[QUOTE=jgscisum;18872194]This thread is about my sister. What say everyone else about this situation??


I'm 75 and I stopped riding in pace lines 10 years ago. Maybe older guys don't ride as much but I found a lack of focus by many of the riders and hitting the ground at 65 takes a lot longer to get over than at 40 or 50.


I especially found pulled back muscles tough to get over. In the past 10 years I've been on the ground twice and they were both low speed runs into pit holes.

Old folks are fragile and the more time we spend sitting on our rear ends, the more fragile we get.

The last time I looked, the risk of death per hour of cycling was nearly identical to the risk per hour of driving. Ditto for serious injuries. Is the BIL going to stop driving? The only studies I've seen on the benefits versus risks of cycling all say that cyclists live longer on average. However, the ones who died prematurely might feel poorly-served by such studies.

Older rider, low tolerance for risk of falling, = recumbent trike.

N+! for the win!

Good points from everyone! No, the BIL does not exercise or have any program. He is a pilot of small aircraft and I ask him if he was going to quit flying. NO response to that one.

My wife and I have been taking evening meals over just to make the transition easier for both of them. BIL response... " I could get use to this". My BIL really is a good guy! He's just a little pent up about things and losing his routine is one of them. At this point, I suspect keeping my lip zipped is about the smartest thing to do. Even if is bleeding from having to stay mute!
Thanks everyone for your feelings and perspective!

Being younger (mid-50's) and also a pilot, he sounds to me like the typical sedentary life-style workaholic that will soon not be able to pass his Class 3 Medical and his flying decisions will be made for him by the FAA.

I say go steal her bike out of the garage and when she's ready, give it to her. She'll recover so much better if she's able to ride.

My wife crashed resulting in no serious injuries, yet she of her own accord has stopped ridding. After a period of a few years has recently expressed interest in getting back on her bike . IMO we let others decide for themselves . Less stress usually .

Many years ago I was hit by a pick up truck from behind. Broken back and all that fun stuff. At that time my father told me to never got on a bike again. I was 29 years old. I got on, with a body brace in place, a month and a half after the accident. Dad got over it :) It is a knee jerk reaction. Fear, seeing your injured loved one, causes a lot of worry. What if it had been much worse? I was lucky, as that same fall several other riders were hit and died.

He will calm down at some point. If she wants to continue riding, she will.

Last time I tumbled was when I negotiated a tight bend, in too high a gear too slowly . .failed to extricate my right foot and toppled. Must've looked funny. . .

marriage is the ultimate act of selfishness. I would be lost without my Wife. Godspeed to your sister

I always give the same advice. Listen to your loved ones and then make up your own damned mind. If I told my wife I was selling her bike she'd very quickly let me know she was thinking of selling my car and if I sold her bike against her wishes very soon we'd be selling the house as community property. I used to be a full time hang glider pilot and tend to take risks she would never consider but I don't make her rules and she doesn't make mine. Any counseling from me includes "it's your life and your decision".

What constitutes a full recovery? Back to where you were before the accident or able to do everything you did before if slightly diminished?

I am 62 now, and six years ago I think it was I was attacked by pit bull type dogs resulting in a sever femur break, open wound, cracked hip and damaged knee. Plus a lot of bruises, scrapes, injured shoulder, dog bite and a lawsuit (and I won). I recovered, most would say fully, but I sometimes limp when I first standup, the leg is sore sometimes, I am scared of dogs (especially unknown dogs) now. There was also a small stroke and three months lost work. I was running 18 miles a week, now I do the stair stepper/elliptical instead.

My swim times for a mile never recovered fully, my average riding speeds never came back either. Is it because it took me a full year to recover (bones and stroke) and it is simply age? I think not entirely. There was a permanent loss. I was and am still very fit and in general durable goods. Older people may find significant loss though considered fully recovered, some people are just not as durable as others.

Last week I took a fall on my MTB in front of my house. I got some gravel rash on my elbow, a little sore arm and hip, never really slowed me down. So I guess I fully recovered from that in about 24 hours.

[QUOTE=Loose Chain;18917320]What constitutes a full recovery? Back to where you were before the accident or able to do everything you did before if slightly diminished?

I'll have to get back to you on that. At the moment I'm recovering from surgery to correct a mal-union of a pelvic fracture and a revision of a hip replacement. I had the surgery 39 days ago and was recently upgraded to partial weight bearing and some light spinning on the trainer (15 minutes of light resistance never felt so good after 5 weeks off the bike:p). Just started outpatient PT on Saturday.
Surgeons, I had 2, assure me I'll be back to riding at my previous level but we shall see. AT this age , 63, healing takes a lot longer.

