The short story is I had a major crash 7 weeks ago. A deer came out, and I clipped the legs and went over on left side hard. Ambulance to local hospital then helicopter to a bigger one. Had broken pelvis, about 4 ribs, and collarbone went down on left side. I did not lose consciousness to my knowledge, but I don't remember it exactly as happen very fast. 23 days in hospital including 6 in rehab to get be able to go home on my own. I am widower 64 so that has to play into the picture. Before this I was riding 6-10000 miles a year and generally did about 50 a day. They did plates and screws in pelvis hip not broken but acetabulum. My recovery has gone well but I have worked hard. Collarbone is healed and full strength been lifting arm weights daily and I have taken no pain meds in 4 weeks at all. I am still not weight bearing on left leg as pelvis heals but I can touch and move and use a walker. Right now I can drive do most things just takes a long time. My history though is 17 months ago I went down on gravel broke my right collarbone and great trochanter. That healed was off bike 3 months but I could actually ride indoor trainer after about 2 weeks. Now I am not cleared at this point for inside trainer.. Finally 10 years ago I hit some black ice broke my hip but that was not displaced, had 3 screws put in and really that was no all the bad as I went back to running in 16 years and of the 3 crashes that was the easiest to recover. I was 10 years younger but broken hip could have been worst given complications.

With all this and my fear I am completely thinking I now will be an indoor trainer. I actually don't mind riding indoors and do it during winter and days I cannot get out. It is a great workout I have Garmin FLux 2 I like. My question is if any of you have done this and thought the same thing? Have you thought or seriously said maybe riding outside it simply too dangerous. Cars are obviously a problem along with in my case other stuff I have encountered. I would take any thought. I am retired from civil job, but I am a permanent deacon in roman catholic church. I am also a runner and was a runner first and foremost I just got into cycling more and running I had some balance issues. I am thinking I could also go back to power walking assuming I can heal ok got foot drop but that might get better .

you might consider other types of outdoor riding. I don't think any of us like age & injury related limitations but I like fresh air. I'm not an athlete like you & haven't had the crashes & injuries you have but I've been hurt. now I like short stretches on roads to paved trails & still like modest dirt trails. I've changed my winter riding to be safer (I think). keep the indoor trainer because you clearly are in a certain percentile of performance. but someday, get back outside

Two years ago, at the age of 72, I collided with an SUV, got thrown off the bike, landed on my lower back, suffered a fractured collapsed vertebra. About a week later I experimented with sitting on my basement Zwift bike and found the drop-bar position actually less painful than any other. A week later I was on the road. It seems to me that if you're well enough to pedal a stationary bike in the basement, you're well enough to pedal a bike on the road. The two positions are pretty much the same in their demands on your body.

As for the danger and fear of being out there among the life-threatening motor vehicles, that's harder to talk about. There is no more personal existential issue for a person than the question of his own death and the risks he is prepared to take in the face of it. For myself, I will say that I have survived more than fifty years riding road bikes on some pretty dangerous streets and roads and that I am somewhat less fearful now than I have been before , by the simple virtue of having fewer years left to me to preserve. My feeling is that there is no greater justification for one's life, one's existence, than his enjoyment of it. And I really enjoy biking and would hate to give it up sooner than I have to.

If I couldn't ride outside I'd probably kill myself.
And it would take a far more catastrophic crash/injury to get me to re-think that stance.

Now, admittedly my worst crash -- six broken ribs and a broken scapula, only spent one day in the hospital and then ~6 weeks off the bike -- wasn't nearly as catastrophic as OP's.

But my wife sustained a horrific crash 6 or 7 years ago: She completely pulverized her C2 vertebra, requiring emergency spine surgery to fuse her neck from C1 through C4. Severely restricted range-of-motion now; she can't look to the right easily at all, can only turn her head to the left maybe 20°, she'll never spot during a pirouette again (former professional dancer), can't look up at the sky without lying on the ground on her back...

...and it only took her two months before she got back on a bike (just to chase away any potential demons) and then another four months before the desire to resume regular avid road cycling was so overwhelming that she had to get back to routine cycling. She's been back to >5,000 miles/year ever since.

