Donga
Member
Started MTB age 60 - EMTB from 70 - still racing anyone and everyone after 6 collarbones, i wrist and countless stitches. "If there's no blood, not trying hard enough - broken bone, trying too hard". This sport is what I live for!!
73 year old bone breaker.....
- Thread starter Donga
- Start date
my man !
pics !
pics !
You joined in 2020..and you are just saying " hello" now!"
Guess you must have been too busy trying to escape the
..on your local rides ..
Some gooduns there mate, @Zimmerframe has some stiff competition!
jbrown15
Well-known member
Fun costs blood.
"life is not a rehearsal" as it has said on one of my skiing t-shirt since the early 90s!
Overkillit
Member
I could be alone here but I think it gets worse after 50. You start realizing that you're not as young as you think you are until the wrecks happen. They are more annoying than painful and some can hurt pretty bad.
Donga
Member
- Thread starter
- #12
Last crash requiring medical intervention in March this year, together with your comments, has caused some introspection......
Crashes caused by
1. stupidity (mine!) - look for lines rather than mindless bombing.......
2. following too closely to rider in front down gnarly, steep, technical sections - he bails, my options include falling off the mountain!!
3. poor eyesight - fixed by double cataract operation 2 years ago
4. too great a speed differential between me and rider in front - slow down before overtaking (after all the right greetings etc..)
However - still a great believer in my ability! If you worried about crashing, then you not giving the ride and the terrain your full concentration - and you will crash!!
Crashes caused by
1. stupidity (mine!) - look for lines rather than mindless bombing.......
2. following too closely to rider in front down gnarly, steep, technical sections - he bails, my options include falling off the mountain!!
3. poor eyesight - fixed by double cataract operation 2 years ago
4. too great a speed differential between me and rider in front - slow down before overtaking (after all the right greetings etc..)
However - still a great believer in my ability! If you worried about crashing, then you not giving the ride and the terrain your full concentration - and you will crash!!
High Rock Ruti
Active member
High Rock Ruti
Stop showing off.
They have these new fangled helmets now; they're called "full face" helmets?
Warm Regards Ruti
MountainBoy
Active member
I didn't know they made fixed gear mountain bikes.
Downhillr
Active member
Four Flusher
Active member
I get it. I'm 72 with both knees and a shoulder replaced. I'm able to still enjoy riding and skiing if I only do it 3 days a week and only at 70%, lol
christophorus
Member
That's awesome! I hope I'm still riding into my 70's.
steve_sordy
Wedding Crasher
This parade of machismo is fascinating, but count me out please. I fully intend to pass away peacefully in my sleep when I'm well past 90 years old. That is without the last 20 years of my life being ruined by arthritic joint pains from all my self-inflicted injuries. About 8-9 years ago I made friends with a guy quite a bit younger than me and we rode a lot for a short while. I liked him but I could not keep up with his seemingly total absence of fear or even any regard for his own safety. It was though some fuse had been pulled from his self-preservation circuits. He was tall, strong and very fit, but he wasn't a particularly skillful rider, just very well equipped - no expense was too great if it gave him an edge. I had to stop riding with him. He asked why and I told him that I was sure he was going to kill or severely injure himself one day and I didn't want to be around to see it happen.
I bumped into him a few years later and he was in a wheelchair, with a nurse in attendance. I asked what the hell had happened and he said it was an accident on his bike and that he had broken his back quite high up. It was permanent. Poor sod, what can you say?
I know that you can't go through life expecting to have a bad accident at any moment, that is no way to live, but you have to take some interest in your own self-preservation.
I bumped into him a few years later and he was in a wheelchair, with a nurse in attendance. I asked what the hell had happened and he said it was an accident on his bike and that he had broken his back quite high up. It was permanent. Poor sod, what can you say?
I know that you can't go through life expecting to have a bad accident at any moment, that is no way to live, but you have to take some interest in your own self-preservation.
Self preservation is a wonderful thing. Shame my wallet does not agree.
And I arrived SAFELY at death’s door… it seems so ironic. It’s just a matter of when and how. Suffering sucks !
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Pauliemon
Active member
I started racing moto at 23, bicycles at 35. I stopped racing at 56. Breaks? Many. Stitches? Many. Fun? Waaay too much! Now I just flow the trails at whatever speed that makes me comfortable. Do I crash now? Occasionally. Injuries didn't stop me, I got tired of suffering. 2 klicks to go and there's 3 of you. It's gonna be a hard couple of kilometers. Got tired of keeping my tongue off the front tire. Do what makes you happy. Life is to fuckin' short. Bit of advise. 6 collarbone breaks, back off the front brake a bit.
