how dangerous is mountain biking?

how dangerous is mountain biking?

Author
Discussion

Engineer1

10,486 posts

208 months

Tuesday 11th February 2014
quotequote all
Helmets are essential, I've been saved from nasty injuries twice by my helmet, First time OTB on a rock garden arrived at the bottom with my helmet skidding along the ground the second time practicing manuals on a fire road came down funny and hit the ground hard enough to crack my helmet.

JimmyConwayNW

3,056 posts

124 months

Tuesday 11th February 2014
quotequote all
I used to race DH. Had a few big offs. Broken shoulder, collar bone. Concussion.

Out in Morzine one time we took a cable car out onto a random trail. I think it was in direction of Switzerland. Descending on a variety of track approached a 90degree corner which looked like you could just ride off it and have a bit of a drop off to deal with. Turned out it was basically a cliff face and had a mega mega steep drop. Completely st it.

Not overly dangerous though.

acf8181

797 posts

233 months

Tuesday 11th February 2014
quotequote all
Been riding years and never got more than cuts and bruises.....tend to stick to casual riding through woods these days but in my youth was into jumps and trials (up to the level of going off garage roofs).

Accidents can happen, one mate ended up in hospital for a week with a smashed face....he did tend to be more reckless than myself though.

P-Jay

10,551 posts

190 months

Tuesday 11th February 2014
quotequote all
Death's are incredibly rare - they usually involve an underlying heath problem or just bad luck - for example a young Women died in Canada a few years ago, she hit a tree - not biggie it happens, hit her head on the tree, quite rare, your body with automatically protect the head but throwing arms up etc, knocked herself out, again with proper helmets it's rare to get a concussion - landed in a puddle face first and drowned because she didn't wake up - a perfect storm of problems, if any of which hadn't happened she'd be alive today.

There's Mountain Biking and there's Mountain Biking, pottering around your local park or woodland trails it's rare to fall off, but it does happen, and you're more than likely to get up a bit muddy or at worse twist an ankle, if you want to progress is terms of speed / technicality through the myriad of disciplines (AKA Marketing Labels) the stakes go up but if you progress within your limits you'll usually get away without much pain and suffering.

If you get the bug it'll get expensive, it won't feel like it, but you've pay anything for that bit of bling - my advise is to think carefully you could spend £400 on a fast of better wheels, they'll spin up faster, carry speed better and the extra stiffness will make cornering feel better - over all it could make you 5kph faster over a 15km trail - or you could spend £200 on a day long training course and go much quicker, jump higher and show off a bit.

Anyway, safety - I've ridden most things, long distance XC to DH and Freeride both here and in the Alps / Whistler (the two sort of badges of honour) the biggest accident I ever had was on the easiest trail at Afan Forrest 40 mins from home, I was riding too fast, I hadn't bothered with armour as it was really hot, I drifted wide on a turn and hit a rock so hard it span the bars on my bike and I got a rotational fracture on my left wrist, went over the bars and landed on my right elbow and smashed my 'funny bone' off and nicked a big blood vessel, long story short 3 weeks in hospital, 3 surgeries and 9 months off work (could have been shorter probably) and about a year to get back on the bike - I've no funny bone in my right arm, it's a mess of scar tissue and cartilage but it very strong, it's a funny shape and I've got about 60% mobility in it - hurts when I'm cold, will need a replacement when I'm 50-60. That's easily the biggest injury of my group and again a perfect storm of nigthmares caused it.



Edited by P-Jay on Tuesday 11th February 10:18

Mr Gearchange

5,892 posts

205 months

Tuesday 11th February 2014
quotequote all
You're going to get hurt - its pretty much inevitable unless you are taking it incredibly steady - which is pointless IMO

I treat MTB as an adrenaline sport - it's supposed to be risky, it's supposed to have some inherent danger - that's what makes it exciting and separates it from other types of cycling.
Unless I have a 'bit of a moment' it hasn't been a good ride as far as I'm concerned - its the element of danger which makes it interesting and exciting.

The level of acceptable risk will change as you progress your skills - it might be the 1 foot drop off to start with - but might end up being the 60ft gap jump with backflip.

Each ride usually ends up with a few scrapes and scratches - certainly more so when I started - but worth it in (at least as far as I'm concerned).

I've not had anything too major - sprained wrists, broken metatarsal, broken/dislocated fingers - broken ribs and a collapsed lung. All part if the learning process and a fair trade off as far as I'm concerned.