I guess it's all about Risk Tolerance, and Quality-Of-Life. For me & the missus, our Quality-Of-Life is so much better when we can get outside and ride regularly that the possibility of an injury/accident doesn't stop us, or even give us pause.

I thought about going to a Catrike I can get run over but going down less chance?

Some thoughts: Reduce the number of possible chancy things by cutting your milage down to say 3000. Try to eliminate objective dangers - like don't ride on wet roads, during or after a strong windstorm, etc. That'll cut the mileage down right there. A 60 mile day is plenty. Just ride it harder. A 100 mile week is plenty - that would be one 60 and two 20s. I also run, walk, hike, backpack, and go to the gym, which all improves my riding and, except for the gym, gets me outside. Outside in the mountains, if you have any, is much more refreshing than riding. We'll drive for up to 2 hours each way for a hike.

I try to be a very safe rider. I don't ride in bad visibility or after dark, I run bright blinking lights fore and aft, wear bright jerseys, never any green or blue. I've had a few accidents but nothing that kept me off the bike for more than 15'. It helped that I know how to fall - keep my hands on the bars as long as possible. Maybe all the gym time helped, too. It probably helped that I've done a lot of my riding in group rides. With the right company, group rides are safer than solo.

Three serious crashes in what I imagine amounts to something like 15 years or more of 10,000 miles/year: unfortunate, but recognize that you've mostly had safe rides over those years.

At 74, after starting out with bike racing when I was 13 and having endured my share of crashes (and five or six concussions, most but not all bike-related), I've radically scaled back my risk-taking. No off-road riding. mostly carefully selected low-traffic suburban routes or roads with wide breakdown lanes or decent bike lanes.

I'm at the northern end of Baltimore city, with plenty of satisfyingly hilly roads in the county just a 15-minute ride away. If similarly safe-ish roads aren't similarly near for you, maybe resign yourself to having to drive to a safe spot for your rides.

Oh, I have had the same thoughts. It seems that crashing is inevitable, and as we get older, we are more fragile and recovery takes a little bit longer.

I don't even know how my last crash happened. I woke up in someone's car, and when he noted I asked him the same questions multiple times, thought better of bringing me home, and brought me to the hospital instead. The damage:

2 broken arms: (just think about the things you cannot do when both arms are in a cast).
Broken occipetal condyle: That is a kidney bean shaped bone that is at the base of the skull where that rests upon your Atlas ... the uppermost bone in your neck. This kind of injury typically only happens in serious car accidents involving head on collisions. I was lucky it was not displaced, but that still meant wearing a neck brace for 4 weeks or so. If it were displaced, I would have expired.
Broken nose: No loss here, my schnoz was never much to look at anyway. But in the "minor procedure" they had setting this, they scratched the hell out of my corneas, and let me tell you how uncomfortable that was. OMG.

That doesn't even count the matching broken collarbones and multiple broken ribs I have from previous crashes. Oh, and of course, pesky road rash.

I know multiple people who are no longer riding because of crashes. A professional trainer who is now using a walker (and frankly, lucky to be using a walker at all). Another friend who got such substantial brain damage from a crash, he is a shadow of his former self (yes, he was wearing a helmet). Another struck by a car and killed. Another having a massive MI, and right after getting a docs OK to ride.

But I can't imagine giving it up. I love it too much. All I can do is take reasonable safety measures (riding on quiet secondary roads as much as possible, bright clothes, helmet, lights, keeping my speed down and not taking excessive risks). And I do that knowing that ultimately, it is a gamble.

I ski as well, and that also has it's risks. I have friends who think I am nuts to do any of this at "my age."

I don't think there is an answer, really. But fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, and I gotta ride. If I don't, I'll die a slow diminishing death instead of risking a spectacular one. Which is worse? I guess we all get to decide for ourselves.

I'm fortunate to have a world class system of MUPs where I live. Nothing is completely safe but low density MUPs are pretty good. I did a 40 mile ride last weekend where I saw 6 cyclists and 6 runners.

I would not give up bike riding but I would certainly pick my routes carefully.

In 2019 at 61 yo. A deer jumped out of the brush and knocked me off my bike. At least that's all I can come up with. I was going 22 mph plus when it happened according to my GPS. And fleeting memories involve a deer. The severe concussion and cracked skull and eye orbits put me in the ER and hospital for the day/night. And left me in a fog for 5 months where everything seemed surreal. However I did start cycling again after the fog lifted.

