Spinal cord Armageddon!

Posted by: skooks

Posted by: Squint

One of the authors of the report was on CBC this morning. The most interesting thing I heard, which I don't see broken out in the report, is that these injuries were not just mostly among inexperienced riders. So our idea of these being tourists on a rental bike in whistler may not be accurate.

Of course the other thing I read this morning is that there are 6 dead cyclist so far this year just in Toronto. So pick your poison I guess.

Yeah, interesting that the majority of accidents were experienced riders. Also, the most common mechanism of injury by far was "going over the bars", not attempting big features.

This doesn’t surprise me at all. It’s a nice little myth we like to tell ourselves that these were all inexperienced Joeys and it won’t happen to us because we are good.

But that is unlikely because experienced riders go a lot faster than beginners, so when we crash, it is much more serious. And as we see with the constant stream of injury reports from the Pros, it doesn’t matter how good you are, you will still crash.

Regarding precautions, I guess speed and amplitude are the biggest avoidable dangers. Go slow, stay low. Even if it goes against everything we consider important in terms of progression, skill and acclaim.

Being strong, flexible and good at tumbling helps too. Most of us had this in spades as we came up but those things degrade over time. When was the last time you did a somersault? Go to the gym, get to pilates or yoga, and maybe even do some tumbling at Jiu Jitsu or the local gymnastics place. These capacities used to come easy but now we have to fight for them. Even without a major incident, falling without these foundations becomes an ever-riskier proposition.

I don't do "crazy" runs, I have XC+ bike. But couple of times waring a backpack saved me when OTB and landed on my back on rocks.

A couple things I thought about on my ride today, which was SLOW and LOW due to thinking about the above comments....a (horrible ) example of speed being a factor was Yoann Barelli's recent crash. A very experienced rider, a fairly mid level route. Or Steve vanderhoek's also.

Isn't Hockey more known for concussions than spinal injuries? It seemed an odd comparison for injuries in an apples for apples statement. I don't know much about hockey so I'm interested.

Posted by: Climber

I don't do "crazy" runs, I have XC+ bike. But couple of times waring a backpack saved me when OTB and landed on my back on rocks.

Same with me.  But once I landed on on my back on a piece of ground that has a boulder jutting out.  I impacted fairly hard and the boulder connected door with the side of my back - to the side of the spine protector.  I can still remember the sound of the cracking ribs.  The thought of it barely missing my back freaked me out for a while.  Good thing I also had a hydro pack as it cushioned the initial impact (even though it knocked the wind out of me).

This is an activity that's a lot more dangerous than almost anything else.  Enjoy, but be smart and be safe.

Posted by: skooks

So is there a realistic way to mitigate risk for the type of riding most of us do?  I'm not particularly fast, and do not feel the need to wear a neck brace.  I do wear a full-face helmet for most rides, as do most of my friends.  I think I have a pretty good idea where the limits of my skills are.  None of this is going to help with the random OTB or fall off a ladder bridge etc.  I don't have an answer but I would love to hear people's thoughts.

Trust your inner voice. Don't tune it out. Ride like there's a tomorrow. Don't expect a trail to be the same as the last time you rode it, be prepared to change your ride line at a moments notice. Stopping is OK. Walking is OK. Riding a section again is OK. Following experienced riders is the best, as long as you trust their riding and lines. Don't lose focus. Most importantly, ride your own ride.

Posted by: Kever

Trust your inner voice. Don't tune it out. Ride like there's a tomorrow. Don't expect a trail to be the same as the last time you rode it, be prepared to change your ride line at a moments notice. Stopping is OK. Walking is OK. Riding a section again is OK. Following experienced riders is the best, as long as you trust their riding and lines. Don't lose focus. Most importantly, ride your own ride.

Yep. When I feel like I'm riding at 100% effort, especially chasing people, really I am probably riding at 110%, and that is where risk skyrockets. If I just try to ride smooth and solid and 80-90%, I'm not much slower, but my injury risk does not drop 10-20%, it probably drops 50% or more. Doubly so when feeling fatigued. I'll ride at 100% for short periods now and then when I'm really feeling good and want to push myself, but it's calculated.

Too many people ride on the ragged edge of their abilities, too often. Doesn't mean riding sidewalks at jogging pace, but just a notch down from being maxed out is good for reducing risk.

40 years into riding and I'm convinced that doing slightly less than I'm capable of is more fun than doing slightly more. It's just how I ride now. Same with skiing

It's taken me two injuries with broken bones to finally learn that staying out of the hospital is a most often choice. Accidents can happen of course, but the last injury was painful and scary enough to change my feelings about risk for the remainder of my life.

The other part is that I'm long since done being worried about my skill set. I have the confidence and years under my belt that saying "nahhh" doesn't phase me one bit.

Posted by: Kenny

Posted by: Kever

Trust your inner voice. Don't tune it out. Ride like there's a tomorrow. Don't expect a trail to be the same as the last time you rode it, be prepared to change your ride line at a moments notice. Stopping is OK. Walking is OK. Riding a section again is OK. Following experienced riders is the best, as long as you trust their riding and lines. Don't lose focus. Most importantly, ride your own ride.

