I dont do things like table tops mind, I messed up a big drop-off)

Mix of D and E

oh and ice

e) get some proper coaching and practice until I'm good at jumps.

or just forget about the jumpy/getting air bit and realise that a split second of thrill seeking "air" time may lead to months of sitting on the sofa nursing broken bones and unable to ride.

And i dunno bout seeing a psychic?, do you see dead people?.

Your reactions aren't getting any quicker & your body takes longer to heal. Ride within your limits.
I should know, I'm 56 & came off on Good Friday, landed on me nut & hurt my neck & I'm still not right. Body armour helps but won't stop collarbones etc, getting broken.
Depends who you want to keep up with really.

Get back on the horse and go back to basics. 😀
Oh,and what are the trails like at Laggan,still look like they are being used/maintained?

d)

I am a year older and would say D

And FWIW I am selling my full susser and getting a Soul 🙂

I am the same age broke my ribs twice on the bike in 12 months.

Had a Hernia op.

2 weeks with back locked out and could not move.

I did not for a second think I would stop riding.

I am getting tired of building up my fitness and then having to do it all again a few months later, but hay ho.

I am lucky (unlike a few of my riding mates) that my wife, although she does not ride, supports me doing it, ( although there was a bit chat with my current injury)

But I would say. I do it because it's fun if it ever stops being fun I will look for something else to do.

d)...

less airtime....
more slow-steep-technical-rocky-balance-stuff

Armour/pads, coaching & practise. No matter how old you are the ground will always win! Equip yourself to take the bail as it's a matter of when, not if and get some proper advice on technique.

I've been mountain-biking for years

Probably some bad habits to iron out which is far easier with someone else to help.

Did your bar pull towards your stronger side as you tried to bunnyhop? It takes a while to get it, but quite a few coaches promote pushing the bike into the jump rather than hefting the whole thing up like a BMXer. Dirtschool and UKBikeskills are particularly good at this, choose the one you're closest to. It'll give your riding a boost as a whole too!

....however if you want B, my Glasgow based 5 will be on there classifieds in a week 🙂

Heal. D&E. Only a few years behind you and I want to keep progressive so don't give up trying or riding!

E)

and

F) keep riding and practising, flat pedals for bailing

G) remember as you age it takes a little longer to heal so be patient

H) Enjoy

full suss if you want but if your techinque, karma, luck are out that day you will still hit the floor, and Mother Nature will win.

On another thread it was suggested about learning to fall does help, as an ex rugby player I seem to bounce fairly well, but mate who is all ex para martial arts rolls like a weeble, lots of scrapes but no major damage at 52.

Jeeez, you're only 46, thats hardly old! Wait for it to heal, then get out and ride again. I'm 41, most of the people I ride with are older than me, and we don't worry about a bit of air. Accidents happen, you could have been at home and fallen down the stairs, instead you were out with your son having fun.

Get back on. Resume normal routine. You had a bad day. You're 46 not 64.

Thanks everyone for your helpful feedback.

I am lucky in that my wife hasn't once said 'you shouldn't......etc'. instead she poured my a whisky mac, which I can recommend as better for you than Ibuprofen (unless you have alcohol issues of course).

Laggan good fun: some work has been down to tidy up the trails on the lower red. Although the bike shop and cafe are now gone, there is a really nice guy there called Davy ho is selling venison burgers etc from a trailer at weekends. Nice pancakes too. 'The Billy Can' its called. It was nice to see it so busy yesterday as its a great little centre - still has the rustic charm that Glentress used to have.

My inclination seems to be keep it light - thinking of getting rid of my rock shocks in favour of rigids and maybe go for 1*10 gears. Don't think I'm fit enough for single speed unfortunately but I like the ideal of it.

I'm doing the Glentress 7 in a few weeks and I'm not sure suspension forks make much difference to me, but weight definitely does.

I'll save the full sus for the occasion hire day to give it a blast and save myself £3000.

Make sense?

Yeah, crack on. When your better, go back & nail the jump & tick it off the fear list. I'm 55 and while my skills are getting better recovery times don't. Some crashes are inevitable but the 661 body padded top & Deviant FF helps,

D. E might stop you crashing a bit, but won't make it hurt any less when you do.

That makes sense, although you might find a lighter suspension fork a lot kinder than rigid. Also, watch the climbs if going 1 x 10 - don't mess up your knees.

