bounceswoosh
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
This is exactly my line in the sand. I want to be in control (or perceived control) of whatever's going on. Shared control? Letting someone else control? Hell no.
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Crashing
- Thread starter SallyCat
- Start date
This is exactly my line in the sand. I want to be in control (or perceived control) of whatever's going on. Shared control? Letting someone else control? Hell no.
I broke two ribs being thrown off my bike and landing on my side on a sharp curb. I'm a nurse though, and had actually recently had a patient who had a perforated bowel from broken ribs, so I did want to get checked right away. I tried to go to Urgent Care, but they made me go to the ED.
I can see how not knowing what caused the crash would make you more apprehensive about riding. I seem to crash almost every time I ride a mountain bike, but I haven't hit my head, and pretty much know what caused each crash, so it's a learning experience. Your experience sounds really scary.
bounceswoosh
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I have met Mr. AltaGirl.
This did not strike me as at all surprising.
He's a fun guy =) But yeah, no way in hell would I ride a tandem. Loss of control, yech!
SnowHot
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Again, this was 6 years ago so I hate to rehash when others have had recent injuries, but there is some learning to be had as well.
When I crashed, my husband had gone to work 35 minutes away and I was going to go for a quick ride with the dog in lieu of walking him. ( I don't remember any of this conversation with him)
Evidently I called him shortly after he got to work but it went to voicemail because his ringer was off. When he checked the VM, it sounded like I was drunk, but I sad "I got in a bike crash on the trail by our house and I think I could be hurt pretty bad. Can you hurry? Ziggy is with me and the poor little guy doesn't know what to do"
There is a network of trails near our house so he rushed back to that area and started walking the trails, finding me on the opposite end of where he parked his car, but near another street where I was likely coming back into the neighborhood off the trail. A motorist saw ziggy and stopped to "help the stray dog" and found me. This guy was helping me when Phil came by so he stayed with me while Phil took ziggy back to the car and came to get me. I was (estimated) out there for a couple hours from start to finish and remember none of it.
According to Phil, I was combative and wouldn't allow him to take me to the hospital. Evidently I kept saying I was fine and just needed to let my "pulled muscles heal"
Three days later, I flew to Michigan for a family funeral. The flight was miserable at best, and carrying my luggage was excruciating. I was picked up at the Michigan airport by my little sister and her husband who happens to be an X-Ray tech. He said, "I've taken pictures of people who look better than you do. Get your ass to the doctor!" I called my old home town doctor and set an appointment. That's when I found out why I was in so much pain, and why motrin was barely doing the trick.
*evidently I have a high pain threshold.
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SallyCat
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Oh, man, I'm a little off my mental game just because of what potentially might have happened. I completely understand what you're saying. Biking is fun, but accidents force you to ask yourself whether a severe injury would be an acceptable price to pay for enjoying the sport. I don't think there's anything wimpy about answering "no" to that question, nor do I think it's any kind of failure. The price of admission is too high: end of story.
@altagirl I'm a timid biker and whitewater paddler, but walking that bridge or say, bungee jumping? No problem. I'm pretty sure it's because there's no skill involved on my part. You just need the guts to step off the edge. I find that moment easy to summon when it doesn't come with responsibilities on my part (like, "paddle hard left to avoid that big hole.").
My thoughts, exactly.
I'm not sure I want to bike with the same intensity I did in the past. I used to go out 3-4 times a week during the off season -- last summer I racked up a total of 1,400 miles -- but as I said earlier, to me, biking is a peripheral sport, and I'm not sure it's worth the risk. Maybe I'll notch it down some. I used to swim a lot; maybe I'll give that another try. It seems safer.
SnowHot
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I'm fortunate in that, my husband and I rode together before the crash and he's been extremely supportive and understanding of my timidity since the accident.
I haven't had any huge crashes myself, but I know so many who have that it has made me more cautious about my riding. I'm not cutting back on riding time (in fact I'm trying to start riding more again and I just bought a mountain bike). I used to do gran fondos and centuries every summer. Training for that involved lots of miles (often by myself) riding in the hills. The roads in the hills nearby are isolated and I had a few strange encounters with drivers I suspected were driving while impaired.
