this is a good thread. I definately love to push myself all the time but shore type riding is very dangerous. I rock climbed at a very very high level for 8 years and the biggest injury I had sustained was a sprained ankle on a 50' alpine fall and I burnt my arm once in a forced bivy "snow cave" more like a snow dent-but whatever.
Since switching over from XC 3 years ago I have seperated my shoulder twice, crack two ribs Dj'ing, broke my toe, and recently punctured a big hole in my leg. If you have ever fell directly on your head you know that it is seriously scarry shit. Not like "whoa dude, that was scary" more like sitting in the bath tub thinking "what if I DID break my neck, what if I paralized myself simply because I wanted to do a super man on the big gap jump"? You need to think about that shit!!!
I think it kind of boils down to this…
Who are you riding and hucking for? If you are doing it to impress others than you are heading towards a world of hurt. Everyone likes to show off their style and no matter who you are their is always a little "alpha wolf" mentality on the trail.
If you are riding to push yourself and see what you can do then I think the best thing to do is to set goals and progress steadily. If you set goals and limits ahead of time then when your out on the trail and feel the pressure or urge to "just do it" then you can temper yourself and say "in time, in time".
Lastly, wear your armour and keep your bike in shape. I may sound like an old fart, and to be honest I don't really remember how I became a 31yo father with a full time career and all the responsabilities that come with that so quickly, but I do know one thing - You need to protect yourself out there!
There are lots of young people on this board and believe it or not I can identify with them. At one time in my life I had no money, no responsabilities and all I cared about was getting stoned, riding my bike, and climbing BIG rock walls. I loved those times but really don't miss them. One thing I didn't learn until I was older was that I am not invincible. You can smash your leg to smitherines and it will heal. But I'll tell you what, when your 30 years old and its raining outside and you have to get out of bed to go to work, your leg is going to ache like a mother ** and it's only going to get worse. My buddy had his heal put back together after a bad climbing fall 12 years ago and he can still tell when its going to rain. So go out and push yourself, strive to get better but just remember in the grand scheme of things that big drop or huge gap means next to nothing and the guy who repeately rides over his head and hurts himself doesn't earn any respect from his peers.
insert catchy phrase here.