(Oh, and my 5 will be about a third of that 🙂 )

Hopefully by now you've worked out that its going to be best to get back on your bike and minimise the amount of air to suit?

Ice and heat are your friends and so long as you're sure it's not broken, use your arm as much as possible. Avoid strapping it.

My exact same experience of injured shoulder (no air induced fall) occurred about 4 weeks ago, since then I've continued to work in my chosen trade and spent a fantastic week skiing. I'm off out for a ride in a couple of hours. Yes, I'm something of a hero! 😉 I turned 50 in the meantime...

MTFU?

E

And possibly D

My wife always used to ask me why I like MTB. "Each time you go out, you either break yourself or the bike. What's the point?" She had a point, but then helped by buying me some skils coaching! Lots of washing up in return from my end!!!

Dignitas

@dashcroft it is a sad reality that the older you get the longer is the recovery time from "incidents" the answer to your question lies in E together with taking things a little more progressively. Falls are inevitable and IMO part of the fun

FYI I am posting this with an ice pack on my knee will,be doing the physio "reps" next, haven't ridden bike or done much of anything else for 4 months since busting my knee skiing. It's an inconvenience but I'll take the risk of injury and rehab over sitting and doing nothing.

Im nearly 55 and I still come off. It happens. Dust youself off rest recover, takes a bit more now, go and repeat. Lifes too short to give up.

Dislocated my sholder at 6000' in Spain Sierra Nevada in a OTHB moment at the snow line alone and hour half away from road. Not good. Thankfully bike was ok, I slapped hand on bar and rode down and back to hotel and A&E 🙂 Ok that hurt but you get over it.

A full sus is a lot more capable bike but isnt a skill repaclement. Just ride more 🙂

F use public transport?

Get a road bike. I'm considerably fitter now at 56 than I was before I took up road riding and in 5500 miles I haven't fallen off.... yet..... maybe 20 years of mountain biking have given me good handling skills.

Sunday morning and you've already decided that you're taking a week off work due to sore shoulder ("guess its a week off work = i will be off work, and im assuming you work mon-fri) .........you work in the public sector, dont you??

SiB...bit of a negative view on public sector workers there? Have a look at their revised sickness management instructions certainly in Local Gov, very very different from the preconceptions.

D&E

Your never too old to learn, but if you can't do something then giving in is sometimes the better option.

Its all about confidence. Hesitancy will now be in the back of your mind if you are worried about stacking it. Hesitance will lead to you mincing and no doubt there will be another off. Commitment and confidence with hitting jumps (and reasonable technique) is where you need to be.. but then theres the running out of talent bit too. Skills course to learn good technique and take your lad to a pump / bmx track... good work out and good to work on building confidence and technique. Maybe take up judo with your lad as its good for learning how to fall properly for the next time.. as you will fall off again at some point.

F) Get back on sharpish and do it again.

Learn how to jump properly and you probably won't fall off as much.

vondally.......I am a public sector servant, I would be looking at weeks off!

😆

I realised i wasnt a stuntman when i landed on my head at the Glentress skills park. Now realise, as previous poster says, a split second of air aint worth a month off the bike. Horses for courses i suppose, so i leave the extreme stuff to those that want to do it and enjoy riding me bike my way.

"The ground will always win.." +1

The force of Earth's gravity on (= the weight of) a human being with a mass of 70 kg is approximately 686 N.

BTW, that 661 body armour is Subgear:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=72484

As commented, it won't help your ribs unless there is something to stick into you (rock, phone, hand, bars etc), but that is common. Good for compression too and not too warm.

Getting air looks good and feels good, but there's probablities involved.

One of those probablilities is paraplegia.

No matter how much better those odds can be mitigated by skills courses etc, it's unappealing to me, so I keep my wheels on the ground.

If you want to be still riding in 20 years it might be a policy worth adopting and leave the flying to the young immortals who believe it will never happen to them.

[s]Getting air[/s] riding bikes looks good and feels good, but there's probablities involved.
One of those probablilities is paraplegia.

