First Crash, give up racing ?
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I would never now, (or ever would have been) good enough to compete in bike races. However, You are. You have to recover, then go along and race again (with lessons learned - if any) to try to avoid that type of incident again.
To simply give up, is to give up living. Life is dangerous. Fact.
To make life safe, non of us would cross the road or get out of bed. Life is for living, and that means risks, at whatever level.
Sure, give up ~ if you're crap or on a hiding to nowhere ~ but if you feel you have some talent or potential, take this chance, even if that leads to nowhere. You will never get a second chance.
Recover well. Race again. Good Luck.Cycling weakly0 -
Law of averages says that now you've had an accident, you probably won;t have another one (at least for a long time). Unless you are the bad rider!
Or skip BC races and do TLI, LVRC (if old enough) or TT-ing
(And yes, more people DO get killed doing TTs because you're out there alone, sometimes on a dual carriageway, etc). But you're just as likely to get smacked on a training ride.0 -
Naaaaaaaaah, just give up, what you wasting your time riding to nowhere fast as you can on a bike for. And I bet you own a car, that would be quicker!!!!!
And if you do give up think of all the fun you and the wife could have;
decorating the kitchen
decorating the dining room
decorating the bathroom
decorating every blimming thing
Second thoughts, get out on the bike when your fit and just keep going
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Have your skeleton replaced by a titanium one. :idea:0
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Ti can fail suddenly without warning, you know.johnfinch wrote:Have your skeleton replaced by a titanium one. :idea:0 -
Smokin Joe wrote:
Ti can fail suddenly without warning, you know.johnfinch wrote:Have your skeleton replaced by a titanium one. :idea:
So can human bodies.0 -
Hope you recover quickly. I crashed last week so sort of know how you might feel. I ended up with minor injuries although went through to the bone on a couple of knuckles that resulted in a trip to theatre. You have to figure out what levels of risk you are comfortable taking bearing in mind wife/kids etc and do what you feel is right. I think the worse a crash is the more you have cause to think about things and that thought process definitely increases with age. I ended up with a grade 4 acj dislocation last year as a result of a mountain bike crash that took several months to repair and have reduced mountain biking as a result. Felt the enjoyment was getting outweighed by concern over injury but am comfortable with the level of risk road/crit racing. Mainly because a large number of the injuries are painful but not generally that bad (accepted that NapD's was worse than that)
What I am not prepared to do is sit in front of the telly wrapped in cotton wool-life is supposed to have risk in it0 -
Thanks for all the support lads, means a lot. I am feeling better. Sitting on the turbo an hour a day to keep moving, wife not impressed, still......I am lucky in the fact I work for a large company and have a very good immediate boss and I don't ever take the mickey with my sickness record, so happy there.
The bottom line for me is I love riding, love training hard and I love racing and will not stop. Life is too short to not do things you love and ironically, riding at speed for over 2 hours plus at the end of your rope, jockeying for position , accelerating etc is the epitome of cycling for me and I cannot not do it. I like doing sportive's as well and will keep on doing them although they do have their own dangers, they are good fun.
BTW, my bike is fine (Litespeed Siena, full ultegra, fuerte bici 60mm full carbon clinchers), only thing is my front tyre split down the centre, down to the core for about a foot and didn't burst. Fabulous tyres, Deda Tre Rs corsa, cheap at Ribble now ! Cheaper than Vittoria and better than Continental, nice. 0 -
StageWinner wrote:Law of averages says that now you've had an accident, you probably won't have another one (at least for a long time). Unless you are the bad rider!
That's not how averages work unfortunatey. If you win the Lottery one week you're as likely to win it the next as everybody else.
The best way to ride safely is to accelerate off the front on the first lap and always stay 100m ahead of the bunch. This has the added benefit of guaranteeing you a win. To increase you chances of a crash, try to ride in the middle of a competitive maul of tired riders of varying abilities and experience.
When I raced a couple of weeks ago we were single file into the final corner before the line when the rider in front had a trear tyre failure and sat up (he had no choice). I had to brake and swerve to avoid and luckily we all got away without a crash. Racing is inherently dangerous with risks everywhere from a slight graze to death. You can reduce your risks, but never totally eliminate them. I'm going to continue to race because I like it, but I know that if I get through a race without a crash I have been lucky.0 -
Well, all the best with your recovey and your journey back to fitness and racing. Well done to you for having the balls to give it another go and not letting one negative experience get the better of you. I'm hoping to get my fitness up over this year and maybe attempt some TT's next year with a rreasonable level of fitness. I have seen a few horror stories of crashes on here but they are few and far between and I won't be letting them put me off!0
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The tough thing about racing isn't fear of crashes, but the level of fitness needed, it is relentless ! the first race I did, I got dropped on the 4th lap of a 5 lap, 62 mile race, very humbling ! :oops:0
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dmclite wrote:The tough thing about racing isn't fear of crashes, but the level of fitness needed, it is relentless ! the first race I did, I got dropped on the 4th lap of a 5 lap, 62 mile race, very humbling ! :oops:
You got dropped on the 4th lap? That's pretty good.
