how to get back in the saddle?

Nick · Apr 4, 2013

Just ride your bike. Start mellow, have fun. No need to charge into DH runs right away.
Fear will subside at whatever pace it sees fit, find small opportunities to push yourself, sooner or later you'll crash and realize that crash does NOT necessarily equal injury.

All those subconscious bike handling skills are rusty. When they get dialed again, your confidence may return quicker.

Get out and have fun. welcome back. :thumb:

dan-o · Apr 4, 2013

With all sincerity: just start riding bikes again.
Start off as if you were a beginner and work your way back through the various stages of progression.
The skills are still there, you just need to retrain your comfort zone.
You'll be back on track before you know it.

Huck Banzai · Apr 4, 2013

Im working through this stuff myself; I had 2 offs, 2 surgeries -- came back gung ho after the first,fitter than I had been in years, agressive and almost unhindered.

Then I pushed it (overcompensated?) and shattered my collarbone - surgery #2 with 14 screws, and I havent been on bikes much since, and very much not in shape. I do plan on stepping fitness up and getting more active as it gets warmer, but the boogieman has taken residence, and I'm wary.

Its definitely a 'just do it' kind of thing, no matter what.

jonKranked · Apr 4, 2013

make it about fun. remember why you ride.

cecil · Apr 4, 2013

Call Steven Tyler he got back in the saddle years ago

William42 · Apr 4, 2013

just ask fabien barel and sam hill. and greg minnaar. and i'm pretty sure peaty has had a major injury or two. anyway ask them.

Huck Banzai · Apr 4, 2013

jonKranked said:
make it about fun. remember why you ride.

Definitely; I did forget why I loved riding so much for some time and made it into something else that didnt work out....

'Remember why you ride.'

might have to etch that into my stem/bars.

Jeremy R · Apr 4, 2013

I think what you are trying to do is very hard if all you ride is DH runs. I broke my hand good last year was really surprised how long it took to get my hand strong enough to ride off road again. So, I rode my road bike for a couple of months, then used my trail bike to get my hand ready for DH again. But once you start shredding on a trail bike, your confidence will come back and hopping on your dh rig should not be a problem.

blackohio · Apr 4, 2013

After I separated my shoulder my first ride was Windrock. 2 runs in I was like **** it, go!

I've yet to really do much after my Whistler explosion, gym soon in preparation for riding there this summer.

W4S · Apr 5, 2013

Have any good pics of your injury? j/k, don't really want to see them. :thumbsdown:

like others have said, start slow, take it easy and just try to have fun on your bike having fun on your bike. a couple months ago it was eXtreme riding over braking bumps on a level fire road, now i can actually ride real trails with some confidence, it just takes time. good luck to you, healing vibes :thumb:

kidwoo · Apr 5, 2013

Serious question: Have you ridden a bike before starting this thread?

You've been doing this long enough. Just get out in the woods. You broke your hands, you didn't get brain damage.

wiscodh · Apr 5, 2013

kidwoo said:
you didn't get brain damage.

we post on ridemonkey, were all a little ****ed in the head

kidwoo · Apr 5, 2013

wiscodh said:
we post on ridemonkey, were all a little ****ed in the head

Yeah but he doesn't post that much. He's WAY ahead of most.

Plus he's in germany. He'll be very efficient with his rehab.

trib · Apr 5, 2013

I imagine what you've done is lost your balls. They'll be out there somewhere, ride some flowy trails that give a sensation of speed but aren't too rough until you find them again

Da Peach · Apr 5, 2013

I definitely ride more within my limits since my last shoulder separation. But I'm certainly not having any less fun. In fact, I just find that my learning curve is nice and consistent. Better this than going "big", getting lucky once, thinking you can maintain that "bigness", then messing it up and being off the bike for ages.

I'm also riding my little bike way more than the big bike too.

I guess I'm just a wuss.

