Well it looks like my luck ran out, after ten years of riding without so much as a scratch, i had a major off on a dodgy drop.

First off a full face will now become obligatory for the more testing stuff, i am the sort of rider that liked to see progression, maybe at 53, i should have curbed my enthusiasm a little.

I’m not sure how this is going to effect me, i don’t really want to take a back seat just yet and stick to old school XC for the forseable, just looking for a little advice, after a major off with injury how did it affect you.

What injury have you sustained?

10 years with no injurys is excellent going. Your confidence will have taken a knock and how much you lose will depend on the level of injury and recovery time. Just got to let your body heal then start off riding stuff you are confident with then build up.

What was the reason you fell off? did you land on something badly, no grip on your tyres etc?

You can easily fall off an XC bike, infact i tend to fall off more on the easier stuff which seems crazy.

I ended up with whiplash after landing on my head twice in half an hour at Les Arcs the other year.I survived the week,just dropped down a level in the groups to try & get my confidence back.When I got home I couldn’t face going out on the mountain bike,just went out on the road bike for a few weeks,even then,on my road bike I was having trouble with the left shifter as I must have damaged a nerve or something & couldn’t shift properly.After the best part of a couple of months I went up to Rivi on my MTB with the intention of getting my confidence back,all was going well until I stopped and waited for someone to go down a easyish descent,he set off, went flying & promptly knocked himself out,making weird gurgling sounds.Luckily a first aider was walking up & we managed to get him sorted out,after witnessing this I thought aged 53 I’m getting to old for this rad/gnar stuff..

I’ve been to Antur Stiniog a few times since & enjoy it,mainly doing the blues & some reds,but spend most of my time on either the Road Bike or Gravel bike.I’ve been back to the Alps for the last two years….Trekking.

If I want scare myself a bit I go out on one of my motorbikes…

I know exactly what i did wrong on the drop, short awkward aproach on a slight bend, should have put in a couple of pedal strokes, came in to slow, there is also a bit of a knuckle on the drop, went over the bars, with rocks in the landing zone, broken cheek bone that has been plated, fractured jaw with quite a few stitches, very annoying as it wasn’t a great trail, really blown out and i was warming up.

No. I always come back with the same confidence. But I’ve come off a bike many many times from pushing it a little too far or making a misjudgement and rarely get injured badly I also tend to know exactly the cause of the crash/off and be able to correct it and why the injury has occurred so can then rationalise it.
Old skool XC doesn’t have to be dull. If you have the skills keep using them in every ride. I’m firmly of the opinion if you honestly think you’re going to need a fullface/armour to attempt a drop/jump you probably shouldn’t be attempting it at all though.

I can’t bare watching this guy’s youtube videos

He’s pretty much everything that’s wrong with modern mountainbiking.

Get well soon and try not to dwell on it.

like i said i have had no injuries in ten years and regularily send drops ride gnar, i have only just recently started using knee protection as they are quite light, i find it quite insulting that you compare my accident with this guy.

Everything i do is calculated, accidents do happen though, i was having an off day.

Didn’t take long for the forum troll to arrive.

PS. if this is the standard of advice please don’t bother, i was looking for some positivity.

Moderaters Please delete this thread.

Calm down. I wasn’t comparing you to him. He’s a total muppet.

I wasn’t trolling either. That’s my genuine view of a lot of full face helmet useage.

But if you honestly haven’t had as much as a single scratch in 10 years I’d genuinely be surprised if you are riding gnar or sending anything. I can understand why it’s freaked you out though.

FWIW I’m laid up injured right now too.

You asked how others deal with injury/confidence. You got my honest opinion.

My MOJO disappeared completely after an off on Good Friday (BAD Friday) a few years ago while on a NYM ride. It had been frosty but the sun came out & thawed the top layer of clayey mud, leaving a VERY slippery steep surface, front wheel got in a rut, washed out & I performed a spontanious frontal arial dismount, landing squarely on my head. When I heard the crunch my 1st thought’s were, ‘what wheelchair tyres…’

The crunch was a tooth being cracked & my neck still isn’t right, off work for a week with soft tissue damage of the knee & a battered hand.

MOJO still not back. I’m 62.

Geex apology accepted, i’m quite sensitive just now, besides i actually like your patter, glad to hear you are not a troll!

I have had a few cuts and bruses but nothing major.

I can’t see me giving up the bike, sometimes you just think you are on borrowed time.

Not for me, broke both arms a couple of years ago…55 next month going faster than ever.. always wear protection and a full face as im out on my own 90% of the time. Life’s for living not regrets .