MTB is awesome and the faster and more scary it is the more awesome it becomes.

Don't tiptoe through life to arrive safely at death!

Art0ir

9,401 posts

169 months

Tuesday 11th February 2014
quotequote all
pastrana72 said:
I feel safer riding a mountain bike in the woods than I do riding on the road, as others have said.

I have been riding off road for to long to admit here and yes I have been injured after having a few big off's, but nothing too serious. I think I have been very lucky really.

I always wear a helmet and that I reckon has saved me from a serious head injury on more than one occasion. All of my friends I ride with have been injured from crashing at some point, some of them seriously but luckily no one has had life changing injuries and got back to riding in time.

My advice is to get a bike that fits you, a helmet and start off slow on a easy trail's and learn to control the bike, then progress as you feel more confident. It is great fun and a great way to stay fit and meet new friends.

You do not need the most expensive bike, but get a decent one that is fit for purpose. Seen a few people who are new to riding trying to do crazy stuff on very cheap stuff and suffer kit failure and then crash big.

Although when we started riding it was all ridged bikes and we could not afford a MTB, I made bikes from parts from the local dump and they would regularly snap. However we were kids and when we crashed we bounced back up, I can not do that so well now. smile

Good luck.
I loved you in Nitro Circus.

DMN

2,983 posts

138 months

Tuesday 11th February 2014
quotequote all
Echo the previous poster: you're going to get hurt.

A helmet and sensible pads such as knee and elbow will save you pain. If your really worried, then get some lessons. Even if you've done it before they can really help you work on your technique and lines and you'll get much more from your sessions.

TheFungle

4,069 posts

205 months

Tuesday 11th February 2014
quotequote all
As long as you avoid shots of tequila before attempting a rocky descent you will be fine biggrin

Digga

40,206 posts

282 months

Tuesday 11th February 2014
quotequote all
Can look like this, my left shoulder in 2011:



Or worse if it's vertebrae you're mashing.

I'd agree with others on here it's an adrenaline sport, although there's almost as much fun and satisfaction that comes with simply being out, in the fresh air, enjoying trails (of even easy grade) with mates, or perhaps on your own with some decent tunes on the ipod.

The better you get, the faster and/or more technical your riding will, naturally become, so the risks will increase if you have an accident.

However, mostly, it is just perennial scratches, scrapes and bruises, rather than anything more serious (it is surprising how acrobatic and bouncy a middle-ages body can become!) and you just live with that. The human body generally has an amazing propensity to heal.

jamie128

Original Poster:

1,604 posts

169 months

Tuesday 11th February 2014
quotequote all
I dont care about bumps and scratches more broken bones lol.

schuey

705 posts

209 months

Tuesday 11th February 2014
quotequote all
As mentioned it can be dangerous but all the good stuff is! I've been riding/ racing mountain bikes since 91 and had numerous hospital trips. Helmets are key,as are knee and shin pads to avoid niggly injuries,I wear mine even when riding xc as even a little slip with an awkward landing can ruin your day. I had to carry a mate out of Dalby forest and take him to hospital with a big hole in his shin from an innocent looking fall,resulted in a weekend in hospital,an operation and years later it still gives him grief.
3 broken arms,a broken elbow,bruised brain,trashed knee,broken hand,2 broken collarbones and a selection of broken ribs,plus various scars is my running total,however Im not as brave as I used to be so avoid doing daft stuff now!

However it's miles safer than riding on the road,and road bikes are rubbish!

P-Jay

10,551 posts

190 months

Tuesday 11th February 2014
quotequote all
schuey said:
road bikes are rubbish!
Amen Brother.

lufbramatt

5,318 posts

133 months

Tuesday 11th February 2014
quotequote all
My shins and knees are covered in scars from all the MTBing I used to do as a teenager, tend not to fall off as much now smile never been hospitalised although my dad managed to break both his wrists (hidden concrete storm drain under a load of leaves at the bottom of a technical downhill). Being on a full susser scares me, the technology is so good nowadays you just float down rocky sections with a numbed sense of speed, so when you do come off it hurts a stload more as you end up going so much faster. Being on a hardtail makes you much more aware of the terrain.

Digga

40,206 posts

282 months

Tuesday 11th February 2014
quotequote all
P-Jay said:
schuey said:
road bikes are rubbish!
Amen Brother.
And IMHO very much more dangerous, both in terms of the likelihood and severity of the 'off'.