I got dropped in the neutralized start area when I first started out. Tuesday night I won my first (TLI) road race. It gets better.0 -
Great thread really interesting, I'd say that you should carry on but be careful not to get the yips. If you let the accident shake your confidence you'll probably have another one.All hail the FSM and his noodly appendage!0
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Pokerface wrote:dmclite wrote:The tough thing about racing isn't fear of crashes, but the level of fitness needed, it is relentless ! the first race I did, I got dropped on the 4th lap of a 5 lap, 62 mile race, very humbling ! :oops:
You got dropped on the 4th lap? That's pretty good.
I got dropped in the neutralized start area when I first started out. Tuesday night I won my first (TLI) road race. It gets better.
Lol! Yes, I actually laughed out loud at that. I thought I was bad for getting dropped after about ten minutes of my first race! Glad to hear I'm not the only one.CAPTAIN BUCKFAST'S CYCLING TIPS - GUARANTEED TO WORK! 1 OUT OF 10 RACING CYCLISTS AGREE!0 -
MTFU your injuries are all in a sunday afternoon's ride for the off road crowd....:D
Seriously though, get some income protection insurance, its not funny when you are off sick or ages with no pay. It makes sense even if you don't participate in sport that has an element of danger. I sympathise with the wife thing - a clubmate is not "allowed" to ride at newport anymore as he ended up with several broken bones and a punctured lung after a finishing line pile up when the winner forgot to pedal in his excitement of winning...
Hope you get well soon.0 -
My first road race went as follows;
First corner - "This is easy"
Second corner - "Jesus, where have they gone"?0 -
SteveR_100Milers wrote:MTFU your injuries are all in a sunday afternoon's ride for the off road crowd....:D
Seriously though, get some income protection insurance, its not funny when you are off sick or ages with no pay. It makes sense even if you don't participate in sport that has an element of danger. I sympathise with the wife thing - a clubmate is not "allowed" to ride at newport anymore as he ended up with several broken bones and a punctured lung after a finishing line pile up when the winner forgot to pedal in his excitement of winning...
Hope you get well soon.
I am manly. I keep the crusts on my sandwiches, drink the occasional spritzer and love me mum. See ?
My company are pretty good, but I don't think they would like it if it was a cyclical thing where I take time off on a regular basis if I have a run of bad luck in races. Just have to race cleverly and sharpen my wits I reckon. Thanks again for all the support and get well soon's, very much appreciate it.
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yeah, good luck on your continued recovery dmclite. Now, where's all this trolling you promised us?? TDF doesn't kick in until tomorrow so just what are spending all your time on?0
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Pokerface wrote:dmclite wrote:The tough thing about racing isn't fear of crashes, but the level of fitness needed, it is relentless ! the first race I did, I got dropped on the 4th lap of a 5 lap, 62 mile race, very humbling ! :oops:
You got dropped on the 4th lap? That's pretty good.
I got dropped in the neutralized start area when I first started out. Tuesday night I won my first (TLI) road race. It gets better.
Well done by the way... actually very pleased.. hope you enjoyed the lead out to get things a bit stirred up at the end
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I also gave up racing, but my circumstances are a little different.
I don't own a car or even hold a driving license. So I rely on my bikes to get me to work and about.
So whilst I enjoyed the races I competed in (even managed a 3rd!) I couldn't justify the risk - if I had a crash, and there were a few near misses, then I would have no way to get to work. So in the end I jacked it in. Shame but felt I didn't really have a choice."That's it! You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college! " - Homer0 -
Commuting is far more dangerous than road racing.
Just tell the wife,. oh hang on, you better not ! :?0 -
Bobbinogs wrote:yeah, good luck on your continued recovery dmclite. Now, where's all this trolling you promised us?? TDF doesn't kick in until tomorrow so just what are spending all your time on?
Err forget that comment about the lack of trolling:dmclite wrote:Get that bike down to the shop, get it replaced and get another bike for your money and stop fcuking moaning. Bleating on here will not sort it out. :roll:dmclite wrote:Stop asking bone questions. If you want to spend £80 on some jockey wheels, then you must be stupid, therefore I can give you no advice as you are far too dim to appreciate it. :roll:
Heh heh, that's the spirit now chill out, it's the frigging w/e you grumpy git. You need to get out on your bike you know 0 -
Bobbinogs wrote:Bobbinogs wrote:yeah, good luck on your continued recovery dmclite. Now, where's all this trolling you promised us?? TDF doesn't kick in until tomorrow so just what are spending all your time on?
Err forget that comment about the lack of trolling:dmclite wrote:Get that bike down to the shop, get it replaced and get another bike for your money and stop fcuking moaning. Bleating on here will not sort it out. :roll:dmclite wrote:Stop asking bone questions. If you want to spend £80 on some jockey wheels, then you must be stupid, therefore I can give you no advice as you are far too dim to appreciate it. :roll:
Heh heh, that's the spirit now chill out, it's the frigging w/e you grumpy git. You need to get out on your bike you know [/quote
in the words of Jimmy Cricket "theres more..." 0