The gran fondo I did five times (King Ridge in Sonoma County) attracts fast, aggressive riders, and there is a mass start of thousands. One year I came around a downhill curve and there was a guy lying the road who had hit a tree. He looked like my boyfriend, who had ridden ahead of me. That man turned out to have survived, but later in the ride I found out that someone else had died going too fast on a descent, losing control and landing in a stream bed.
Last summer the husband of a friend of mine had a very bad accident on his bike while riding alone; he is alive and can walk, but will never be the same. He was lucky that there was someone not too far away who saw him go down.
The changes I've made are to not ride alone in isolated areas, and to be more cautious on descents. It is easy to hit speeds of 50 mph on smooth roads, but if you crash at that speed you're in trouble.
Mountain biking seems safer to me. No cars to worry about and speeds are lower. I don't plan on doing any lift-served downhill. I had planned on doing some mountain biking on my own, but maybe it's not a good idea. I'll probably do it anyway...
The gran fondo I did five times (King Ridge in Sonoma County) attracts fast, aggressive riders, and there is a mass start of thousands. One year I came around a downhill curve and there was a guy lying the road who had hit a tree. He looked like my boyfriend, who had ridden ahead of me. That man turned out to have survived, but later in the ride I found out that someone else had died going too fast on a descent, losing control and landing in a stream bed.
Last summer the husband of a friend of mine had a very bad accident on his bike while riding alone; he is alive and can walk, but will never be the same. He was lucky that there was someone not too far away who saw him go down.
The changes I've made are to not ride alone in isolated areas, and to be more cautious on descents. It is easy to hit speeds of 50 mph on smooth roads, but if you crash at that speed you're in trouble.
Mountain biking seems safer to me. No cars to worry about and speeds are lower. I don't plan on doing any lift-served downhill. I had planned on doing some mountain biking on my own, but maybe it's not a good idea. I'll probably do it anyway...
contesstant
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Yes to this! Sorry you suffered such a serious injury this summer, though. ALL of you ladies who have gotten hurt, I'm so sorry! It's a good reminder of why I'm cautious and it's OKAY to be cautious! Even with the utmost caution, we can still get hurt badly. I just do my best to make the risk as minimal as possible. I also prefer to ride familiar trails and am very cautious on trails I'm not familiar with.
Hang in there, ladies! Injuries suck, but the alternative is way worse! Press on and know that you'll be back at it soon!
beckylh84
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I had back surgery 6 months ago for a non-sport related injury. Thought I'd be timid as could be getting back to skiing and mountain biking. Nope. Skiing was fine, mountain biking - well my Strava times have been faster than ever, especially downhill. I've had a couple gnarly bike crashes this spring, one of which required two layers of sutures in my upper thigh. My back held up amazingly. I was a little timid my first ride back after getting sutures out, but I just had to force that out of my head. When I'm skiing/mtb timid and cautious, that's when I crash because I second guess my actual skill level and then it's bad times. Go fast, take chances.
Kiragirl
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Crossing fingers I've had no bad crashes in a long time. But, I've had quite a few spots removed from my skin, surgery and stitches. My Derm Dr. gave me "Aquaphor" to keep on the stitches to help healing and removal. It's very good, I believe water-based, and does the trick in reducing scars.
SallyCat
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
RIGHT!? I sucked my last two times out at DH this week. Gripped with tension, I kept touching my front break at terrible times. Doesn't help that I'm back in PA with trails covered with shale and loose rocks doing all kinds of things to my front tire.
Interestingly, I had a chance to bike with Kristen Lenart recently, who races DH for Blue Mountain. I was lamenting starting MTB so late in life (47) and she said that at 33, she is solidly the youngest person on her race circuit (Eastern States Cup or Maxxis Gravity, I think--I'm not savvy about the different circuits). She said the regulars on the women's podium this year have been riders who are 46, 44, and 43 years old. I still can't wrap my head around that. If nothing else, I would expect such a high-consequence sport to attract younger (i.e., less consequence-averse) participants. But clearly that's not the case.
bounceswoosh
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I will post here what I had posted on the pugski mtb thread yesterday - people there have made me feel a bit better, but it was still an eye opener for me:
I remember the feeling I had when I realized 15 years or so ago that real people skied "those" runs. The tight trees, the chutes, the steeps. Not just the pros - there were lots of people skiing that stuff. I suddenly became aware that I was at best an intermediate skier.