FWIW, I was wearing a GPS watch at the time of my crash. It was on a steep-ish section of an Alpine DH run, so 'fall' (it was after a jump) and vector (due to gradient) might add a bit to the impact, but the GPS reading immediately before zero was only 15 mph.

The main thing is to ride within your limit and enjoyment zone. A lot of my worst falls have been through lack of skill or commitment for a particular obstacle. I tend not to have those sort of falls - none last year, although did massively case a double - now, but am aware that, at some point, luck will not be on my side and will have to accept the consequences, but it will at least be my own doing, rather than peer pressure or ego.

FD3Si

857 posts

143 months

Tuesday 11th February 2014
quotequote all
I'm firmly in the 'it depends your approach' camp.
I rode for the best part of 15 years (been out for a while now) and damaged myself a fair amount.
XC/leisure riding and the risks are far less, but I did it for the buzz, not the exercise (rode DH, jump/freeride/whatever buzzword is currently attached to it). The way I saw it was that I was consistently trying to better myself and hit a section faster/clear a new obstacle/tweak a jump further/try a new line. I've never found anything that gives me the buzz of nailing a new section or clearing the next set of doubles. ('Nothing comes close to it, not even sex/Maybe that's 'cos you're not doing it right, Roach')
The attitude that I, and a lot of my riding buddies share(d) was that if you're not stacking it every once in a while, you're not pushing your limits, and pushing your limits is where the buzz was for me.

I've cut and scraped every part of my body, taken gouges out of flesh, shins covered in pedal slip scars, broken every digit except one, have a mildly deformed hand from a particularly bad slam, cracked ribs, scars all over etc, have dodgy knees and often gammy back, and that's nothing compared to most. Years spent at tracks sees frequent collarbone breaks, separated shoulders, sticks in eyes, arms, legs, a few necks, a particularly nasty incident involving white foam coming out of someone's mouth, and loads more to boot.
Wouldn't change a thing though. I don't know anyone who's given up after a bad stack, as they are usually so drawn in by that point that there's no escape biggrin

Side note - all this was wearing at the least gloves, goggles/glasses, and a helmet - these three items are the bare minimum. For any sort of harder riding then knee/shin pads are pretty much essential, and then it's just a case of where you stop!

Engineer1

10,486 posts

208 months

Tuesday 11th February 2014
quotequote all
Biggest thing I've found go too slow through a section and you will come off carry some speed and you will float over things that would have stopped you and come out fine go too fast and that drop off on a corner now spits you out into a tree or off the trail. It's about finding the balance of speed and skill then riding to your limits and the conditions.

Fourmotion

1,026 posts

219 months

Tuesday 11th February 2014
quotequote all
jamie128 said:
I dont care about bumps and scratches more broken bones lol.
Scratches and bumps can still be pretty bad! Someone on this thread 'bumped and scratched' their face pretty badly. An experienced rider from what I read.

They've not mentioned it so I won't say who, but they did post a pic to PH at the time.

Bizarre accidents do happen, very often out of your control. Don't worry about crashing, it will happen at some point.

Chris993C4

655 posts

210 months

Tuesday 11th February 2014
quotequote all
Well, I always feel compelled to give generously when Chiltern Air Ambulance are out collecting... whistle

Mr Gearchange

5,892 posts

205 months

Tuesday 11th February 2014
quotequote all
P-Jay said:
schuey said:
road bikes are rubbish!
Amen Brother.
Indeed. I honestly don't see the attraction of road riding - but it seems enormously popular for reasons I cannot fathom.

You have to dress up in frankly strange clothes which suit nobody - then grind out mile after monotonous mile in the same position without excitement or technical challenge - in the traffic which is increasingly made up of idiots.

None of my mates ride MTB but a few ride road bikes. One of them does relatively regular 60 mile sportives and coast to coat type stuff.
I took him out on the MTB a few weeks ago - he was totally and utterly finished by mile 5 and couldn't believe how much of a different type of fitness it takes to ride technical trails.

TKF

6,232 posts

234 months

Tuesday 11th February 2014
quotequote all
Digga said:
P-Jay said:
schuey said:
However it's miles safer than riding on the road,and road bikes are rubbish!
Amen Brother.
And IMHO very much more dangerous, both in terms of the likelihood and severity of the 'off'.
Utter horsest.