I fell off a truck from several feet off the ground and broke four ribs this year. So again I was off the bike for a time. So maybe it's not just cycling that is dangerous for us older people. And perhaps it's just a phase in our life where payback/karma is getting us for all the times we were unscathed from the really stupid things we did as a teen or young adult.

Indoor cycling doesn't offer me enough incentive to stay at it. I like the outdoors. My doctor thought I was nuts for wanting to continue cycling after the accident. But he felt that way before I had the accident too.

If you are content with indoor cycling, then that's a safer thing. However will it be significant reduction in risk when you consider all the other things you do that have a element of risk to them? Even the drive to the grocery store is a risk.

God bless you. The fact that you are asking this tells me you are not quite ready to give up. I say ride, but be mindful.

Oh man, what a story, deacon mark .

First, I wish you best for your recovery. You have come a long way, already, but you have more to go. It's going to take resolve and grit, but it sounds like you have it.

Second, it's WAY to early for you to be making decisions about what you will want to be doing 1 or 2 years from now or forever.

Third, for some people, the inddor zwift life is actually pretty rewarding.

Fourth, as others have said, if you decide not to ride outside any longer, you should find some other way to get outside regularly. Just walking your neighborhood or in a park.

Fifth, I have a cattrike. I don't ride it much, as I much prefer a conventional bicycle, but that's neither here nor there for this matter. Rather, I'd say that I feel much LESS safe on the cattrike on roads. First, I'm not as visible, and second, I'm not as maneuverable. If something comes my way, I have no way to respond. On the other hand, a Cattrike on a MUP feels quite secure.

Unless a decline in your skills significantly contributed to the accident, I don’t think you should seriously consider stopping unless a medical professional seriously thinks your next crash could be your last.

I used to ride with a guy is his 70s. He was in great shape, but he started “making mistakes” on the bike. After 3 crashes in about 1.5 years, he relegated himself to indoor riding, including classes, and power walking.

OP: If you have a garage to easily roll in and out, and don't need to climb hills standing, you may want to consider a Long Wheelbase (LWB) recumbent. These were first designed for SAFETY, you don't go head over bars, the front wheel and fork takes the hit, and if you come off the bike, your feet hit first. (I've considered whether a lap safety belt would increase safety further, I don't currently ride it, otherwise I might do that.) Also supremely comfortable, a wide comfy seat, and no pressure on your hands; I personally love under-seat steering, my hands just hang naturally, and, going down sideways, the steering bar takes the hit first. I bought a bike similar to below when I had hand pain. But that was flatlands, the bike didn't have low enough gearing for long climbs (wider gearing now is easy), and now I really like to climb standing in hills. I toured on it with a trailer. But large, hard to get in and out of house (no garage). But might work for you. These days I ride a folder with high aero bars to take pressure off my hands. Anyway, here is an example of a LWB 'bent, this is a Linear LWB, it folds for transport. Other pioneers were the Ryan/Longbikes Vanguard (single, Duplex for tandem).

Goddamn deer!!
I got hurt recently too, not nearly as bad as you, but the understanding I'm getting from Team BF is, by far, the best mental support I've received.

My recent post; A month off

I get a lot of pleasure riding in Zwift and this winter I want to add Discord - a free conference call app that the gamer kids use.

I'm trying to figure out my own path back, so I understand how cruddy it feels to be ass-in-chair and thinking about not cycling. It's fking hard.

This is such a personal decision for you and not having had your experiences, it’s hard to offer an answer to your question. My guess is your perspective may change since you’re only 7 weeks out at this point. So do what feels safe and comfortable now and be open to seeing things differently later. There’s some good advice posted here about reducing risk, but you’re probably already following it.

I agree with most of the above. I will be 74 in a couple of weeks and live in southern New England where driving is a full contact sport. I gave up riding on the streets a long time ago. I have a couple of MUP that stretch between 24 and 50 miles each with my 25-30 a couple times a week works fine and, for the most part, feel safe with the exception of reckless dog owners, and I own a dog, who are clueless with earbuds and retractable leashes. Sounds like you’ve put your body through a lot and the mental recovery is maybe even more challenging. Good luck.