I’ve had some bad injuries from big crashes, the last was a year ago at Leogang, flat out (30mph+) on the big tables, tried a nose bonk on one but the tail wind meant I overshot and went otb. Bad AC separation on an already battered shoulder.

It does knock you a bit especially as you get older (I’m 49). I find keeping riding in any form is the best cure. I’m still doing fairly big stuff.

I’m lucky that I mainly ride with my 16 yr old lad and his mates and they keep my motivated.

Broke my arm riding downhill in Malaga back in winter 2014 (ish might be a year out). And got back on the bike fairly quickly,

Then had a crash riding at Swinley and broke it again about 18months later, snapped around the end of the plate! I was back riding Brechfa and Cwm Rhyadder a month later. I think the consultant got the dates mixed up, there was noway the cast should have been off the incision was still weeping! Still no loss of Mojo, I was riding just as quickly and well as I was before.

<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>Then broke it again on the road bike coming home from work and hit a patch of diesel at walking pace in the November. After that one I had a proper hissy fit, tears, tears, tantrum, thew the bike (one handed) in the boot of the OH’s car and vowed never to ride again having spent almost as much time in plaster as out in the past 2 years. That fracture took a long time to fix too, I think it was March when the cast came off and I couldn’t even face going riding. Sold the enduro bike, the bmx, the hardtail, In think I rode 400miles that summer, and hated most of it and took up sailing again instead figuring that apart from head injuries and drowning it was a bit safer! </span>

I don’t think I’ve ever quite got my mojo back to the point where I’m happy crashing, I can push it, and do crash, but In also mince anywhere near roots as I just don’t trust my arm not to break again even in a low speed off! Whereas before I’d just crash and deal with the bruises, I never believed I was riding fast enough to break bones despite spending hours riding the jumps and watching people get carted off to A&E.

I’m back to ‘quicker than average’ fitness again now and quite happy going flat out in the dry but still have a bit of mental block over slippery stuff. Determined to ride through this winter though as slippeeyness aside I love winter night riding more than I do summer rides! If I can get over the roots thing then I’ll be sorted.

But equally I’ve now got a massive mortgage and work semi-freelance so crashing is potentially a very expensive occourance!

my mojo is now half way to china.

not from riding injuries or from offs.  just from general wear and tear repairs and surgery, and the fear of not wanting to do any damage to the work done.

open heart surgery, a ankle fusion and a new hip in the last four years have made me a proper soft shyte.

i ride for the love of riding now and not for the bravado.

Ton, your’e a leg end!

Very few people on here could keep up with what youv’e done on a bike, never mind the health stuff!

yup, broke my leg riding, had done 16,000km in the previous 18 months before the injury, had best part of 6 months off the bike what was a routine part of my day/life changed after that, did sub 3000km in both 2016/17 and just scraping over that now for this year, just never clicked in the same way again, i go through fits and starts but weeks can pass between rides

Not after an injury, but definitely after having a kid.  Stupid I know but now it’s not just me that’s potentially impacted by injury I definitely back off a bit.

I’d say I’m at 90% following 2 bad crashes in 2 years (broken back and broken shoulder). I still ride tech trails (black DH in BC). It’s actually going fast on moderate trails where I’ve slowed down. I’m also much more hesitant on new trails which I’m working on. Fear of something around the corner etc.

I was reading something on pinkbike about visualization being key. If you can’t see yourself doing it then perhaps don’t try. I’m less willing to just give it a shot than I used to be.

I’ve found it quite hard to come back after injury sometimes. Not because of a traditional loss of mojo but just the combination of expectations and desparation to get back to riding properly and loss of fitness and sometimes aftereffects, doesn’t always add up too well for me.

I never really enjoyed riding the motorbike again the same way after I broke my hip (and that wasn’t even on the bike!). Always in the back of my mind. So I stopped motorbiking and did something I wanted to do more, which was this.

Mojo suitably diminished, no mountain bike major injuries 1982 to 2014, then broke my collar bones three times in two years. Both hurt a bit most nights, shoulders over an inch narrower, struggle to roll a kayak more than a couple of times now. Generally pretty cautious on an Mtb, 27 plus hard tail at medium speeds delivers most of my needs now. Late 50s here.

He’s pretty much everything that’s wrong with modern mountainbiking

Is he? Are there more of him then? Can’t say I’ve seen any.

 visualization being key. If you can’t see yourself doing it then perhaps don’t try.

Well put. That’s exactly what I meant when I made my comment earlier about a lot of folk who buy a full face helmet and “Jenvey” themselves.

