bikejrff

I thought it was funny.

digibud

So ....yeah... she's right. I get the occasional porfura...purple spots from blood coming through to the skin and my meds mean any cut or bleeding keeps on forever but whatever exercise you get is so beneficial compared to sitting around with your finger up your a... nose. Exercise is inherently dangerous. Walking can result in a fall and broken hip, cycling may result in scrapes or a car hitting you but IMHO getting out and getting good exercise is worth the risk and can be done safely if you want. Last week I was less than 20feet from a decent sized grizzly. I broke my clavicle miles and miles into the back country a few years ago. My wife would just roll her eyes at me getting scraped up even if I ended up in the hospital. I'd take some grief for whatever stupidity I did to end up scraped up but happily she'd tell me to suck it up and assume I'd be back riding "next week".

unterhausen

I'm 59 right now, and I notice some of my skin is thinning out a little. I wonder if the bruising sticking around longer isn't just because it's easier to see. I've recently taken up mountain biking more seriously, and that involves a certain amount of falling. I've gotten bruises but no abrasions from that. I think my butt is more sensitive than it used to be, I have trouble with saddle sores now that I didn't used to have. Just in the spring though. I took a hard fall 2 years ago, and it took forever for my hip to feel right again. That's the sort of thing I'm more worried about

Ya'll don't have to post any more road rash pictures, we know what it looks like

kehomer

Yes, in my case, added years adds risk. My primary problem is balance which as I understand is common for older people. Hey look, considering the life I have led, I'm lucky. I've had a few years, after my retirement, to, among my other enjoyments, to buy and rebuild older bikes. Rode, then sold most of them. Great fun. It doesn't take great intellect or great wealth to enjoy certain things like working on and riding bikes. However now, with loss of strength and with balance problems, I'm faced with the probability of giving up biking altogether. In the past 3-4 years when I rode regularly, I have had numerous skin injuries. My main advice is. Care for your hands. Wear gloves that will protect them from skin loss and infections and wear a good helmet. Infection risk has gone up for me, maybe common among older folks. I'm 76 and still very active.

10 Wheels

Test ride a trike sometime.

Joe Minton

I am 74+ & I have the usual thin skin, slow healing and moderate balance problems.

1) I wear gloves whenever I ride, even around the block. Been doing that for 55 years after skinning the hell out of my right palm in a fall.
2) I am very careful about the risks I take. Bones break more easily, for instance.
3) I always wear a helmet. I sometimes joke that I put one on even when checking tire pressures.

You are not alone. You're just one of us now ;o)

Joe


BTW:
Our elderly brains are much more fragile that they were at, say, 40. Folks over 65 are twice as likely to fall and hit their head (the balance problem). Same folks are twice a likely to sustain a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) and twice as likely to die as a result --- be careful! --- JM

Velo Fellow

I'm the OP...... interesting discussion. We all have crash stories..... for me, my best is a wheel touch with over the bars, and 9 cracks in my pelvis and, worse for cycling, my sitz bones. Long recovery. But what I noticed is..... hardly any of us left cycling. Healed up and threw the leg over and up the road again. No denying we're showing age. But people here seem to adjust and pedal on. The hard part will be when it finally becomes a fact that we don't have a place out on the road anymore... or simply can no longer throw the leg over. For me, open road cycling for most of my adult life will end. That will definitely be hard.

Velo Fellow

Rode a Rans Tailwind for a year.....could never get used to being a little less tall than the tractor/trailer wheels whizzing by my face, or farm dogs figuring out which part of my level-to-their-jaws body to bite. Was wonderfully fast on sweeping descents!

Doug64

I always claimed I'd quit riding when I forget where I parked my bike