Its decision time.

[fossyant]

Fossyant I admire your resilience, when I had my last serious off 2015 you were laid up with back injuries, I realised from your posts then there is always someone worse of than yourself, my shoulder has never recovered, I hope your back has,

I actually find the cycling helps my back. Didn't touch the bike for three weeks recently due to 'holidays' (oh the trauma) and despite walking an average of 6 miles a day, my back started to stiffen up. It's been fine when bike packing for four days over rough terrain. My hip is now mechanically good again, other than a bit of tendon clicking, but fine on the bike.

I managed to pick some nice back roads and avoid some of the busier ones yesterday, although you always come up against traffic in some areas, and I just 'wait it out' if it's too tight to filter safely.

 

[joeegg]

I do both road and offroad as i have Hamsterley forest close to my home.
It is really refreshing to not have to think about or hear traffic when i am in the forest.You can make the riding as hard or as easy as you like and i believe riding off road helps handling skills.
If i could only ride one discipline then it would probably be off road.

 

[Venod]

I do both road and offroad as i have Hamsterley forest close to my home.

I have ridden in Hamsterley a few times, in MTB Orienteering events, a great place to have on your doorstep.

 

[united4ever]

It's a real dilemma OP and very much a personal decision.

Doesn't have to be all or nothing though. You could just stick to segregated paths, bridleways, canal towpaths, shared/cycleways. Basically not mixing with cars. Depends on the network in your area though and if you are a commuter/ utility cyclist it may not work.

My only seriousish incident was on a roundabout about 8 years ago. Every time I think back to it I realise how bad it could have been. I was hit from the side and ended up on the bonnet of a car and bike went under, frame snapped. Just bruises and road rash in the end. Driver accepted responsibility (sun in his eyes so didn't see me). I wasn't wearing a helmet then. Always wore one since. Thought long and hard about how I could minimise risk. Decided to stay on canal towpath longer even though it was slower. Basically tried to minimise time on the road mixing with cars.

 

[Venod]

Driver accepted responsibility (sun in his eyes so didn't see me).

That was the cause of my last serious accident 10 years ago, shoulder has never recovered properly as it got an infection after the initial op, resulting in 5 more visits to the operating theatre.

 

[classic33]

Free Knog lights when you join CUK.

 

[CXRAndy]

Taking serious knocks can severely impact upon the rest of your life. Get back on the bike if you really want to.

I found a slightly different path after a serious fall I had 10 years ago. I absolutely love it compared to outdoor riding, which I do occasionally with the Mrs

 

[icowden]

Just an update, I started the claim via cycling UK, but the driver does not acknowledge he was in the wrong, he said I was overtaking him and lost control ! I was coming off a roundabout and he failed to give way and knocked me off, fortunately I had alerts activated on my Garmin and it sent an alert to my wife showing the exact location of the collision, I also put a post on the FaceBook group of the town where the incident occurred and received a very useful reply from someone who was coming the other way, who confirmed it was not my fault and the driver ran into the back of my bike and shunted my 10 meter's down the road, I have forwarded this helpful info to my solicitor so hopefully it helps, I can't believe he is trying to put the blame on me.

Ignore it. The police report should confirm that he rear ended you, and should be the end of it. Your garmin log should prove the direction you were going in and that you were not on the same route as the car that clipped you. Witness is doubly helpful.

 

[Venod]

Ignore it. The police report should confirm that he rear ended you, and should be the end of it. Your garmin log should prove the direction you were going in and that you were not on the same route as the car that clipped you. Witness is doubly helpful.

My legal team must have contacted the person who replied to my FaceBook appeal, they sent the positive report from the witness to the drivers insurance, they have subsequently made me an offer, which is to my satisfaction, so hopefully it will soon be brought to a satisfactory conclusion.
What left a nasty taste was the driver trying to blame me, he should have just owned up to his mistake.

 

[icowden]

My legal team must have contacted the person who replied to my FaceBook appeal, they sent the positive report from the witness to the drivers insurance, they have subsequently made me an offer, which is to my satisfaction, so hopefully it will soon be brought to a satisfactory conclusion.

Has your legal team recommended you accept the offer? Usually the first offer is very low. Take the advice of your solicitor - they will know when the best time to settle is.

 

[Venod]

The legal team have not given any recommendations either way, they have made it clear that if I want to further my claim they will support me, but with the caveat they can't guarantee an improved offer and it could also go down.
I would not accept the offer if I didn't consider it fare, I can assure you it's far from very low.

 

[Venod]

I am a member of Cycling UK and this is the second time I have used their legal service.
The first time (ten years ago) was settled to my satisfaction, and fingers crossed this claim is heading in the same direction, we'll worth the membership fee for me.

 

[icowden]

The legal team have not given any recommendations either way, they have made it clear that if I want to further my claim they will support me, but with the caveat they can't guarantee an improved offer and it could also go down.

That's Solicitor speak for "we think this is a good offer"

 

[Phil Fouracre]

Interesting discussion! Had a similar personal decision a few years ago now - spent a long time mulling over every aspect of the accident, recovery, and ‘where to go from here’?
it wasn’t cycling, but paragliding, which I had been doing for many years - I had a catastrophic accident where the prognosis on hospital admission was given, of no chance of survival!
Did survive, and pretty much recover, and five years later started flying again with all new kit and my head ‘sorted out’.
In this sort of situation it really is down to the individual to work their way through it in their own mind whatever, or despite what anyone else says.

 

[classic33]

My legal team must have contacted the person who replied to my FaceBook appeal, they sent the positive report from the witness to the drivers insurance, they have subsequently made me an offer, which is to my satisfaction, so hopefully it will soon be brought to a satisfactory conclusion.
What left a nasty taste was the driver trying to blame me, he should have just owned up to his mistake.

Had the same when hit by a car being driven onto the road I was on. The driver insisting on the night it was all my fault, they'd done nothing wrong even though they'd collected a fair sized dent in the bonnet.