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I Wish I could risk jumps… but my family needs me to work lol

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#102 ·
StokedSpokes said:
Thanks for the advice guys. It seems everyone agrees the way forward is investing in some coaching.. but that nagging feeling about getting injured… does it ever fully go away?
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I didn't start jumping until I was in my 50's and my teenager wanted to ride jump lines. Riding with him at the local bike park gave me the confidence to ride more aggressively and I started looking for opportunities to jump while riding trails. I'm not hitting anything big but I am comfortable with my bike in the air.

Fwiw, I recently had an actual crash for the first time in years. I put in some extra miles on a rocky trail in order to hit a monthly mileage goal. I was tired and decided to "take it easy" on the 5 mile downhill back to the trailhead. I went over the bars while "safely" riding a section of trail that I usually ride as fast as I can.

Start small and practice...building confidence will lessen your fear of getting injured.
 
#103 ·
Sir kayakalot said:
If you grunt too hard and shart, isn’t that going to mess up your concentration for the landing? If your a pro though, just enough exertion to bubble that chamois butter would probably be quite satisfying mid air
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Well, I believe only @Picard lubes the inside of his anal cavity with chamois butter. He does that due to wearing Speedos on his ride.
 
#104 ·
StokedSpokes said:
Thanks for the advice guys. It seems everyone agrees the way forward is investing in some coaching.. but that nagging feeling about getting injured… does it ever fully go away?
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That's why I never watch Friday Fails or look at the rider injury part of this forum. I just don't want any of that in my head when I'm riding.
 
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#106 ·
mlx john said:
Cardio is the way to go.

Had a retired state cop tell me that the big dudes with beards and gym muscles were the easy ones to take down. They gassed out early.

He said the skinny wiry guys were the dangerous ones.
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You guys better watch me carefully. ;)
 
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#108 ·
Nat said:
I recently rode a trail that was built with traditional hiking trail design, meaning sharp 170 degree switchbacks and water bars on the corners of each switch. It was kind of annoying to be honest. That’s what we did in the early days of mountain biking because everything was new but I’m glad that trail design evolved from that to have a more fluid riding experience.
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Same here. Sort of. It was a hiking trail open to bikes and with a series of unrideable switchbacks down this steep gully. It was not fun. I had to carry my bike down. But it was also an adventure, which I kind of liked. A bit.
 
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#109 ·
MMS said:
Analog photos of my Onza equipped Diamondback Apex exist somewhere, I may or may not have had a mullet (hair, not bike) at the time. I refuse to find out, I'm trying to put that behind me forever.
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Wow! I also had an Onza equipped Apex too. I think I was past my mullet days by that point though.
 
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#110 ·
SouthSoundRider said:
Well, I believe only @Picard lubes the inside of his anal cavity with chamois butter. He does that due to wearing Speedos on his ride.
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Hey, there is mixed company here. You need to be more discrete. It is called a prison pocket, or for Specialized riders, a SWAT box.
 
#112 ·
Curveball said:
Wow! I also had an Onza equipped Apex too. I think I was past my mullet days by that point though.
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Life is slower round here, it hung around longer.

Curveball said:
That's why I never watch Friday Fails or look at the rider injury part of this forum. I just don't want any of that in my head when I'm riding.
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So before my AC separation crash a few months ago my superstition was to not watch Friday Fails/Crash related vids BEFORE a ride. After the crash, I can't watch em, I've tried but my shoulder starts pinging and my stomach starts turning a bit. The video @ilmfat posted in that other thread was physically bothersome for me.
 
#113 · (Edited)
MMS said:
Life is slower round here, it hung around longer.


So before my AC separation crash a few months ago my superstition was to not watch Friday Fails/Crash related vids BEFORE a ride. After the crash, I can't watch em, I've tried but my shoulder starts pinging and my stomach starts turning a bit. The video @ilmfat posted in that other thread was physically bothersome for me.
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95% of those crashes are shoulder impacts too. I've injured the same shoulder three times with an AC separation being the worst. I'll bet you have a nice shoulder bump. Fist bump for the shoulder bump! 🤜

I can still watch but I've grown tired of crash reels. They are so repetitive. Watch a few and you've pretty much seen them all.

Anyone learning to jump should watch them just so you don't feel bad when you nose dive then OTB on the run out. Ironically I've never crashed like that even though it's so common. My issue learning was pulling up too hard. It took WAY too long for me to figured out you don't have to pull up much. I had more than one crash landing as if I was trying to ride a manual out. I was actually starting to dial in the bar hump by the time I figured things out. My issue was I learned to drop to flat before drops to landers or built jumps so pulling up was burned into my brain anytime my front wheel left the ground.
 
#118 ·
StokedSpokes said:
Anyway, how much of a wuss bag am I, since my family commitments prevent me from riding all of the modern, fun looking features? I do love living vicariously through locals on the jumps.
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No wuss bag, just a responsible guy.
Personally I love to ride really big jumps, but I know there’s an elevated risk for “hardware failure” and thus injury.
If you don’t feel comfortable doing it because of your responsibilities, just don’t do it, you don’t have to jump to have fun.
 
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#119 ·
Noob1999 said:
No wuss bag, just a responsible guy.
Personally I love to ride really big jumps, but I know there’s an elevated risk for “hardware failure” and thus injury.
If you don’t feel comfortable doing it because of your responsibilities, just don’t do it, you don’t have to jump to have fun.
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Exactly what this person said. Sometimes you feel like jumping, sometimes not. The people here are probably thinking with their egos. Who knows if you’re a single parent, using biking to escape being the primary care taker for your partner/family member, or even just not yet confident to hit larger jumps. Like silence in a conversation, discretion is key when taking a jump into the air. As suggested previously, take a class, or ride with a patient person that will show you the way.
 
#120 ·
Who cares what others think or say. They won't be the ones taking care of you and your family if you get seriously hurt. Follow your gut and trust it. I have no problem telling my 13 yr old son I'm not doing that double black because I want to be able to ride again tomorrow. I do push my limits but baby steps. That's just human nature but I do know when I can't or don't trust my skills. I'd rather ride for years to come then say I hit that feature and crashed while sitting in a wheelchair.
 
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