closetbiker

I know I am, more cautious that is.

Does anyone else find that caution increases with age?

I find taking chances and pushing it just doesn’t matter as much as I’ve aged. I’m simply enjoying things as they are

rydabent

We get too soon old and too late smart.

Iride01 

There are a lot of things I did when young that I wouldn't try today. I still do plenty, but hopefully smarter about dealing with the risk.

Yes I think most of us get cautious with age. Especially makes you think a little more before doing something when friends have died doing the same thing.

CyclingBK

Just reminded me of when I was a kid setting up a ramp and jumping over more and more boxes with my bike, lol

Now, Ill get off and walk my bike on the sidewalk if the traffic looks too crazy.

Flip Flop Rider

100% true for me as well

Carbonfiberboy 

I put my limits about where they've always been w/r to my ability. Thing is, ability is definitely less, balance, reaction time, perfect response, nothing works like it used to. So I have to dial it back, but not below where my risk tolerance was. That's about the same. I just don't do some stuff I used to do. Ya gotta know yer limits.

There's a wonderful feature film about the life of Fred Beckey, especially his later life: Dirtbag. Be like him. I have a signed copy of his Climbers Guide to the Cascade and Olympic Mountains, a treasure.

nomadmax 

I am no more cautious on the bike at 61 than I was at 21. Time wise, at this point I have less to lose.

GlennR

I don't heal as fast as I used to, so I try to avoid the situation whenever possible.

2cam16

At 56 I'm still doing some crazy to me stuff. Bit me in the butt last week when I misjudged a jump on my gravel bike and landed with my wheel turned. Crashed on my right side and hit my head on the ground. Luckily nothing much except a small bruise on my forehead, bruised upper rib, some bruises on both legs. All good. Another notch on my many accidents. I know I'll have to back it off one of these days but it's hard! lol

downtube42

Exactly.

I broke my first bone in a crash last fall - a neck vertebrae - and the docs say I have pre osteoporosis. Which means I'm more breakable I suppose. But I flipped over a guardrail and down a ravine, landed on my head, and crawled back out. I plan to keep on. 93 in nursing home health care isn't looking so great to me.

nomadmax 

This happens to be a timely thread for me

I'm sitting here at this very moment with fractured ribs, a healed punctured lung, a cracked pelvis in two places (left side) lots of road rash and generally sore all over from getting down on the deck at about 45mph on a descent. It happened on August 5th; I was removed to the hospital, spent time in ICU, then a step down unit and then home. On August 16th I had a saddle blood clot in both lungs which caused me to stop breathing/stopped my heart (it came from my left calf). The local paramedics saved my life with CPR and I was taken to the hospital from emergency surgery to remove the clots; I was gone for over 10 minutes.

Now my ribs are even more sore than they were before but you can believe I'm happy about it. I'm recovering at home and it'll be mid October before I'm back on the bike; I'll have myself back in shape by Thanksgiving. My crash was a single unit event and is the direct result of a mistake I made. Once I'm recovered I'll ride down every descent as I did before, it won't change me in the least. I have a theory about risk; I think "being careful" leads to a loss of proficiency which can wind up creating an even greater exposure to danger. For sure, I'm gonna die again and while I'm hopeful to have more fun riding my bike, being with family & friends, if it happens it happens. I'd rather live on my terms for however much longer that is.

For me, these bumps in the road are just experiences that wind up preparing me for something else in the future. I don't regret anything "bad" that's ever happened to me (my fault or not) because in the end they always serve to make me stronger and more grateful for every breath. Below are photos of the medical staff who cared for me at the hospital and the paramedics who saved my life (we stopped by on the way home from the hospital). My purpose for posting is to answer the question posed and to give proof that my answer is honest.

The best news is; I don't have COVID

canklecat

I'm a little more cautious now after discovering I have premature bone density loss due to a longstanding thyroid problem. Didn't find out until a couple of years ago when I was hit by a car with worse injuries than I'd have expected. Seemed to take forever to heal. I figured a few weeks but it dragged on for a year, and still aches more than two years later.

Full body scan revealed lots of healed fractures that I wasn't aware of, especially ribs. I remember the rib cage pain from those falls but never sought treatment because nothing could be done about those anyway, as long as there was no puncture. But during the past year I discovered I had two broken vertebrae in my neck, C1-C2, from being hit by a car. The first medical facility I visited neglected the neck and concentrated on the shoulder, the most obvious injury. Going around with a broken neck for months, especially the two most critical vertebrae, shook me up. So I'm much more cautious now about some things.

