How many crashes does it take . . . ?

[SwissVan]

11 hours ago, Robbie Stewart said:

I'm curious to see if I'm alone in my self assessments about crashing.

So, to start, I'm a 27 year old trapped in the body of a 47 year old. The problem with this is that the young man in me wants to do stuff that my middle aged body doesn't want me to do. 

Case in point. This morning on the Hoogekraal Cobra I did the whole smash into rocks and opened a can of whip-ass and hurt for breakfast. All because in my mind "I can", but the costs are starting to add up.

I'm wondering if the time has come to call it quits? I enjoy riding but crashing less so.

In the last month I've now gone down three times. Twice on the Conties Rhinos and today on the Cobra.

And to think I was considering pulling the trigger on a new Status.

What say the mob?

From a 59 (or is it 39) who has been there

20 yrs ago a wise chiropractor who was treating me for “one of those niggles” said something which I never forgot:

“You don’t see professional sportsmen and women competing at the same level once they reach their late 30’s, mentally and physically it just becomes to much, but that does not mean they have to stop playing altogether”

Slow down and relax, but never stop 🤙

 

 

 

[Scary Rider]

4 hours ago, RobertWhitehead said:

Was it to be outside and to enjoy the 34 deg heat first hand? Nope, I have a very light skin so if I venture outside I have to take a bath in sunblock

Uhm, Robert, hoe bad 'n mens in sunblock? Asking for a friend, jy weet🤣🤣

[RobertWhitehead]

7 minutes ago, Scary Rider said:

Uhm, Robert, hoe bad 'n mens in sunblock? Asking for a friend, jy weet🤣🤣

My vel is so lig dat as die son warm skyn dan moet ek onder die bed wegkruip binne die huis anders lyk ek soos 'n kreef . Ek oordryf, maar dis nie altyd lekker nie. 

Ek het wel 'n produk gekry wat lekker werk saam met SPF50 . Die pille se naam is Sylva-Sun, as mens twee drink so 45min voor die ride dan brand ek glad nie 

[Scary Rider]

3 minutes ago, RobertWhitehead said:

My vel is so lig dat as die son warm skyn dan moet ek onder die bed wegkruip binne die huis anders lyk ek soos 'n kreef . Ek oordryf, maar dis nie altyd lekker nie. 

Ek het wel 'n produk gekry wat lekker werk saam met SPF50 . Die pille se naam is Sylva-Sun, as mens twee drink so 45min voor die ride dan brand ek glad nie 

Hehe. Ek moes jou net bietjie nonsens byt. Ek kan glad nie "sportsing" soos Jewie sou sê, op die oomblik nie, dus moet ek maar iets anders doen😉.

Interessant van die pille, mens sal dit by 'n goeie apteek kry né? 

Ek is darem nie so lig nie, maar ek plak ook faktor 50.

[Theunissa]

22 minutes ago, RobertWhitehead said:

My vel is so lig dat as die son warm skyn dan moet ek onder die bed wegkruip binne die huis anders lyk ek soos 'n kreef . Ek oordryf, maar dis nie altyd lekker nie. 

Ek het wel 'n produk gekry wat lekker werk saam met SPF50 . Die pille se naam is Sylva-Sun, as mens twee drink so 45min voor die ride dan brand ek glad nie 

Selfde hier. Ek het ook pille as kind by my ma leer kry. Vit D. Koop goedkoopste wat ek kan. Ek het gister met spf 50 steeds gebrand. Maar minder. As kind het ek op die plaas in Vrystaat deur'n t hemp blase gebrand. In die veld 

[Steady Spin]

6 hours ago, RobertWhitehead said:

Personally: I will call it quits but not stop "cold turkey", rather gradually start dialing it back. You will notice that riding will become less of an addiction and more fun. I used to spend hours outdoors with friends slogging away to some sort of coffee / breakfast destination that's a cazillion miles away from home (or so it felt). It used to mean that I am away for 3-6 hours at a time and then the bike needed a scrub and a tinker afterwards. 

This ritual meant: 

1) an hour prep prior to the ride

2) if I planned a 100km outride it meant at least 5 hours of moving time

3) stopping mid way to fuel up translated to another hour

4) washing, tinkering and cleaning afterwards (bike and self) - another hour. 

This tallies up to 8 hours of fun in the sun. 

I then sat down and had a look at why I was riding, was it the social aspect of spending time with friends and talking rubbish at the stop? No it wasn't. 

Was it to be outside and to enjoy the 34 deg heat first hand? Nope, I have a very light skin so if I venture outside I have to take a bath in sunblock. 

Was it because I yearned for the veld and "needed" the rush of flying at 25-30km/h through a nicely manicured piece of single track? Meh

The main reason why I put myself through the effort of riding outdoors was to gain fitness and to become stronger. This came at a cost of 8 hours and I started asking myself whether or not the sacrifice of time was worth the gains I saw? Long story short, the answer to me was no & I now prefer spending 3-4 hours on the trainer (if I wanted to get 100km) with 15-20 min of prep along with another 20min afterwards to get cleaned up. Same result yet almost half the sacrifice of time - winner winner chicken dinner . 

Everyone's goal / objective / motivation is different but the point I am trying to make is that once you've identified the "why" the "how" becomes quite clear. 

Each to his own but that was the saddest thing i’ve ever read. 

The day I stop riding outdoors is the day they can order my coffin. 