There is a world of difference between a small drop or table and sending it big.

If you want to give it a go do some get some skills. Sometimes getting a bit of air is the way out of the nasty crash not the cause

D and/or E. 45 and broke my collarbone in a similar situation. I leave it to my sons, and never had a mtb background

Dignitas sounding good in maybe 30 or so years ...Inshallah. I reckon I'd rather leave my loot to the kids to enjoy than spend it on £100/night nursing home to get my ass wiped.

I think the problem with the table top is that rather than doing the usual smooth glide in, I accelerated onto it, causing a bit of wobble...

The truth is I like the feeling of relief after I've landed from a jump but I ain't no natural. I still can't do a decent manual, and I stick to reds, so maybe I've just had some insight....ie I'm no MTB talent but it still makes me smile, keeps me fit-ish, and allows me to fiddle in the garage.

You're right, I'm in the public sector - after all I live in Scotland where most people are. But, I am self-employed in the public sector, if that makes sense, so I do have to pay for my stand-in. It's just that I can't drive or get my hand above nipple height.

The tech questions were mainly predicated on the are full sudsers easier/safer/kinder for 40+ debate.

mikewsmith - Member
...Sometimes getting a bit of air is the way out of the nasty crash not the cause

I'd regard that as going too fast to react in time for emergent circumstances.

My view is that on a full suss you need to go faster to get the same buzz as a rigid- fwiw I've just back from a quick blast with my son and fell off twice but low speed tetchy falls not otb ones

In case its not been mentioned

Rule #5

late in ... but e) ... jumps seem to be compulsory in most of the new built trails these days, so if you are planning on riding that sort of stuff then go get some training. You don't have to go big, just get the confidence to ride them fluidly/ judge your speed etc. The fact that you kinda already know what you did wrong means that you probably are better at it than you are giving yourself credit for. And besides we can't let the younguns have all the fun 🙂

Just ride. Everyone who jumps ends up ****ed in their 50's/60's.

Future-proof yourself. I dont get the obsession with grown men (20's+) learning to jump = sad grab at youth.

Act you age 😆
At this point in life forget about sus and big discs and forks and go for aesthetics instead.
I cannot offroad for toffee so my bike is for pottering about going from A- B and occasionally stopping off at P(Pfor Pub 😀 )
So i ride a mirror finished titanium. with Sram XX/XO drivetrain,Hope tech X2 brakes with full red ano and Ti upgrades. Titanium Chris King headset,hope pro 2's on DT swiss rims,Hope skewers,stem and clamp in ano red and a red ano USE sus post.
The manitou r7 pro isnt the best at just under £400 but it does the job and is pretty light
I may not ride well but at least the bike looks fing amazing 😀

the more grey hair you have means the less air you need to get :D, at the end of the day riding with your boy is where it is just ride but dont go daft. Stick with the forks/bike as it is just ride and enjoy it.

Sounds like you may have a rotator cuff injury or seperated shoulder I have had both and had simular lack of movement issues have a google and possibly see your doc you might want to get on the ibuprofen and ice packs. I have no medical training at all other than some first aid years ago so take my advice/comments with caution but I would advice getting it checked out

When you are strong enough, go back and work out what went wrong. Then try again. Oh, and get well. Ibuprofen and paracetamol and you best friends at this point.

Get some physio quick - I piled onto my shoulder in a CX race and had similar symptoms. It got a lot better on its own but then just wouldn't improve more than 80%. I had some physio and wished I'd just got it at the start rather than waiting. Oh and don't sleep on that side - it really helps.

46 - get the full suss and the skills course before you get any older!

I'"m 47 and I went OTB about 5 weeks ago, still hurts a bit, but you need to just get on with it.

With 15 years of karting and now taking this MTB stuff up, my body has had quite a beating. You do take longer to heal the older you get, but grit your teeth and keep going.