My main change was to omit some fast-ish club rides with riders who are younger, stronger and more reckless. I enjoy riding fast and still have a few good days, but I don't trust drafting people who don't call out hazards, or run following riders into traffic cones swerving at the last second and leaving everyone else hanging.

So now I do my hard workouts solo. If I crash it's my fault -- assuming no drivers or critters were involved. Occasionally I'll join friends for casual group rides where I know I can trust the other riders. There are a couple of friends I'd trust for hard workout rides with just two or three of us, but we're all over age 50 and cautious with the pandemic so we aren't riding together often. When we do it's a very casual pace, side by side, no drafting.

freeranger

Guess I've gotten a little more cautious, but not a lot. 69 y.o. and still mtn.biking. Was out with a friend on some trails and came to a very rooty (exposed tangled roots) start to a stream crossing. I rode across it. The other rider, when we stopped for a drink of water, stated "I can't believe you rode over that". Was riding the same trail on a diff. day and took a good look at that spot--which I now walk. Guess I just wasn't feeling particularly cautious that day. Seen riders a good 30 (maybe 40) yrs or so younger than I walk it. Still wanting to ride over it again-but that crossing is better suited for 29" tires than my ancient 26'er--oops, my cautiousness is showing!

closetbiker

I used to ride on any road, no matter how crazy. I’ll take a quieter one these days, even if it might take longer. Less aggravation, more peaceful. I prefer to enjoy than fight

tclune

Well, I've accomplished the first, but still waiting on the second...

washed up

At 57 I find myself being more cautious on the mountain bike after falling and breaking my hand lest fall. Things do not heal the way they did at 27. On the road bike not so much other than being slower...not on purpose.

canklecat

Whoa! Glad to see you're on your way to mending.

RobbieTunes 

I wasn't more cautious at this age, but then I met nomadmax .
We have bombed down through wet leaves in the driving rain, and flowed through same the next dry day, probably faster than we should.

I descended Thunder Ridge's Hwy 43 in the rain, brake levers pulled to the bar and still going 35, drifting across the road and being amazed at actually making it through some corners. Since then, even in drier rides on the same pavement, I've not felt any urge to just let go like that.

It wasn't age that slowed me; it was experience.
I've lived long enough; interest in perpetuity is not high, never has been.
It's just that I appreciate pain a lot more now. It's damn inconvenient, if that makes sense.
No longer a volunteer for the "watch this" show, even in my own mind.

RobbieTunes 

We have sent him training wheels and a book on how to ride a bike.

RobbieTunes 

What a difference age makes.
The danger "back then" was descending, the peril was a fall. You could break a bone.
The danger "now" is ascending, the peril is the heartrate. You could break your history.

BlazingPedals

I know I'm not quite as daring as I once was. With age comes the ability to imagine more bad stuff that could happen. That doesn't stop me from going for 50 mph downhills, but it might make me feather the brakes on a 50 mph downhill if I see a spot where a dog or a deer might pop out.

Shp4man

I'll admit it. It used to bother me when people passed me on the bike path. No more. My appreciation for bikes not designed for racing has increased, Kickstands, bags, bigger tires, a comfortable seat, a more upright riding position, all good.
Slow down, Smell the roses.

DiabloScott

I've had similar experiences... although not all at once! In the ER with my broken pelvis a bunch of doctors commented about how many bike riders they see. One doctor though said "keep riding your bike, stay off of motorcycles and stay out of cars". That puts the risk in perspective. So if being "more cautious" means taking fewer risks then yeah, but acceptable risk still leaves a lot of fun.

Elbeinlaw

I did plenty of stupid stuff (on my bike, in my car, dating, parenting, working...) but at some point in my 40s I realized that it was taking longer to recover. What used to take me 20 minutes and an iceback to cure now took days and days. By 50, 6 weeks. Now, at 64 3/4, it's months and in some cases, never. So given that, as RobbieT says, it's damned inconvenient to have a little spill on my bike. That doesn't mean that I don't ride; it doesn't mean that I won't take some chances riding in traffic or riding in the mud or gravel or the grass or jumping curbs or climbing hills I shouldn't be climbing at my age or avoiding any of that stuff. But it does mean that I don't push it as hard. I'm certainly nowhere near as fast going down hills, because now I know all of the different things that can go wrong and how devastating they are when they go wrong.

It's not because I'm old, but because my body is old and rickety. I think I should probably talk to Somebody to find out if my warranty is still good.

OldsCOOL

If I wanted to be careful I’d stay on the couch. At 63 I’m still riding the white line on open roads, mountain biking black diamond trails, riding my rigid mountain bike beyond it’s design limits. I may not be young but I refuse to be slow.