Yesterday I rode with my awesome friend, and she had no hesitation whatsoever on a lot of scary downhill sections I walked. Made me think. And she was on a hardtail (27.5+, but still!).
Today I took my dogs on a hike on a familiar trail. I know it's popular for mountain biking, but I always thought people must walk soooo much of it. But today, timing worked out so that I saw people riding a bunch of the technical sections. Steep rocks and roots that would scare the piss out of me if I even contemplated them. And they weren't even wearing any body armor. And then I saw this guy get into a tight descending turn with rock on either side hemming him in, and techy stuff under his wheels, and he performed four bunny hops in place, each angling him just a couple of degrees, until he was facing in the direction he wanted to go. And off he rode.
So, yeah. I just realized I am at best an intermediate rider. For real for real. And I'm not sure I'm going to ever get much past that, which is a real bummer. But it freaking hurts to fall on pointy rocks and get your bike wrapped all around you. My husband says that objectively, the skiing I do is more dangerous. But it doesn't feel that way. When it comes to skiing, I pushed well past that intermediate zone. But I'm not sure I have it in me to ride stuff that I've just realized that many people ride. And it's kind of a bummer.
Since then, I've been giving some thought to the fact that I do live in the Boulder area, so for all I know the people riding that stuff are pros. But I do know that it's a popular trail.
I've also been thinking about how much time I spend on my bike vs skiing, not even considering how intensely I study skiing and the number of lessons I take.
I remember the feeling I had when I realized 15 years or so ago that real people skied "those" runs. The tight trees, the chutes, the steeps. Not just the pros - there were lots of people skiing that stuff. I suddenly became aware that I was at best an intermediate skier.
Yesterday I rode with my awesome friend, and she had no hesitation whatsoever on a lot of scary downhill sections I walked. Made me think. And she was on a hardtail (27.5+, but still!).
Today I took my dogs on a hike on a familiar trail. I know it's popular for mountain biking, but I always thought people must walk soooo much of it. But today, timing worked out so that I saw people riding a bunch of the technical sections. Steep rocks and roots that would scare the piss out of me if I even contemplated them. And they weren't even wearing any body armor. And then I saw this guy get into a tight descending turn with rock on either side hemming him in, and techy stuff under his wheels, and he performed four bunny hops in place, each angling him just a couple of degrees, until he was facing in the direction he wanted to go. And off he rode.
So, yeah. I just realized I am at best an intermediate rider. For real for real. And I'm not sure I'm going to ever get much past that, which is a real bummer. But it freaking hurts to fall on pointy rocks and get your bike wrapped all around you. My husband says that objectively, the skiing I do is more dangerous. But it doesn't feel that way. When it comes to skiing, I pushed well past that intermediate zone. But I'm not sure I have it in me to ride stuff that I've just realized that many people ride. And it's kind of a bummer.
Since then, I've been giving some thought to the fact that I do live in the Boulder area, so for all I know the people riding that stuff are pros. But I do know that it's a popular trail.
I've also been thinking about how much time I spend on my bike vs skiing, not even considering how intensely I study skiing and the number of lessons I take.
heather matthews
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
This weekend I chose to have two days of downhill mtb rather than ski. Now I am a bit sore and bruised but really happy with how my riding went. We rode some very techy stuff (national downhill racetrack)and I rode it all and did some of it at speed. My friend Alicia loves steep and fast so keeping up with her was my aim.The cost of getting it wrong is so much more in downhill compared with skiing and the level of concentration seems to be higher(for me anyway).Improving my jumping and managing larger drops both happened over two very intense days.Looking forward to skiing this weekend though.