Thanks Fergal. Knowing what you did wrong is a good start. knowing you can do it properly next time even better. Hold onto that thought. Hopefully you’ll get over it quicker than you think.
I had a mate who is (I won’t say was) a great rider and went through something very simlar to you over 10 years back and now never rides anything which might have consquences. He still has the skill to ride any type of terrain well (with way above average style) but will rarely ever leave his comfort zone now. I see it as such a shame. He’s happy though.

If 10 years is good luck I was a lottery winner, 35 years of non-competetive BMX, MTB, road cycling with just a few minors until 2017 when I fractured my cheek coming off my road bike and required surgery; I had just about got my mojo back then 6 months to the day of that surgery I broke my shoulder in 3 places (acromion, glenoid, scapula). I’m more a long distance XC day rider than a downhill mountain goat and always preferred the challenge of riding up the unfixable to riding down it. 13 months later I’ve barely been on the bike through fear and, well, more fear! I’ve started running to get in shape again and may find some method to ease the fear like coaching, mining a club, or even hypnosis

He’s pretty much everything that’s wrong with modern mountainbiking

Though i kind of agree with this i think it’s a little more complicated than that.

Some people have been riding for most of their lives and built up to what they can do or not do.

Some people are quite new to it and see what others can do and think they can jump straight into that.

There are very few that can just “jump straight in” though some can.

Injury is normally a way of telling people to rein it in a little before they try and progress again.

All part of the learning process.

I broke my arm riding solo on the Moors when I was salaried and it took a while to get going again; a Jedi session helped a lot.

im self employed now and am much more reserved in my riding.

Somewhat, I have my moments, but for the most part I ride well within my limits, I wish I would ride faster, I know I can ride faster, but I always lose my bottle.

Crashed nearly 10 years ago now, May 24th 2009, rotational fracture of the left wrist and compound fracture of the right elbow. Lots of blood loss, nasty concussion, 3 weeks in Hospital months and months of physio. Still hurts everyday now.

I never want to suffer that kind of pain ever again, I had to wait a long time for help to get to me and it was agony.

It only took a few days for me to start planning how I’d get back on the bike again (my elbow has never recovered) and accepted that if it happens again I could lose the use of my right arm, of even my arm from the elbow down, but I’ve only got one more recovery of that scale left in me, if I had to go through that again I’d have to hang up my 5:10s for good.

Still don’t remember the stack that [ut me in neck and back brace 2 weeks ago, but was on a simple downhill fire trail I had ridden twice in last week on cyclocross bike. Full sus MTB dumped me, not sure how that happened (we weren’t caning it down either) and probably never will be.I’m counting on a while to recover, then a while to regain fitness, form and especially confidence. Might be back on gravel and road bike and tame roads for a while when I can get back on. Wish everyone luck with injuries recovery.

Simple answer Yes. didn’t stop me enjoying bikes just took less risk.

I’ve never been great at downhill sections, I did from the top of Blackrocks, above Cromford, going too fast, couldnt make a bend, went down the hill, luckily it was just heather/gorse/bracken, and the large tree on its side which I hit first with my thigh, then my chin. Only a few stitches and a numb leg for a few days, but I just cant go down rocky steep sections any more, and I’ve no intention of overcoming that fear, I’m quite happy getting off and walking those bits now.

Yes, it took about 6 months for it to come back and about a year to be properly over it I reckon :/

I took a bit of a tumble on the red at antur.   Didn’t break anything but cut and bruised myself and must have damaged something in my neck and shoulder as it took months to stop hurting.  The crash footage was spectacular!

I reckon it took about a year before getting my confidence back.  I would chicken out on stuff ridden before, thinking about the possibility of coming off again but it being worse.

I was pretty quick to get back on the bike after my crash though as I knew that dwelling on it would make it harder.

Mojo gone here! I broke my wrist and scaphoid in Les Arcs in July. Since then the trail bike has sat in the garage. I’ve toyed with selling it but I’m still riding to work and back and think the mojo will return, it’s just a matter of time! I’ve been mtbing since 92′ and the mojo’s gone a few times before, didn’t ride offroad for 3 years at one point. I think due to cycling being my primary form of transport, the urge always comes back eventually!

I am in the same position.   I come off 2 weeks ago and nose planted a rock.     Can get back on the bike yet as still heLing and really hope my mojo hasn’t gone too much as I didn’t have much before I came off.    I come off where u wouldn’t expect it and for no reason .    Only thing I can think of is I put  extra tokens in my pike and didn’t adjust rebound and might have had my weight to far forward.

Broke my nose and soft tissue damage ,  at least it was on camera 😀 watch till the end if you want to see the damage😂 https://youtu.be/Vkuy-sXvZmc

Hmm.. not from one specific fall or injury but from a bout spread over a few months, mostly when I wasn’t doing anything particularly complex. TBH, given my age I’m concerned that there is something more fundamental going on and that worries me. A lot.

