Great video! I broke my collarbone really badly in a crash last summer. Hooked the right side of my bars on a tree, which sent me flying off the left side of the trail where I slammed my left shoulder into another tree. It wasn’t even on a particularly difficult or gnarly section or trail. I still have flashbacks when I ride that same trail again. The thing that helped me most when getting back into riding was to spend some time working on the fundamentals. Body position, cornering, braking, jumping. Doing drills to hone those fundamental skills helped boost my confidence and I feel like taking the time to practice those things again gave me a newfound comfortability on the bike.
Thanks! Oh gosh that sounds rough. Hopefully you're fully recovered physically and mentally. Also, yes the fundamentals are huge here. I too had to rethink how I was riding and had to get back to the basics. Like yourself, I got a ton of confidence and today I feel like I ride better than I used to.
same, broke mine on a tree stumb when I went off track in a super hard slab. I don't have flashbacks but I get insane amounts of stress when I see videos of it or think about it
I spent much of the 80s mountain biking in Crested Butte. Back then, we had no suspension, no helmets, and rarely got seriously injured. The secret? We went slowwwwww on downhills. One reason was the trails and equipment dictated that, but that actually made the sport safer! It was a completely different vibe and more about being out in nature, smoking a bowl, and spending quality time with friends.
Good video, though hard to watch. I had a bunch of injuries in my time riding bikes but one time I had this freak incident that was just completely out of control. I went off course after overshooting a jump and literally pinballed between two trees and got ejected from my bike and summersaulted through the air before landing head-down. I chipped my shoulder blade and broke my collarbone, a rib, 2 toes and nearly broke my neck (luckily I came down at an angle instead of straight down, breaking my collarbone instead of my neck, though I had to wear a collar for a few weeks because I still overstretched my neck really bad). I had some complications during recovery so it turned out to be a difficult and long process with a lot of pain involved. This broke me, mentally. I decided it was not worth it and sold all my stuff. Now, 5 months ago, nearly 10 years after the incident I decided to pick things back up and start riding again. Riding is my biggest passion in life and I can't describe how happy and grateful I am for being able and having the chance to ride still. I even cried a little when I took my new bike home and sat down in my living room looking at it. But it's also been very, very difficult. I used to ride black DH trails with big jumps and drops without much thought, now I'm scared of drops that are more than about 3 feet and gap jumps as well (I did jump a pretty big tabletop though which I'm pretty stoked about!). Progress has been very slow and sometimes I feel like a failure or a pussy because of it but then I tell myself that it's no small feat to even get back on the bike again after what I went through and that fact alone means I don't have anything to feel ashamed for. I've walked the walk and don't have anything to prove, so I'll just progress at my own steady pace and not care about what anyone thinks of this 30 year old in his full face helmet scared to hit a 5 foot drop, lol. It will come. Thanks for talking about this
Holy toledo, that sounds like an intense injury. I'm so sorry that you went through that, but on the flip side I am incredibly glad to hear that you're back on the bike. I totally relate to that feeling. In fact, I wear a full face helmet a lot of the time when I'm doing some trail rides, so you're not alone. Keep on pushing through it, and go easy on yourself. Thank you for sharing your story, and your English is better than most people I know.
Great video and great topic! I use to race road bikes in the late 80s and went through many peloton crashes. Some quite bad. Recently I dusted off my old hardtail and started trail riding. I totally get the ptsd. Although my crashes were almost 40 years ago the apprehension is still there. Now I am starting my masters in psychological research into PTSD. If I can’t help anyone deal with PTSD or the fear I’m here.
Man, you've been riding longer than I've been alive! I hope you're able contribute the field of research with that! Also, I am very excited to hear that you're back on the bike.
Broke my back recently on something I really thought I had. I'm getting close to the end of my recovery and being clear to properly ride a bike again and this is one of my biggest fears. Great video, you really put a common feeling into words.