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MountainBoy
Active member
I liked him but I could not keep up with his seemingly total absence of fear or even any regard for his own safety. It was though some fuse had been pulled from his self-preservation circuits. He was tall, strong and very fit, but he wasn't a particularly skillful rider, just very well equipped - no expense was too great if it gave him an edge. I had to stop riding with him. He asked why and I told him that I was sure he was going to kill or severely injure himself one day and I didn't want to be around to see it happen.
I bumped into him a few years later and he was in a wheelchair, with a nurse in attendance. I asked what the hell had happened and he said it was an accident on his bike and that he had broken his back quite high up. It was permanent. Poor sod, what can you say?
I know that you can't go through life expecting to have a bad accident at any moment, that is no way to live, but you have to take some interest in your own self-preservation.
Wow! That really puts things into perspective! I can't stand being dependent upon others for anything, but the worst would be for basic bodily functions. Somehow, riding sport-touring motorcycles at high speed and lean angles on rural highways didn't bother me as much as committing to a technical descent on a MTB. I was gambling that things wouldn't go wrong and I got away with it for years before there was even a class of motorcycles called "sport-touring". On a MTB I feel the variables are less knowable or less controllable with the primary saving grace being the consequences are a bit less at 25 mph or less than they are if your body stops suddenly from 80 or 90 mph or more. Still, plenty of paralyzed people from impacts under 25 mph.
Don't be afraid to live, but do use your head and realize you don't have to take big risks to have a bit of fun!
MountainBoy
Active member
That reminds me of an old saying in the motorcyclist community:
There are a lot of old motorcyclists, and there are a lot of bold motorcyclists, but there are not too many old, bold motorcyclists.
steve_sordy
Wedding Crasher
I saw an old motorbike under a sheet in my mate's garage. It looked like a big one (don't ask me!) I asked why he never rode it. He told me that he had stopped riding his motorbike when he realised that all of his mates from when he started riding motorbikes at 15 years old were dead and that they had all been killed in bike accidents. He himself had had several accidents but was never seriously hurt, including when he and his bike went through a shop window in Bottesford Main Street, opposite the Rutland Arms pub. He was in his mid 20's when he had that epiphany and never rode the bike again, although he kept it. It was sold by his family after he died of a heart attack on a cruise ship off the coast of Spain at the grand old age of 65. They also sold his 35' motor cruiser and his great big Mercedes sports car! So, it was a good epiphany to have had!
Cdillardktm
Member
You give me inspiration! I'm 53 and my knees are starting to feel old.
Another “70+ bone breaker” here, a few years older than the OP. Thankfully, a few less bones broken and most of those were in previous cars or on/off motorcycles. As for MTB here’s a lovely pic of me back around the time of my 70th birthday following an over-the-bars incident. The photo was taken by a priest in the ER. He called my wife and said “Priest .x.x.x. here in the Emergency Room at Hoag Hospital. Your husband is OK, he’s going to live”. LOL! A bit of cleanup, some superglue “sutures”, and good to go.
I was partially paralyzed for a few scary moments immediately after the crash - this is often referred to as a “stinger”. Following a CT scan to assess any damage the neurosurgeon warned me that another trauma that impacted my cervical vertebrae could result in partial or complete paralysis below the neck. What a nice thought to carry around.
No need to give up or cut back on MTB. I just keep reminding myself that my aspirations, though not especially high, still significantly exceed my abilities. Just carry on and be more mindful, smell the roses more and the dirt and rocks less closely. Fortunately, subsequent crashes have been more over-the-side than OTB and have only resulted in scrapes, bruises and muscle tears leaving my bones and neck intact. Time will tell if this good fortune continues!
I was partially paralyzed for a few scary moments immediately after the crash - this is often referred to as a “stinger”. Following a CT scan to assess any damage the neurosurgeon warned me that another trauma that impacted my cervical vertebrae could result in partial or complete paralysis below the neck. What a nice thought to carry around.
No need to give up or cut back on MTB. I just keep reminding myself that my aspirations, though not especially high, still significantly exceed my abilities. Just carry on and be more mindful, smell the roses more and the dirt and rocks less closely. Fortunately, subsequent crashes have been more over-the-side than OTB and have only resulted in scrapes, bruises and muscle tears leaving my bones and neck intact. Time will tell if this good fortune continues!
Downhillr
Active member
Lol… uh, you do realize the objective is to ride the bike and keep the rubber side down… right?!!
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