Hi Fergal. The best advice I can give is not to overthink situations and what could happen. I am now 6 month post op from a snapped Achilles tendon after doing it practicing for the Dunkeld enduro. This is my second full rupture of the Achilles the first being 7 years ago which I then re-ruptured because I came back too soon although the first one was the left leg. I was givin a set of strength tests to do and once I could do them I new I had the strength to get back on the bike. Two years ago I put my handlebars through my chin requiring 17 stitches after a heavy landing on the Matador at Inners. I turned 50 last year and my only concern is that my weight(17stone) will stop my mtb not anything else. If you could do fast,techy,drops and steep stuff before your injury you know you can still do it after you injury that is what I keep telling myself.

I’ve done myself reasonably badly a few times and always made a reasonably level comeback for skills and confidence.

I just started riding again after two years out (1 year waiting for major shoulder surgery, 1 to recover from it properly) and I can see it’s going to be a slow process this time. I have to learn to trust that my arm won’t fall out without warning at the same time as rediscovering the skills. I plan to work on fitness and confidence through winter and then I’ve a skills coaching day voucher in my pocket thst I’ll use as a sharpener come spring. Also the rehab has got me a gym habit and a PT which will help the physical side.

Been riding MTB’s best part of 25 years and had plenty of offs, but nothing serious, until a couple of years ago. I was chasing a Strava segment on my own and came off on a fairly innocuous section – concussion and a broken jaw.

It did take a while to get my mojo back, but what I did do, is go and ride the same trail as soon as possible to exorcise my demons.

I’m still a bit steadier, but still go for it on sections, but stay within a comfort zone and definitely more reserved when I’m on my own. I ride for max fun now, not Strava times

47 and self employed

It has happened on one or two occasions over the years for short periods..funnily enough though I broke my first bones ( ribs ) last year aged 60 after an otb ..and couldn’t wait to get back out on the bike ..

As others have mentioned self employment tends to reel you in with regard to taking risks ..although once out on the trail it isn’t at the forefront of my mind ..but it does play a part in the type of ride I will commit to prior to heading off for the day ..

Hope you get back to where you were prior to the crash OP..don’t let the mind games get to you ..

The worst example I can think of and the one that keeps me going is a bloke I knew at the local DH spot. He showed me the ropes and gave me some good advice and he was always really fast until he came off and broke his collar bone and some ribs.

Next time I saw him he had recuperated by eating pies and was all stormtroopered up in armour. Dropped in at full speed, came off again – this time it was a big one – and I never saw him again.

Lesson learned

Reading this while lying in bed injured. 10 stitches across the kneecap and so have to keep the leg straight for 10 days. Its very depressing. Iv been through the incedent 100 times and im pretty sure it was unavoidable. It was on a really easy bit of a really hard local trail. Just come out of a turn onto a straight off camber bit of loam. Slow speed lining up for the last rock drop and my front wheel went over a tiny twig. I was on the limit of grip and this was just enough for the wheel to loose grip and put me down on my side. Slow speed off into loam and leaves with knee pads…i was completely un worried. But whats this….intense pain in knee…knee pad round my ankle…knee looks like a scene from Saving Private Ryan . Turned out there was 1 sharp rock under all that leaf litter. God knows what happened to the knee pad….i have been saying for years how great POC pads are at staying put! That’s just not fair surely!!!  Feel hard done by. Not sure what the moral of all this is…but somewhere out there there is a sharp rock with your name on it. You cant avoid it…if you ride for long enough it will find you.

I broke my collar bone 7 weeks ago (see post at the time), my first serious injury in 21 years of mountain biking and 9 years on the road. Funnily enough I had been wondering for a while when statistics would catch up with me, whether it would be a collar bone and what it would feel like. Premonitions, eh?

So now I know, and I also know that a simple collar bone break would have been healed by now but mine came with a couple of cracked ribs and bad damage to the shoulder. Yesterday at exactly 7 weeks I got the bike out, washed the poor thing down and examined it for damage, then rode it up the street. It didn’t feel great, thanks to my inability to reach forward easily to the bars and the pain in the area of the cracked ribs. I’ll flip the stem and try again next weekend.

As for mojo, I was lucky that this happened at the end of a great summer and as the evenings began to draw in so it wasn’t too hard to bear. I have turned my mind off cycling for the short term and been doing some walking but in the long term still dream of cycling as much as possible. I will be retiring to Scotland next year so that will mean lots more walking, canoeing and rowing on the loch, reducing my reliance only on cycling for fitness.