[MORNE]

1 hour ago, Steady Spin said:

Each to his own but that was the saddest thing i’ve ever read. 

The day I stop riding outdoors is the day they can order my coffin. 

Don't know everyone’s back story but I can tell you that I did this for a while after a got a knife in the face and relieved  of my bicycle a few years back. You go though all the stages of depression and especially if you have a young family, weigh up the pro’s and cons of risking your life riding out and about, wether thats getting stabbed or run over by a car. It’s different if you only ride in closed parks. But thats not everyones cup of tea either. I love just riding in a direction for hours on end, but you just cant anymore on your own in this country. If you do you are taking a risk, and you need to be fine with tge possible consequences. Some people choose to mitigate risk by enjoying their hobby in different ways. If it works for them thats fine too. 

[DieselnDust]

How old are your tyres? Despite my front looking quite new it’s lost a lot of grip over the past 6 months. The rear is fubar. Lack of grip leads to lack of trust in the front which leads to accidents 

[betaboy]

5 hours ago, Robbie Stewart said:

What I've now tested and can vouch for is the fact that once you cross over the threshold of 40 you don't bounce anymore. Impacts with this very hard planet of ours are hard and the stopping part is sudden and painful.

I popped a wheelie on my kids high end racing BMX which of course is a lightweight track specialist machine and I backflipped and couldn’t function as a human for 4 days. My wife continued to remind me about the skateboarding demo I tried to do I few years back. 🫣🙈🤣😂 have to agree, after 45 there is no more bounce, just one big ouch!

[dasilvarsa]

17 hours ago, Robbie Stewart said:

I'm curious to see if I'm alone in my self assessments about crashing.

So, to start, I'm a 27 year old trapped in the body of a 47 year old. The problem with this is that the young man in me wants to do stuff that my middle aged body doesn't want me to do. 

Case in point. This morning on the Hoogekraal Cobra I did the whole smash into rocks and opened a can of whip-ass and hurt for breakfast. All because in my mind "I can", but the costs are starting to add up.

I'm wondering if the time has come to call it quits? I enjoy riding but crashing less so.

In the last month I've now gone down three times. Twice on the Conties Rhinos and today on the Cobra.

And to think I was considering pulling the trigger on a new Status.

What say the mob?

Maybe Your Front Tyre is Pumped too Hard.

What Pressure you running in Front ?

Try 1.3 Bar.

[tjommies3]

I quit riding my bike outdoors due to the constant attacks from those with ill-intentions. That was 2017 after the attack on a triathlete in the Cradle. I now enjoy riding virtually and I run a lot more. I am 45 now and in much better shape than I expected to be and will still strive to improve even more. Don't ever stop altogether because you'll only be miserable not doing what you love. 

Edited February 26, 2023 by tjommies3

[Nico van Loggerenberg]

Keep riding, in fact, ride harder than ever. Crash more than ever. If you're lucky you will achieve a point before permanent injury where your skill at crashing becomes so good that the crashes become minor, then you're bulletproof forever. The Sam Pilgrim approach.

[betaboy]

53 minutes ago, Nico van Loggerenberg said:

Keep riding, in fact, ride harder than ever. Crash more than ever. If you're lucky you will achieve a point before permanent injury where your skill at crashing becomes so good that the crashes become minor, then you're bulletproof forever. The Sam Pilgrim approach.

.. Sam doesn’t have any front teeth! Your hardcore-ness deserves a BikeHub badge. Please contact admin immediately! 👍🏻👀🤣🤣

[Nico van Loggerenberg]

32 minutes ago, betaboy said:

.. Sam doesn’t have any front teeth! Your hardcore-ness deserves a BikeHub badge. Please contact admin immediately! 👍🏻👀🤣🤣

Oh I am NOT following my own advice on this one

[mrcg]

Robbie, it's called the evolution of ageing (coming from a 53, ER sorry 35 year old! Lol). Without a doubt, the knowledge and experience of possible repercussions impact your riding, often in subtle ways. For me it's absolutely only a mental thing: if Greg can pin downhill at those speeds at his "age" (aside from training, skill, technique and talent), then we can all attain/keep our own unique speeds up. It's all about mental approach, assuming skill, training and physical form is still on same par as before.

So for me, it just takes a small sandcorn moment of doubt, loss of positiveness or confidence, worrying about crashing etc, which will possibly have immediate or delayed consequences.

Case in point is my own last ride down Cobra: I have been working with a lady friend who is prepping for Epic. She has progressed a lot but she fears that stony, jutted rock garden section and has fallen hard there. She walks it now. But having dealt with this situation with her a number of times, somehow planted a small seed with me. And promptly I had my very first small off there. It took just a small moment of hesitation and a fleeting thought of falling there......and presto.

Anyway, that's what it seems it is to me. Aside from all technical (incl tyre pressures etc) and physical aspects being equal....which strictly speaking they never really are, but hopefully you get what I mean.

Good luck with your journey and evolution 😁 

Edited February 26, 2023 by mrcg
Spelling

[Scary Rider]

8 hours ago, Theunissa said:

Selfde hier. Ek het ook pille as kind by my ma leer kry. Vit D. Koop goedkoopste wat ek kan. Ek het gister met spf 50 steeds gebrand. Maar minder. As kind het ek op die plaas in Vrystaat deur'n t hemp blase gebrand. In die veld 

Joh, ek het al effens deur my hemde gebrand, maar darem nog nie blase. Blase op my bene met 'n kortbroek op die trekker wel🙈.