BTW I have a full susser and a Soul

Go and see the jedi, he coaches blokes well into their sixties..

i did more or less the same thing 2 yrs ago with my son, i said to my son watch this, tried to jump over a gap on the mountain bike ended up in a lump on my arse, two cracked ribs, but my son hasnt laughed so much for ages , so its not all bad, as an ex-rugby player im used to all the aches n pains, my solution loads of pain killers, when you get to my age 52 you tend not to bounce too well, but i always say that if you dont get injured every now and then you aint doing it fast enough, it may take longer to recover but at least it gives someone a good laugh

(e) and (f) take it a bit easier... jump the stuff you are confident you can jump and give things a miss if you aren't 99% confident. No you no longer bounce you need to take fewer risks... no no risks, but fewer of them.

I'm 52 grab as much "air " as I can, nothing huge, but it hurts enough when it goes wrong 😀

Get back on the bike asap & give Jedi a call, worth the money and the time, he can teach an old dog new tricks. B-)

he can teach an old dog new tricks.

I have done a skills day with a well known/respected company. Last weekend spent some time with mates who were "sessioning" jumps, still cannot get my head around doing anything higher than a kerb 🙄

Approaching 60 with knackered ankle, knees, back, have broken collar bone and scaphoid in the past and just generally stiff/worn out all over 😕

Auld age dont come on its own 😉

I'm 46 as well, I'd work on the theory that one fall 'that bad' in say 25 years means you'll be 71 before the next one and then you'd probably think about giving up.

I badly broke several ribs just before Christmas coming off on some black ice. This went on to a bad chest infection and I spent Christmas Day on Morphine, unable to help out my wife or lift my kids. I actually healed pretty quickly but for the first time I've decided to wear a bit of body amour and slow down a bit. Nothing could have stopped by fall but its screwed my fitness up completely.

I'd stop trying to get air and get some coaching to get yourself out of those suprise air situations

hora - Member
Just ride. Everyone who jumps ends up ****ed in their 50's/60's.

Future-proof yourself...

Well said. I'm 67, and none of my old riding friends are still capable of riding, and it's been that way for over 10 years.

Crashing takes a price from you that you won't be paying for many years, and it's not worth it. Don't sacrifice tomorrow's mobility - it's really depressing seeing a friend who was adventurous, daring and highly skilled need assistance to get out of a chair.

The last thing you want in life is to end up in a care home while you still have a mind.

?Nice one! I hope I'm riding in 12 years time too,

I dont get the obsession with grown men (20's+) learning to jump = sad grab at youth.

Or maybe they just realise how fun it is? Jumps are the best thing about biking!

I broke my ankle a couple of years ago stepping out of the front door.

Hasn't stopped me using doors.

Always ride like the Devil himself is chasing you.

I fully intend to deliver a shattered and broken body too the furnace.

I dont get the obsession with grown men (20's+) learning to jump = sad grab at youth.

The important bit of that statement [b]"I dont get"[/b]

By jumping do you mean bmx/dirt jumps or just launching off normal trail obstacles?

Ming the Merciless - Member
Always ride like the Devil himself is chasing you.

I fully intend to deliver a shattered and broken body too the furnace.

Hate to keep harping on about this - kind of sucks the fun out of riding.

But the odds are that shattered and broken body means you'll spend the last 10-15 years of your life with limited mobility, and that really really sucks. Take a look at those old guys tottering around with sticks - they weren't always like that.

You may bounce when you're young, but ride like a teenager in your 40s and you break.

That'll be my last word on this subject - promise. 🙂

My retirement is going to be shit anyway, so I'll enjoy myself now if you don't mind.

I'm 44, currently recovering from a broken knee(skiing). The previously separated shoulder (MX), broken acromion(MX), torn ACL/MCL(MX), unresolved plantar fasciitis(snowboarding), and broken lateral malleolus(front door!) do ache a bit, but, and here's the kicker, I enjoy doing things where the consequence of getting it wrong has a price.

I'm not going to plod around the trails 'just in case' if life can throw a curve ball whilst I'm doing something sensible.

However, this is my choice and as such is only one of many valid viewpoints, so do whatever feels right for you 🙂

"I'm 56 & came off on Good Friday, landed on me nut & hurt my neck & I'm still not right."

Hopefully you'll be OK for the Scottish?

epicyclo I bumped into a mountain biker ontop of one of the descents in the Peaks. He grumbled that he had a bit of a chesty cough that morning. I asked him how old he was.....then told him right now my Father in Law was the same age and hasn't left his house for two years and counting.