I think this will work itself out, one way or the other. I don't mean to be facetious, but whatever error led to her crash, she will never make that same mistake again. I hope she decides to keep riding, even if it is not immediately.
She's been gifted with the opportunity to learn from her mistake. It is her first crash in four years. The rest of her riding should be trouble-free.

Excellent advice above about not getting between them.

Riding a bicycle in the US is about 5-10 times as dangerous as riding in a car based on fatalities per mile: Bicycling: Relatively Safe | streets.mn

http://streets.mn/wp-content/uploads...7/image005.png

OTOH the health benefits of being active likely far outweigh the risks. Minimize the risks and keep riding is my belief.

Very sorry about your injury; that must have been devastating. Were you wearing a helmet?
We are in the UK on our annual summer(!) visit and discussion still continues here about the value of helmets (and about bright clothing), both of which would seem to be obvious benefits, but not here!

And as for the medical bills, I hope insurance covered them. One good thing about the UK, and there are many others, is the National Health Service. A bill like that would never happen.

How much of that amount were YOU responsible for paying, after insurance company and/or Medicare adjustments and payments to the medical providers?

Yes had a helmet.

Left side hit at 16 mph

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...rash%20025.jpg

Damn. That's a pretty serious crack!

My last serious crash was at about 23 MPH ... but you had to really look closely to see how the helmet cracked to absorb the energy. Yours must have been a lot more violent. I don't even want to think about that. :twitchy:

My mom and sister came to visit me in the hospital, and one quipped to the other:

"Well, maybe this will finally teach him a lesson and he'll stop riding that silly bike."

My wife's response was classic:

"If you really think that, you don't know him very well."

:thumb:

I don't remember the crash or the next three days.

Also destroyed the No. 4 nerve in my left eye and twisted the eye muscle 15 *
Was in Three hospitals.

Third one for eye surgery. My vision in the Left eye will never be the same.
My Brain now has problems trying to tell me what the Left eye is seeing to match what the good eye sees.

Yikes! Did you ever find out what caused the crash?

The ultimate decision is up to your sister as to will she ride again or not. It is your job, along with husband to support her in whatever route she goes.

I was hit in the mid 90's (Driver ran red light, no insurance) which resulted in multiple operations and 13 months of recovery, and medical bills that put me in great debt for over 10 years. But for me never once did I want to stop the sport I've grown to love, and was back on the bike a year and a half after the accident. It did end me racing competitively, and I do live with daily back pain but I Love the freedom my bike gives me to much to stop.

+1, riding or not riding is a personal decision and needs to be made by each person based on their situation and preference. We can provide support, or specific information (only) if asked, but should avoid being an advocate.

I tend to be a bit conservative when asked for advice because I never want to hear "I never should have listened.....". So if asked, I'd try to provide both the pros and cons to consider, but I'd never urge someone to continue bicycling if unsure or facing family objections.

Read these two threads:
http://www.bikeforums.net/advocacy-s...nds-study.html
http://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycli...tos-bikes.html

It is hard to actually pin down how dangerous bicycling is. However, a lot of people believe that it is also HEALTHY, and the health benefits may more than offset the inherent risks.

That being said, it never hurts to look at the accident and try to make things better. Was it a fluke accident, or did the sister do something to cause it? Will it happen again, or what can be done to prevent it from happening?

One might consider a recumbent trike? Off-street riding?

Interesting thread. One of the links is to Ken Kifer's thoughts on the subject.

Is Cycling Dangerous? -- The Risk of Bicycle Use -- Accidents, Fatalities, Injuries, and Benefits

Oy, does that bring back sad memories.

Ken was killed by a drunk driver ... as I recall, the motorist had just been released on a DUI charge, immediately went out and got drunk again, crossed the line and hit Ken on the other side of the highway. He served just 2 years.

That was 13 years ago, and I remember it as if it were yesterday. :(

Interesting snippet of history that I didn't realize.

And, perhaps one of the fallacies of statistics and risk analysis.

One can shift risk around. On the road, 700 cyclists a year are killed in the USA.
Perhaps a great many more would have had premature heart attacks. But, at least some of those 700 weren't at high risk for Coronary Artery Disease, and thus for them, the outcome is far worse with cycling.