Thanks for opening up about your injuries. Hope you have a good time recovering and that you can be confident on the bike once again, and have fun doing it
Totally understand. I had my worst crash ever, back in June at 51, on a section of trail I have hit before. I went OTB off a drop. It is like a rock jump to skip pad then drop. I landed on a pile of big rocks off the trail. I’m not even sure what happened? I broke my helmet clean through in three places and messed up my shoulder. It was scary as hell. I was alone and I’m lucky to be here. I got back on the bike about five weeks after the crash, still in a lot of pain. But happy to be riding. I’m just not sure if I’ll ever ride like I did before or if I even want to? They keep building bigger, gnarly trails and I keep getting older and more cautious. It definitely bums me out a bit. Just gotta keep moving. Ride on 🤘
holy toledo! I can relate to that. Now that I have a family and work a 9-5, it makes riding bigger features that much harder. I have to think about the consequences more than before. I'm glad you're getting back out there!
Man I feel this. For me it is with hiking. To many bad experiences piled up that has led to anxiety and that jelly leg feeling even on easy trails. I keep purposely putting myself in those uncomfortable situations so i can become comfortable feeling that way and eventually move past it. Thanks for the video!
I get this. I had a motorbike crash. Fine on my motorbike, but now can’t bear to go in the sea. I’ve spent half my life teaching windsurfing and kitesurfing…
I think this is the way for every trauma, addiction, abuse or every other thing that leaves a mark. Step by step one thing at a time. Be nice to your self.
I could not be more grateful. I found your video.have been going through this very situation with my mountain biking, and this has put everything in perspective ❤️ thank you so much ❤️
Great video! I broke my collarbone really badly in a crash last summer. Hooked the right side of my bars on a tree, which sent me flying off the left side of the trail where I slammed my left shoulder into another tree. It wasn’t even on a particularly difficult or gnarly section or trail. I still have flashbacks when I ride that same trail again. The thing that helped me most when getting back into riding was to spend some time working on the fundamentals. Body position, cornering, braking, jumping. Doing drills to hone those fundamental skills helped boost my confidence and I feel like taking the time to practice those things again gave me a newfound comfortability on the bike.
Thanks! Oh gosh that sounds rough. Hopefully you're fully recovered physically and mentally.
Also, yes the fundamentals are huge here. I too had to rethink how I was riding and had to get back to the basics. Like yourself, I got a ton of confidence and today I feel like I ride better than I used to.
same, broke mine on a tree stumb when I went off track in a super hard slab. I don't have flashbacks but I get insane amounts of stress when I see videos of it or think about it
Ughhh that feeling of stress is totally not fun. I have a drop near my place that I get that with bc I’ve gone OTB twice on it.
I spent much of the 80s mountain biking in Crested Butte. Back then, we had no suspension, no helmets, and rarely got seriously injured. The secret? We went slowwwwww on downhills. One reason was the trails and equipment dictated that, but that actually made the sport safer! It was a completely different vibe and more about being out in nature, smoking a bowl, and spending quality time with friends.
What a way to live. We outta take some wisdom from you
Good video, though hard to watch.
I had a bunch of injuries in my time riding bikes but one time I had this freak incident that was just completely out of control. I went off course after overshooting a jump and literally pinballed between two trees and got ejected from my bike and summersaulted through the air before landing head-down. I chipped my shoulder blade and broke my collarbone, a rib, 2 toes and nearly broke my neck (luckily I came down at an angle instead of straight down, breaking my collarbone instead of my neck, though I had to wear a collar for a few weeks because I still overstretched my neck really bad). I had some complications during recovery so it turned out to be a difficult and long process with a lot of pain involved. This broke me, mentally. I decided it was not worth it and sold all my stuff.
Now, 5 months ago, nearly 10 years after the incident I decided to pick things back up and start riding again.
Riding is my biggest passion in life and I can't describe how happy and grateful I am for being able and having the chance to ride still. I even cried a little when I took my new bike home and sat down in my living room looking at it.
