Gerryattrick

Lying on my back, checking that nothing was broken, after another mishap involving mud and wet leaves, I started to wonder - when did I lose the ability to bounce?

I'd managed a safe landing on my side without stretching out my arm and further damaging my shoulder but it was about as graceful as a sack of potatoes being thrown from a lorry.

As a kid I could jump off an 8' wall and my knees would act like suspension forks, but now if I jump down the bottom two stairs I land with a solid thump!

This is why non-impact (apart from falls) cycling is such a good exercise for these old bones.

Barrettscv 

I hope I still have it. A few months ago I fell when the tires caught a metal edge that ran along the shoulder of a bike path. I fortunately curled-up and rolled as I hit the grass where I fell.

I usually have one fall like this a year. One day my number will be up and I'll need a ride to the ER.

locolobo13 

Lost mine in my 40s. I can remember bouncing back up after a crash. Now the sound is more like Splat!

Wanderer

I don't even go splat - more like BAM!

I never knew gravity was that strong!

OldsCOOL

I train on the ice up here....walking to the mailbox. Tuck n roll, baby. It works.

Rick@OCRR

I crashed about mile 62 on the Palm Springs Century last Saturday; a pace line crash. Hit the deck going about 15-16 mph. Scraped skin off my left leg and knee in 2 places, off my left arm and elbow, hip and shoulder, cut up three fingers on my left hand. Didn't exactly bounce.

But . . . I did get up, brush myself off (a bit) and rode to the next rest stop where they had a first aid tent. The medics there cleaned me up, poured hydrogen peroxide on my wounds (ouch!), put on Neosporin and bandages, and I finished the century in some (but not a lot of) pain. All the ride details here: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/443011443

Oh . . . the bike was fine. Scuffed up the handlebar tape a bit on the left side; no other damage. No broken bones, so I consider that a huge positive. Over on the negative side, my back is hurting so I may have tweeked it a bit in the crash, which I didn't realize at the time.

Rick / OCRR
63 and still riding on . . .

az_cyclist

Glad you are ok Rick.

Dudelsack 

With apologies to Phil Collins:

I don't bounce anymo.
I don't bounce any mow-your.

No mo. No mo.

No mo. No mo..........

David Bierbaum

I never had any "bounce" in me to begin with. I always seem to lead with my elbows, knees, nose, and temple. I don't "splat" or "BAM!" so much as I "cRaCk!" when I fall and don't get my hands out in time. I hate leaf-snot. I hate leaf-snot with hidden sticks even more.

Biker395 

I don't bounce either. Every time I crash, I flipplin break something.

I think I need to start drinking more milk. Do White Russian's count?

Retro Grouch 

Me too. My body is like a finely tuned Formula 1 car. When it crashes it absorbs energy by breaking to pieces.

fietsbob

Heavy clothing to keep you warm in the Snow has been good cushioning, for Bike falls ..

and so better than summer crashes .

Dudelsack 

Yes. As vodka is a derivative of potatoes, we'll give you credit for a vegetable as well.

I work with a guy who commutes by bike every day. He's hit the deck twice in the past week due to ice, so even he is driving in untill it warms up a bit.

North Coast Joe

Here's where the whole train of thought starts to fall apart. I'm convinced there's no link between what I could do and what happens now.

Glad you're OK....I'd be pretty happy with the safe, but ungainly landing. Style points went out for me decades ago.

Phil_gretz

Mud and wet leaves? Ours are all icy and crunchy by now...

It takes me longer to assess if anything's broken and how I am after a fall. When I was younger, I tried to pop right up to make sure no one saw me fall. Now, I lay there hoping that someone will come by and help me get up.

Did a bad faceplant over-the-bars fall on the MTB on a steep/stepped descending course last fall. I bailed and wedged the front wheel between two larger rocks. Wham...slide/grind...dust cloud. Youngsters at the bottom stopped chatting with one another, looked over and said, "dude, are you okay?". I said that I would let them know once I had cleared the dirt from my mouth... Bruised but not broken, fortunately.

rdtompki

Mother Nature builds in this diminution of bounceability as a means of thinning out the herd; the learned gray beards (them that don't fall so much on their arse(s)) survive to pass on their wisdom in the form of BF participation.

Gerryattrick

That reminds me: I blame my fall 100% on you Yanks and nothing to do with my stupidity. We've been having unusually heavy storms, rain and floods for weeks now, all the result of a weather system being blown across the Atlantic on the Jet Stream originating from your cold weather on the east coast. This weather has really ruined my plans for winter riding. As I write, the winds outside are touching 80 mph in gusts.

wphamilton

Less hard muscle to absorb the impact, more brittle bones. Your technique can be as good as ever or better but we'll still risk injury on any fall at our age. Part of it's also a matter of preferential memories I think. I stepped off a running board to the curb and injured my foot in my 20's, and my falls were more bouncy and ungainly until I got better trained - in my 40's. We don't need to just give up on it on account of age, but we do need to be more careful.

JohnDThompson 

Sure, if you drink enough of them. Hey, you might not even feel that fall!

Murray Missile 

I think there's a direct connection to what I DID and what I can't do now... I used it all up when I was a kid. If I'd know I was going to actually live this long I would have taken better care of myself back when I was "invincible".

zonatandem

My last crash was at 38 mph descending a curvy mountain in northern Utah.
Harmonic vibration was the cause.
Managed to tuck-an- roll and break only the left humurus (shoulder) in 2 places. Bike was fine.
The cyclist behind me rode over me and cracked his helmet.
Oh, was only in my mid-70s then.
Had to pedal home as there is no cell reception there.

dbg

I've always marveled at how time seems to slow down when an emergency situation arises --like a bike spill or a fall on a ski hill.. It always seems to me I can process dozens of scenarios and analyze numerous options for balance and body position manipulation in the tenth of a second after it's clear a fall is imminent. The tough part comes in when you realize the best way to protect yourself might hurt someone else badly.

doctor j

Went down like a sack of wet squirrels last night when I managed to find the lone, remaining patch of ice on the roads in our town
Fortunately, the coefficient of friction between me and the surface of the road was less than normal (I guess that's why I went down in the first place.). I slid along and managed to abrade a hole only in the right knee of my tights. The wind jacket is OK (no holes) except for some asphalt stains which resisted cleaning. Honorable battle scars! The right shoulder, which took the brunt of the impact, is achy but no breaky. It's been talking to me today.

Trooper that he is, Ol' Fuj is fine, wheels true, shifters OK etc.

Judging by how I feel today, no, I'm not quite as resilient as I was back in the day.