Mislaid my skills and Lost my bottle, where did I put them???

[kingbling]

Fractured shoulder road bike fractured wrist MTB and plenty of gravel rash and that was before I got old when I was younger I'd say I was above average now I'm older I'm below average where did it go... Well I think it got snagged on a tree back in the early 2000s and never caught up.

 

[Joe_Rides]

Had a good day out on Sunday, hitting jumps on local trails and generally pushing my limits a little bit, no issues, all good.

Until I took my commuter bike out to the pub in the evening......a rare night out for me....few too many......12am quiet roads, fast descent in top ring, clipped a kerb and came off! Bust lip, bruises in wierd places, snapped mech hanger. Cue walk of shame home and banned from riding drunk

 

[Woz]

Totally mis-interpreted the thread title. Carry on.

 

[slippyroots]

Used to be good on the ascents, bit sketchy on the descents. Now just lousy at both. don’t get out enough these days to remedy it either.

Going full pelt isn’t physically possible I suppose … and overthinking things gets in the way too. A kid doesn’t stop to think , so fear doesn’t stop them.

Truth is - you only get to do it ONCE.

Was in Shropshire recently and had a couple of hours to spare on my own. Bloody steep climbs, pushing it mostly. Hairy downhill but got enough speed up, stayed aboard and got that buzz back, if only for a short while.
Fantastic views to be had at the top which were appreciated.
simple things mean more these days. like a great view, or having a bit of spare time to yourself.

 

[vtwinvince]

LOL, this is a timely thread, just got back from physio from a never-recovered-right set of multiple injuries suffered whilst commuting to work six years ago, but I did ride my RM ti there and back in 33 degree heat. I'm turning sixty in ten days, and my best days are truly well behind me.

 

[Gtpulse]

I too completely misread the title, was almost off out to the garage to photograph a selection of water bottle karma to help you out!

I’m a very long way from the “skills” I had as a yoof. My biggest risks were taken on a bmx to be honest. I’d happily climb the big slide at the park and ride down it. Bunny hop over my mates lying in the road, up and down kerbs was compulsory. Never wore a helmet, often had little in the way of brakes.

These days I’m wary even on a road ride, helmet, gloves, but I’m always feathering the brake down a hill rather than balls out.

Hats off to my late grandad - in my profile photo you can see him even in his 50s with his legs over the bars of a Penny farthing. He’d also do no hands and a superman while showboating on it!

 

[JimK404]

I did downhill racing for a few years in the mid-90s - pretty sure I'd die if I tried that stuff now.

 

[Tootyred]

Ive lived my entire life in a flat place....so up hill and certainly down hill don't exist as far as I'm concerned.

Cross country, you can only go as fast as you can pedal.....which is slower than when i was 19.....so its all fine....less speed = more time to think.

As for skills, oddly, compared with my full suspension nephews, my skills are far better even now!

They just crash through everything......the skills of "actually looking where im going" and "picking a line" and "bunny hops" etc.....are thing completely lost on them......but maybe that's the price / benefit of that boingy suspension thing.

I had to laugh as one day they told me they had been practising a skill called " doing a manual".......turns out its moving your weight backwards when you jump or go over a bump!......WOW REVOLUTIONARY!......

They got pissy when i said " oh you mean riding a mountain bike properly"

Skills are skills, maybe slower, but still there.

 

[Once A Hero]

I took my Yeti to the Malverns last weekend, and keen on sharing some of the fun, decided to enter the downhill event at the last minute. Bought myself a full face helmet from one of the stalls and entered myself for the event.
Most entrants had downhill gear on, My only protection was factor 50 as it was a hot day.

Last time I did a downhill was c1993 in PORCS.
I was nervous especially given the age and modern bikes that the others were using.

My practice run felt fine but I didn’t realise just how bumpy the grassy hill was and consequently just how hopeless my bike felt. The Manitou 1 forks were giving their full half inch or so of travel and I felt like I was flying down there.

The video evidence suggests I wasn't. And I spectacularly fell off in the undulating ground and injured my ribs. Just got up and carried on but still in a bit of pain now.

My timed run was better, I stayed on but never received a time. Not sure why. My second timed run I decided not to go ahead.
Walking up the hill to the start line, a teenager said to me I must have a deathwish using SPD shoes/pedals. I don’t know any different but decided that one accident was enough for the weekend and went to watch my children in their events.

I now know why older people are less keen on this sort of activity. And also can see te attraction of a newer bike

That was brave of you - did the bike survive??

Regarding the SPD comment, use of SPDs was probably 50:50 ish in the mid 90's, largely due to the fact that the 'downhills' often featured a stretch of flat if not uphill , so the ability to pull up as well as push down was a useful way to improve times. I personally always used SPDs for downhill racing, with the exception of slalom events or extreme muddy conditions where the likelihood of needing to be unclipped to balance yourself was high.

 

[Lhatch4]

About a year and a half ago I went for a nice winter ride at my local single track. There is a section with a stream crossing. On one side of the stream is a rock garden and on the other is a tree in the trail with a large root going across the trail forming a decent size stair step. On a good day I don't give it a second thought. That wasn't a good day. It was cold and slippery. My mind was somewhere else. I went down the rock garden, went over the handlebar, landed on my back in the stream and in cold weather (about 44 Fahrenheit or 7 Celsius). Instantly my entire body ached as I tried to get air back into my lungs after having it knocked out. I laid there in the freezing stream for several minutes wondering what it was that I was thinking. After a few more minutes I decided that getting up was better than laying there and dyeing of hypothermia. I slowly made my way back to the car and was able to warm up a bit. Fortunately nothing was broken beyond my pride.