Am I Crazy?
 

So I just bought a new Lynskey and crashed it on my second ride last week. Don't know the reason because I have no memory of it. I have a broken pelvis (3 places), bruised ribs and had some bleeding on the brain. It was my second crash in the last year (a car tuned in front of me last time while I was going downhill). No major injuries that time but lots of pain and was off the bike for a few weeks.

All of my non-cycling friends and my family think I should give up cycling. My response? I am shopping for a fat bike so I can ride in the snow (when my pelvis heals in about 6 weeks). :lol:

You go!

Posting Twice?

This is the proper and healthy response.

I also found this helped as a goal during recovery.

Pimp the shyte out of that sucker.

Again, speedy recovery!

Back on ignore ...

In the olden days one would say if you fall off a horse, get back on.

Nowadays, people would advise is you fall off a horse, get a car.

Regardless if one had purchased a new car or a new bike, he'd crashed soon enough.

Lord have mercy.

Sorry to hear about the crash. Only you can determine if you're done.


When I come home battered and bleeding, my wife just shakes her head, knowing she convinced me to get back into cycling.

It's a calculated risk. Cycling can improve your fitness and health, improving your overall quality of life. It could also get you killed if some moron runs you over while you're out riding. But you can get run over while jogging, crashed into while you're driving a car, a plane you're flying in can crash. Hell, this one lady (in history) was in her house and she got hit by a meteorite from outer space. At some point you just gotta decide how you want to spend this life and then go for it. I'd rather go while out doing something I really enjoy, then just stay fat and old and die early from heart disease or whatever.

Jeez, that's terrible! As for your question, "Am I crazy?"--and your screen name-- I gotta ask...how old are you, anyway? If you're 93, there may be a physical reason you're crashing so much, and maybe its time to slow down. I didn't say stop. If you're 48, hell, keep going. Like the answers above.

Just road riding? Maybe it's not for you? Got great bike skills? Bad drivers/bad roads? Maybe mt biking might be your thing? Seek professional advice, like maybe some bike skills, biking in traffic stuff? Just skinny road tires? Not the best for handling and safety on the road. Definition of insanity" Doing the same thing over and over the same way and expecting different results"

58.

Great bike skills? :foo: Well, I'm not popping wheelies but I'm a pretty competent group rider.

People who don’t participate in a given sport really aren’t qualified to accurately judge the risks.

Bicycles are subject to a double standard anyway.

Most people think nothing of buying their 8 year old child or grandchild a colorful mass-market bike, a cheap helmet, and maybe a bell and light, and think nothing of turning them loose in the neighborhood.

A grown man (or woman) who can weigh the risks and rewards for himself (herself) gets the third degree from the same family and friends.

Just ignore them, do what you want, and tell the naysayers you are an adult and can make up your own mind.

And if some core group of family keeps hounding you about how dangerous cycling is, tell them you’re taking up free soloing (rock climbing with no safety gear), rooftop parkour, or motocross high jump.

Compared to those, cycling is tame. It’s not the most dangerous sport by far - nor is it the safest. But it’s safe enough.

All joking and posturing aside, after my first serious crash last summer, I invested in some mt bike/cyclocross safety gear. It’s a lot more comfortable to wear than I thought it would be. Looks a little weird and I’m a little self-conscious that I look like a kook wearing it - but 9 weeks on crutches was not fun, and anything that prevents that is worth it in my opinion.

"Am I Crazy"?

Hell no. Enjoy the fat bike!

I've posted this before. A favorite of mine.


"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Theodore Roosevelt
April 23, 1910

no need to stop riding but definitely alter your riding style, awareness, habits, whatever.

2 major crashes within a year would slow me down a good bit

Great road awareness = very, very low chance of crashing (discounting the rare, catastrophic blow-out, of course).

Lol, you aren't crazy ... but if you were thinking of quitting, you must be getting old.

You might be crazy, I wouldn't know ... but you were sane enough to buy a Lynskey.

On the other hand, you are crazy enough to live in a place where it snows enough to ride a fat bike in snow.

If you Didn't buy and ride a fat bike in the snow, you have to be crazy to live there. (Well, you'd get a pass for cross-country skiing.)

Between the Lynskey and the fat bike, I'd say if you are crazy it's the right kind.

I would agree that 2 serious crashes would indicate that you may need to change your riding style to be more defensive.

You see a problem, I see opportunity. Here's what you should do:

Give your family and all of your non-cycling friends something else to worry about. Lead them to believe that it could get even worse. Start shopping for a recumbent trike. Show them some Catrike and Hostel Shoppe catalogs. They are going to freak out when they see how low they are. Be cooperative. Offer to allow your family to help you select and buy your next bike. If you do it right, you might even be successful in getting them to pay for it.

This technique takes a little practice so you may need another accident to get it to work for you. I know it took me a couple or three tries.

Good luck!

I don't lie to my wife, so I would never tell he that I would stop cycling if she got me a Ferrari.

I might, however, point out hat you never see a guy who owns a Ferrari riding a bicycle ...

No, scratch that .... no room a for a bike rack on the back.

Keep your life insurance up-to-date...

Forget about the fat bike and the ice and snow. Too dangerous. Instead, take winter walks and take the time to decide what you want to do in the spring, regarding cycling. Give yourself a rest, let time heal you mentally and physically, and live in the moment.

In a similar vein, how about offering to ride with whomever is doing the worrying? Pitch it as, "You can monitor my riding better if you're riding with me. Besides, one of the prime components of safe cycling is more cyclists, so if you ride with me, I'll be twice as safe!" You could even offer to buy them a bike like yours so they can ride with you.


My guess is, they'll be going into the other room to watch the football game so fast ...

Good news all: I couldn't resist the lure of Black Friday. Ordered a Minnesota 3.0 Fat Bike from Framed. Very nice price and seems like just what I'm looking for. The old Erie Canal is near my house with miles of tow path, and there are several good single tracks nearby as well I'm told.

I just told one of my partners what I did and he looked at me with a blank look best described as the look you get from the fish lying on ice at your local supermarket. :thumb: