Balancing risk and reward

[ChrisEyles]

I had a nasty off the other day (trip to A&E and now munching pain killers in a pretty-much-immobile state on the sofa - fortunately no permanent damage done though) and it's been making me think a little about risk and reward in mountain biking.

Obviously it's no fun to pootle around the trails at tourist pace. Especially when it's a route you know really well, you want to push the envelope at least a little, or it's not as much fun, there's no real challenge, and you won't improve your skills. But does that automatically mean there's always going to be a low but significant risk of accidents happening?

My crash happened on a tricky little chicane at the top of a very steep slope. The first several times I rode it, it was a case of anchors on and stick to the grippy, well surfaced middle of the track - this is safe but boring. Later on I started carrying more speed in and rode up high on the muddy berms on either side, and I got pretty confident at this - much more fun and I must have done it dozens of times with no problems whatsoever. Still don't really know what went wrong this time (a few slippy leaves maybe) but I had a front wheel wash-out on the first berm. I somehow saved it and just had time to think "phew, that was close" before the exact same thing happened on the next berm and down I went.

I definitely wouldn't say I get a buzz from the risk of injury, but I *do* get one from nailing a tricky section a little faster than I did last week, or getting a little more air off of that rock slab kicker around the next corner. It's also probably fair to say I get a "that was close" moment from doing this every dozen rides or so.

I've ridden around 750 miles of trails and bridleways this year over 84 rides (I'm dead lucky in that there is a mini trail centre right next to work, so I often take a quick spin before commuting back home), and it's probably been the most fun I've ever had on a bike. Is it worth the occasional bad off and associated injuries? Even though I will without a doubt be back on my bike as soon as I've healed up and checked it over, I'm not totally sure I can justify it in a rational cost/benefit sense!

I'd be interested to know your thoughts - how do you guys go about balancing risk and reward in your riding?

 

[Brandane]

Can't help much as I tend to play safe these days, even when I take a rare venture out on the MTB to one of the 7 Stanes tracks.
You don't say what age you are, but I find that now I am in my mid 50's I don't bounce as well as I used to, and injuries take forever to fully recover from. Just not worth it any more.
More importantly, take it easy and GWS..

 

[MichaelW2]

British outdoor sorts people tend to be less risk averse than US riders who may be further from medical care with no free helicopter ride. Medical costs can also factor in.
I have seen video of British MTBers in South America, arsing around on steep, high ancient ruins. One mistake and you are a 2day journey from a 3rd rate hospital with no advanced care until you get to a big city.

 

[ChrisEyles]

Blimey yeah, I hadn't thought of that @MichaelW2 . We're really lucky to be only a phone call away from excellent medical care in the UK!

FWIW I'm early thirties and generally fairly comfortable with potentially risky physical stuff like MTB'ing, trail running and scrambling around on mountains and so on (I also work outdoors, though I'm certainly a lot more careful with chainsaws etc than I am on my bike).

Will definitely be taking it easy for the next week or so, not much choice in the matter frankly!

 

[Jody]

I'd be interested to know your thoughts - how do you guys go about balancing risk and reward in your riding?

I try to not think about it and ride up to 90-95% of my skill level. Riding for me is about calculated risks for the buzz I get. Yes, sh*t will sometimes happen (like my off at Llandegla a couple of weeks ago) especially if you are just learning or pushing your limits but there is nothing you can do about that if you accept the sport. It makes me shudder thinking after a ride about what could have gone wrong during. That said age is catching up with me, I have a mortgage, children, partner to think about and as above with age comes the realisation you take longer to mend and don't bounce like you did as a kid.

Know your limits, ride as far as you can see and don't take excessive risks.

 

[Hugh Manatee]

On the rare occasions I go mountain biking these days I repeat the mantra, "The only time my wheels leave the ground is when I lift it back into the car."

This attitude kicked in somewhere around my mid 30s so hopefully you only have a year or two to avoid a maiming! It started off with me thinking, Ooh, I don't like the look of this and ended with me visualising the last scene of Tremors when the big worm thing crashes through the cliff and splats on the rocks below a year or two later.

It could also be I'm a wuss of course.

 

[snorri]

FWIW I'm early thirties

Yes,.....approaching middle age, so a good time to reassess the lifestyle in order to improve the chances of hitting three score and ten in reasonable condition.

 

[Jody]

Yes,.....approaching middle age, so a good time to reassess the lifestyle in order to improve the chances of hitting three score and ten in reasonable condition.

Is that when self preservation usually kicks in?

 

[rideswithmoobs]

Is that when self preservation usually kicks in?

Dunno, I'm 41 and just left the roads to ride off road. Each has its risks, I personally think the traffic on roads these days makes it just as if not more dangerous. Trail centres are a safer option but I don't do the red bull xtreme fighters style stuff. That's for the young ones

 

[ChrisEyles]

approaching middle age

Haha, I don't like the sound of that! But true all the same. Fortunately no kids of my own to jump up and down on me while I'm out of action just yet, and Mrs Chris has been far more sympathetic than I deserve, especially since she's not dead keen on me mountain biking in the first place.

@Jody that sounds pretty much like how I've been weighing things up. It makes perfect sense when I'm out on the trails having a great time, but doesn't stack up quite so well thinking about it in a more detatched way. If I was risk assessing it at work there's no way it would fly, that's for sure! On this occasion I *was* riding within my usual limits (I've learnt my lesson there previously), probably somewhere around the 90-95% level you mention - it just evidently doesn't take much of the unexpected for things to go pear shaped at that point. The only slight difference from usual could possibly have been that I went out for a long ride on my (new to me) full sus bike at the weekend, and then hopped back on the less forgiving rigid on the Monday. But I suspect I'd have fallen off on either bike TBH.

@Hugh Manatee I adhered to this (probably very sensible!) mantra for the first eight months or so, and my wheels definitely don't leave the floor on anything I'm uncomfortable with. I'd totally recommend it to anyone else starting mountain biking too. To put it into perspective, while it feels like I'm getting "big" air, it's probably only six inches or so, and is probably more like within 60-70% of what I could probably pull off successfully. The hairy moments tend to come when leaning the bike over into a fast corner, or having my weight thrown a little further forward than I'm comfortable with on the tricky downhills.

Thinking about it a bit more, I'm really pretty good on trails I don't know so well, and am happy to take it easy. The "Oh Sh!t" moments always seem to come on the trails I've ridden dozens of times before so I know where I can push myself a little. My reasoning self agrees it's time to reign it in a touch, but I just know the little devil sitting on my left shoulder will win when I'm out on the trails.

@rideswithmoobs I'd say MTB'ing is far more dangerous than road cycling, at least for me, except maybe if you are forced to commute across a lot of icy roads in winter (having tried this and falling off a lot (harmlessly) I'd advise - don't!). Then again I never feel the need to push myself on the downhills when I'm out on the road - there are plenty of descents around me where you'd lose a lot of skin if things went wrong there.

 

[fossyant]

Crap happens sometimes, you can hit greasy surfaces on the road too. I'm munching pain killers like toffee's after crashing at Llandegla on Saturday - safest part of the course on top of the mountain. Just one of those things. A colleague crashed at Llandegla on Sunday an a red berm and can't walk.

I've moved more to off road, due to my rather nasty accident last year - I've lost confidence on road.

You are more or less likely to have a small off each time you ride MTB, it's the law.

We were discussing trail centres and general off road. You know with a trail centre, that it's designed to be ridden, even if it looks scary. General off road, if it is scary, it might not be ridable. Risks are higher, so you ride within your limits.

 

[rideswithmoobs]

[/QUOTE]@rideswithmoobs I'd say MTB'ing is far more dangerous than road cycling, at least for me, except maybe if you are forced to commute across a lot of icy roads in winter (having tried this and falling off a lot (harmlessly) I'd advise - don't!). Then again I never feel the need to push myself on the downhills when I'm out on the road - there are plenty of descents around me where you'd lose a lot of skin if things went wrong there.[/QUOTE]

Maybe it is if your doing crazy jumps and pro looking stuff but I reckon I would come off slightly better in a crash off road than a run in with a 1 tonne car. Suppose it's down to risk and each individual. I've ridden motorbikes since I was 16 and see no risk or worry riding them on the roads but others do. It's what your use too.
I wouldn't want to crash on my MTB or road bike or motorbike to be honest so just don t think about it

 

[ChrisEyles]

@rideswithmoobs I'm fortunate in that I've never had so much as a close shave with a car in many years of commuting on the road. Agreed I'd rather come off on the MTB than have an accident in traffic any day. My risk/reward assessment is much more sensible when commuting though - five minutes late to work is about the worst possible outcome, which wins over taking silly risks any day. I also used to ride a motorbike, and that one's fallen to the risk/reward fairy. So I'm driving a lovely boring practical Peugeot 107 instead - woot!

@fossyant I guess you're right, there's always that risk every single ride, like @Jody said it's the nature of the sport.

The things we do for fun, eh?!

 

[rideswithmoobs]

@rideswithmoobs I'm fortunate in that I've never had so much as a close shave with a car in many years of commuting on the road. Agreed I'd rather come off on the MTB than have an accident in traffic any day. My risk/reward assessment is much more sensible when commuting though - five minutes late to work is about the worst possible outcome, which wins over taking silly risks any day. I also used to ride a motorbike, and that one's fallen to the risk/reward fairy. So I'm driving a lovely boring practical Peugeot 107 instead - woot!

@fossyant I guess you're right, there's always that risk every single ride, like @Jody said it's the nature of the sport.

The things we do for fun, eh?!

Nooooooooooo beat that feckin fairy and get back your bike.

 

[fossyant]

At least I tested out my healed spine at weekend. I was more worried about the bike, but nothing happened to it !