But it's also been very, very difficult. I used to ride black DH trails with big jumps and drops without much thought, now I'm scared of drops that are more than about 3 feet and gap jumps as well (I did jump a pretty big tabletop though which I'm pretty stoked about!). Progress has been very slow and sometimes I feel like a failure or a pussy because of it but then I tell myself that it's no small feat to even get back on the bike again after what I went through and that fact alone means I don't have anything to feel ashamed for. I've walked the walk and don't have anything to prove, so I'll just progress at my own steady pace and not care about what anyone thinks of this 30 year old in his full face helmet scared to hit a 5 foot drop, lol. It will come.
Thanks for talking about this
Holy toledo, that sounds like an intense injury. I'm so sorry that you went through that, but on the flip side I am incredibly glad to hear that you're back on the bike. I totally relate to that feeling. In fact, I wear a full face helmet a lot of the time when I'm doing some trail rides, so you're not alone.
Keep on pushing through it, and go easy on yourself.
Thank you for sharing your story, and your English is better than most people I know.
Great subject to talk about. Trail trauma is a huge barrier to overcome. Huge kudos to you for getting back on the bike.
thanks mang
Great video and great topic! I use to race road bikes in the late 80s and went through many peloton crashes. Some quite bad. Recently I dusted off my old hardtail and started trail riding. I totally get the ptsd. Although my crashes were almost 40 years ago the apprehension is still there. Now I am starting my masters in psychological research into PTSD. If I can’t help anyone deal with PTSD or the fear I’m here.
Man, you've been riding longer than I've been alive! I hope you're able contribute the field of research with that! Also, I am very excited to hear that you're back on the bike.
Broke my back recently on something I really thought I had. I'm getting close to the end of my recovery and being clear to properly ride a bike again and this is one of my biggest fears. Great video, you really put a common feeling into words.
Thanks for opening up about your injuries. Hope you have a good time recovering and that you can be confident on the bike once again, and have fun doing it
Totally understand.
I had my worst crash ever, back in June at 51, on a section of trail I have hit before. I went OTB off a drop. It is like a rock jump to skip pad then drop. I landed on a pile of big rocks off the trail. I’m not even sure what happened? I broke my helmet clean through in three places and messed up my shoulder. It was scary as hell. I was alone and I’m lucky to be here. I got back on the bike about five weeks after the crash, still in a lot of pain. But happy to be riding. I’m just not sure if I’ll ever ride like I did before or if I even want to?
They keep building bigger, gnarly trails and I keep getting older and more cautious. It definitely bums me out a bit. Just gotta keep moving.
Ride on 🤘
holy toledo! I can relate to that. Now that I have a family and work a 9-5, it makes riding bigger features that much harder. I have to think about the consequences more than before. I'm glad you're getting back out there!
Man I feel this. For me it is with hiking. To many bad experiences piled up that has led to anxiety and that jelly leg feeling even on easy trails. I keep purposely putting myself in those uncomfortable situations so i can become comfortable feeling that way and eventually move past it. Thanks for the video!
Hey, thanks for sharing that experience. I know its not easy to work through, but I know you can do. Keep on chugging!
I get this. I had a motorbike crash. Fine on my motorbike, but now can’t bear to go in the sea. I’ve spent half my life teaching windsurfing and kitesurfing…
Sorry to hear about that man.
That is really a tragedy.
I think this is the way for every trauma, addiction, abuse or every other thing that leaves a mark. Step by step one thing at a time. Be nice to your self.
Yessir! Even changing your trajectory from bad to less bad is progress.
Great video! Well done. Hope your channel goes far.
Thank you! That's very encouraging
Great story telling and solid camera work
Thank you very much! It took a lot of work, but I like how it came out.
I could not be more grateful. I found your video.have been going through this very situation with my mountain biking, and this has put everything in perspective ❤️ thank you so much ❤️
You’re so very welcome!
I had this exact issue, then I chose to identify as a RedBull athlete, problem solved
damn, this is clearly the right decision.
It's called getting old
Maybe, but not for everyone