Can't imagine all you've been through without a significant other to help nurse you through. Very significant injuries and the logistics of hospital stays and Drs visits solo is daunting.
Getting hit by a deer is just bad luck, hard to blame age, roads or traffic. I'd likely be thinking the same as you and question future riding at least during the healing process. Too much time to think and ponder. I suspect when you feel better the itch to ride outside will return. Riding as much as you did must be pretty consuming. Splitting the time between indoors and out can be an option. I subscribe to Rouvy, and find that an hour can be a great workout if you pick a good challenge.
So sorry for the loss of your spouse and for the rather horrific injuries. For some of us the years are fleeting, tough to give up a large chunk to healing and rehab. Best of luck.

At 75 and some 72 years on bikes and mixing in 3 wheel recumbents the last 5 years due to osteoarthritis and our roads filling with more traffic I strongly recommend your consideration. Trikes are safer. They are more stable, no more head first falls with 2 wheels, with flags and lights they have greater visibility and they are hard to tip over. Best of all in my experience cars seem to give more room and are slower when passing a recumbent.

Do you live near any water? I have thought that if I ever couldn’t/wouldn’t ride any more, I’d row or paddle to get outside and ramp up my HR.

Not much else to contribute to the already great comments from others...
We all reach crossroads in our life where a decision needs making...
Yogi B said it best "When you come to a fork in the road, take it..."

as with many, I'ce recently come to decisions that moving from one injury/repair/lengthy healing needs to be reduced as much as possible.
and often the injury/condition is caused by outside forces, somewhat out of our control....
I've reduced/eliminated a few of those activities in which injury is mostly a matter of time/how/and extent and likely to be more frerquent.
Cycling isn;t one of those...
But I am much more discerning on How/When/Where I do the activities.
I still prefer skiing on the most difficult terrain - but choose when conditions are predictable, and my own state allows it. I stay away from crowded areas, especially where the unskilled are greatly present.
I still ride hard, but rarely in a really fast, competitive intent group. I choose my routes and timing carefully, when vision is good.
Often I slow down a bit, and find I appreciate my surroundings more...
BUT
I still live to be a 'participant', and somewhat an Observer, hoping never to sit on the sidelines for too long.
I hope to engage Life until my very last breath.
and wish t he same for all
Ride On
Yuri

Today I got on the trainer and road 20 minute 3.66 miles . It is not at all stressfu; the hip no pain just mounting the bike and swinging the leg over seat is hard. I take the front wheel off to get on and off. This was better than the weight sessions I was doing just sitting down. Hopefully tomorrow I will put on some cycling shorts today was just sweatpants today not a great option. I was ok and as I say I actually think no stress for the hip no pain at all. I manage a whopping 84 watts average. The key is cadence and smooth form. Got to try and get some aerobic benefit.

As far as my routes I generally take safe roads with very little traffic and never go o gravel. I think basically I am a klutz and could wipe out anywhere so that is in the mix. This was a test so will just have to see. I go to the dr in week the orthopedic surgeon who did the work. Hopefully he can give me clearance for some weight bearing. Right now it is touch foot only with almost no weight on leg. On the trainer it is less at the top of pedal stroke than when I put foot down to move walker.

I have a friend who has had some significant injuries that took up a tai chi class. He says it saved his athletic life. Improved balance and flexibility. Of course he's an over achiever and runs the class now. Wish I could still run.

Glad you're back on the trainer.

We had a friend who was riding into his 90s. Then he had an accident, hit his head, and could no longer balance, so he had to quit riding. He kind of went downhill after that.

I told my wife to expect that eventually I'd probably get a tricycle like the Catrike.

Get back on the horse. The sooner, the better.
If you have anxiety about something, avoidance only makes your anxiety worse.

If you're haven't enough fear to convince yourself to avoid the things you love, then consider seeking therapy.
Not a psychiatrist, see a licensed psychologist.

I was attacked and bitten through one hand by a large dog while on a solo ride.
It's not the same thing, but the fear was the same.
Therapy has been very helpful.

Unless you're developing coordination problems or a balance issue, get back outside on the bike once your injuries have healed.