Yep. When I feel like I'm riding at 100% effort, especially chasing people, really I am probably riding at 110%, and that is where risk skyrockets. If I just try to ride smooth and solid and 80-90%, I'm not much slower, but my injury risk does not drop 10-20%, it probably drops 50% or more. Doubly so when feeling fatigued. I'll ride at 100% for short periods now and then when I'm really feeling good and want to push myself, but it's calculated.

Too many people ride on the ragged edge of their abilities, too often. Doesn't mean riding sidewalks at jogging pace, but just a notch down from being maxed out is good for reducing risk.

100% all of this. I like to ride fast but I only ride fast when I'm feeling dialled and precise, otherwise I slow down until I sort that out. 

Speed through precision is great. Speed through recklessness is dumb. There's a ton of little low-risk progressions that make riding so much more fun. I'll take flow, consistency and solid cornering over big moves every day of the week.

Posted by: DanL

Isn't Hockey more known for concussions than spinal injuries? It seemed an odd comparison for injuries in an apples for apples statement. I don't know much about hockey so I'm interested.

Definitely more concussions in hockey than spinal injuries.

Posted by: switch

Posted by: Climber

I don't do "crazy" runs, I have XC+ bike. But couple of times waring a backpack saved me when OTB and landed on my back on rocks.

Same with me. But once I landed on on my back on a piece of ground that has a boulder jutting out. I impacted fairly hard and the boulder connected door with the side of my back - to the side of the spine protector. I can still remember the sound of the cracking ribs. The thought of it barely missing my back freaked me out for a while. Good thing I also had a hydro pack as it cushioned the initial impact (even though it knocked the wind out of me).

I once landed on my back hard enough to bend the aluminum Lezyne pump in my pack. Without the pack on I'm sure I would have taken some substantial damage.

Posted by: craw

Posted by: Kenny

Posted by: Kever

Trust your inner voice. Don't tune it out. Ride like there's a tomorrow. Don't expect a trail to be the same as the last time you rode it, be prepared to change your ride line at a moments notice. Stopping is OK. Walking is OK. Riding a section again is OK. Following experienced riders is the best, as long as you trust their riding and lines. Don't lose focus. Most importantly, ride your own ride.

Yep. When I feel like I'm riding at 100% effort, especially chasing people, really I am probably riding at 110%, and that is where risk skyrockets. If I just try to ride smooth and solid and 80-90%, I'm not much slower, but my injury risk does not drop 10-20%, it probably drops 50% or more. Doubly so when feeling fatigued. I'll ride at 100% for short periods now and then when I'm really feeling good and want to push myself, but it's calculated.

Too many people ride on the ragged edge of their abilities, too often. Doesn't mean riding sidewalks at jogging pace, but just a notch down from being maxed out is good for reducing risk.

100% all of this. I like to ride fast but I only ride fast when I'm feeling dialled and precise, otherwise I slow down until I sort that out. 

Speed through precision is great. Speed through recklessness is dumb. There's a ton of little low-risk progressions that make riding so much more fun. I'll take flow, consistency and solid cornering over big moves every day of the week.

Turns out I make more precise turns, smoother drops and overall faster times when I slow myself down. It's a good lesson to learn. I also session sections a lot.

Hits even harder when it's people you know passing or becoming paralyzed. Seems to happen with the smallest mistakes

Posted by: Doomstep

40 years into riding and I'm convinced that doing slightly less than I'm capable of is more fun than doing slightly more. It's just how I ride now. Same with skiing

It's taken me two injuries with broken bones to finally learn that staying out of the hospital is a most often choice. Accidents can happen of course, but the last injury was painful and scary enough to change my feelings about risk for the remainder of my life.

The other part is that I'm long since done being worried about my skill set. I have the confidence and years under my belt that saying "nahhh" doesn't phase me one bit.

I've been riding for almost as long as you, and have a similar take on things.  My main goal used to be to have as much fun as possible. Now it's more like trying to stay healthy and un-injured so I can continue to have fun and keep riding for as long as possible.

Posted by: tashi

Sometimes, particularly when riding alone, I focus on "riding well" instead of "riding fast" and that gets my head where it needs to be, focused on riding properly.  It feels great because you get some great riding in that way, and fast moments often just kinda happen when you're focused on the skills so you'll probably get a couple fast moments to savour out of the ride as well.

The last few years I have seen quite horrible crashes and it made me simply savour and enjoy riding alone, the moment I am by myself and can just enjoy riding without any form of pressure or expectations - kind of like "All about the ride!", if you know what I mean. 

If I am a part of a group ride, I try to ignore the pressure that probably most of us put on ourselves and our performance, this is quite often pretty challenging since the only competition we should have to face is ourselves and our abilities. Sometimes I can do this, sometimes I fail. 

A few weeks ago, a rider died crashing in Finale Ligure, Italy, apparently an experienced and skilled rider, crashed in a rock garden and his body shut down. Since I have heard that, I really have difficulties riding fast or do technical stuff smooth. The older I get the harder it is to "let go" and just "be present".