Join the club!

csermonet · Apr 5, 2013

Just ride! I felt a mix of anxiety, nervousness, fear, and excitement when I came back. Which almost immediately turned into just having fun. All the anxiety and negative stuff in the back of my head disappeared almost right away. I broke my collarbone, no surgery but it was a pretty savage break IMO. I didn't ride for 3.5 months, and although much shorter and less serious than yours, I had many of the same thoughts getting back on to the bike. I only have a DH bike at the moment, so that is the only sort of riding I do. It was definitely in the back of my mind dropping in for the first time. Literally on the second run, it was like nothing happened and I was back to normal. Felt confident and most importantly, was having fun. I imagine having a trail bike to get the cob-webs off would make it a less stressful process though. Especially so when coming back from an apparent serious injury such as yours. I made a more conscious effort when I returned, to not take unnecessary risks and make the same mistake that got me injured. Which is a hard thing in itself to pin point, since I was concussed and don't remember the moments before and after impact. A few weeks after my return, I felt faster and more confident than before the injury. Still having alot of fun too, definitely makes you remember why you ride, if you happen to have forgot haha. Also, I have taken some pretty hard falls since then with no "serious" injuries, gives a little peace of mind knowing you won't blow your **** up every time you go down.

atrokz · Apr 5, 2013

The mental aspect is a HUGE part of DH'ing! There's a few books on sport psychology that are good reads for this type of issue. Having broken bones in '11 and '12 (and multiple bones each time) and having had season ending crashes in '04 and '05, I can say I understand your concerns. It takes time to get 'back up to speed', so take it easy and focus on nothing but having fun. Keep the physio up as well.

Sandwich · Apr 5, 2013

easy trails. Don't be afraid of the boring ****. You'll get comfortable on it and tear it up, then you can move up to the tougher trails. It's a lot easier to be confident when the margin of error is a mile wide.

johnbryanpeters · Apr 5, 2013

Step 1: pedal pedal pedal
Step 2: See step 1

BrianMac · Apr 5, 2013

My first ride back on a big bike after a bad early season crash last year (crushed lid, wrecked leatt, badly broken ribs) was the Wyndham Gravity East race. On one hand, it was kind of stupid but on the other it forced me to just get back, let my hands off the brakes and just deal with it. I think there might be a good lesson in there. While I was far from fast in the race, it made getting back that much easier.

demonprec · Apr 5, 2013

baby steps , id start with getting your basic skills back like balance and slow turns and get comfortable from there , i,m not coming back from a injury just a 10yr+ lay-off from riding and truthfully i,m scared ****less alot of the time as i,m riding by the seat of my pants and holding on a hoping the bike handles my mistakes . so far it has LOL i have had some crashes nothing at DH speed but none the less head 1st into a tree and knocking my self silly has not helped either , getting thrown over the bars several times as well hasn,t helped but i still push forward and slowly get comfortable . my next big challenge is nutting up for doing gap jumps that seem to be the rage on trails now .

OGRipper · Apr 5, 2013

Just get out there again and enjoy being on two wheels. The rest will come back pretty quick, to whatever level you want.

Right now your mind and body are tricking you into feeling less confident. When you ride a lot you get used to the sensations, allowing you to relax and trust your skills and instincts. After a long time out of the saddle that starts to drop off. It's like chops for a musician, muscle memory and stuff. If you're like me, once you get out there again you will feel right at home and have new appreciation for the most fundamental parts of riding, stuff you may have taken for granted before.

Beef Supreme · Apr 5, 2013

Any time I am coming back from injury, or rusty, or just riding like crap, I try to get into a good flow with the bike. I don't worry about trying to go fast or push anything. It eases my mind and is actually a fairly fun way to ride.

More specific to a hand injury, take it easy with the trails you select. It will fvck with your head if you are riding something that causes pain or makes you feel overtaxed for your level of recovery. I did this wrong with my broken hand and it set me back for months. It also wasn't fun.

kidwoo · Apr 5, 2013

Beef Supreme said:
More specific to a hand injury, take it easy with the trails you select. It will fvck with your head if you are riding something that causes pain or makes you feel overtaxed for your level of recovery. I did this wrong with my broken hand and it set me back for months. It also wasn't fun.

True dat^^^

I'd really pay attention to big soft tires and really compliant suspension for a while.

how to get back in the saddle?

Turbo Monkey

My name is Nick

Turbo Monkey

Turbo Monkey

Detective Dookie

Turbo Monkey

fork ways

Turbo Monkey

<b>x</b>

Generous jaywalker

Turbo Monkey

Artisanal Tweet Curator

Monkey

Artisanal Tweet Curator

not worthy of a Rux.

Outwitted by a rodent

Monkey

Turbo Monkey

Pig my fish!

Hero

Chimp

Monkey

back alley ripper

Turbo Monkey

Turbo Monkey

Turbo Monkey

Artisanal Tweet Curator

Turbo Monkey