My retirement is going to be shit anyway

I was told one thing as a child, listen to your body. If I don't think I can ride something now or it may gone wrong- I wont do it. Leave jumps to kids. Does that mean I lead a sedatory/dull life? No.

Same with drinking, why do some people in their 40's think its 'living it' to be sinking 20yr old's levels of alcohol?

You may bounce when you're young, but ride like a teenager in your 40s and you break

I think this is a brilliant line, and very relevant to my 47yr old riding style too !

I'm 47, when I fall off now its more a thud rather than a youthful bounce..

Two rules ( regardless of age )

Know your limits

and

Use it or lose it

I'm 41. Hit a tabletop way too fast the week before Hit the North. Landed on head (2 chipped teeth and written off helmet - always wear a helmet kids!!), hand (deep, deep bruising) and knees (deepx2 bruising and cut to the bone). For me the lesson learnt was a) don't take risks the week before an event you've been looking forward to for months, thereby denying yourself the opportunity to compete and b) learn how to jump better, so skills course is on the agenda for May.

To the OP I'd say carry on and take some lessons!

At the end of the day, we all do what we do for a multitude of different reasons. For me, learning how to balance and control a bike in the air is an integral part of mountain biking, that will actually help to improve my wheels-on-ground riding. That and I love the feeling of flying 😀

If I wanted to seriously mitigate against the prospect of incapacity in my old age I'd stick to exercise bikes in a gym, but life's too short. That's not to do down those advocating a more cautious approach. I guess at the end of the day you don't understand those who want to go further to get thrills and improve their skills and in turn, I don't fully understand people who take up an adrenaline-fuelled sport like mountain biking and then always ride well within their limits. Seems like a contradiction. Point is though that we're both right. We're all different and if you enjoy what you're doing and it works for you, just keep right on doing it regardless..

funkrodent all I care about is flow. Nothing else. Flow is amazing.

hora - Member
funkrodent all I care about is flow. Nothing else. Flow is amazing.

And small amounts of air makes flow even better (trust me on that one if you don't want to try)

Small amounts isn't jumping though. A couple of hours tuition isn't going to magically change someone with a certain amount of natural talent on a bike. Its dangerous-territory that encroaches on over-confidence, something will go wrong after a training session. No your limits. Live life to the full within them. Peace.

I'm more than happy to go with the flow..

No your limits. Live life to the full within them. Peace.

just keep pushing them limits otherwise it soon becomes a very small envelope............

47 with props rugby neck aka two compressed vertabre, fused lower spine due to rugby, knackered right knee due to rugby all prior to 25 years old. Learnt to ride a bike at 25 yrs old never every rode before, back and neck take some months to recover at times but having been told not to bother running again at 22,one major factor to my health is active sport and exercise, bloodflow and conditioning to maintain what I have left, so i think we should push ourselves and agree with use it or lose!

Keep jumping but learn properly

Preserve what you have? Are you unhappy with your current riding standard?

I'm not- if it means I can keep my current ability long into the next two decades I'll be happy with that.

I'm never going to be anywhere near a podium, ever. Learn to accept who you are. Revel in yourself. Men become bitter later in life when they feel begrudged, wronged etc. Be happy in your own skin.

I think you're over thinking it a bit! Keeping your wheels on the ground all the time can get boring which is when its time to start pushing it a bit again. I've had the "never jumping again" thing after some bad crashes but always end up coming back and pushing my limits again. Its just no fun otherwise. And I still haven't had a proper crash since my coaching day despite pushing myself a [b]lot [/b]. When you know how and why you went wrong you can be a lot more relaxed which then opens up a whole new level of fun.

Then again I guess it depends whether you're the kind of rider who likes to get some miles in and explore the countryside, or that who does it for the fun and adrenaline rush kinda thing. I was always into bmx so fall into the latter category. If I want to do miles and see the country I'll do it on my road bike!

All I can remember about my days BMX was a world of pain involving laying on the floor holding my nuts for an hour.

By contrast as a kind I found investigating abandoned water works/building sites/homes mucho .....safer 😆