Issue 162: Whip it up and start again

Back in Issue 158, Steve was flying high having taken to big jumps ‘later in life’. Will a crash landing clip his wings?

Words Steve Aspinall

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I hit the ground. Pretty hard as it turned out, with quite the tally of injuries. You might call it a broken hand, foot and big toe, plus a load of other ouches. Those with a healthcare background, like me, would call it an articular fracture of the left radius, articular fractures of the left great toe, multiple fractures of the talus and too many micro-fractures, lacerations, contusions, sprains and ligament ruptures to list. Riding down the mountain smarted a bit, but I suffer that peculiar British bent of not wanting to make a fuss or put anyone out, so ride down it was. Importantly, my bike was unscathed – thank you Propain for building a bike that remains bombproof despite everything I do to it!


Six weeks off the bike completely and more than double that before I could do proper (read ‘smooth’) trails would give me plenty of time to reflect on where things went wrong. Was it just the wrong day? Too much too soon and a lack of skill? Fuzzy-headed and off balance? Did I rush in my preparation, squeezed in after a busy week? Or did tiredness and the ache in my head slow my reactions? All of the above? I’m not sure how much each contributed, but I have certainly thought about it. I know I went too deep, but I also wonder if I hadn’t shifted my weight and bike into the landing enough or maybe I turned my front wheel too much before it had decent grip? My tyre pressures might not have helped either; I was running them much higher than normal for the big jumps and fast corners. In hindsight, they were definitely higher than I needed. Hindsight is always 20/20, isn’t it?!? Let’s take a moment to go back to before things went awry.

Having the vision

I’ve always looked at Revolution Bike Park’s ‘Vision Line’ with a slight sense of awe. A work of art in the world of mountain bike lines. As the park reopened last summer, my plan was relatively simple: tick off the other main features in the park, then start work on the Vision Line. ‘Revs’ is my favourite place to ride and the first part of the plan went well – the features are built so everything flows and even pretty big jumps feel stress-free. Starting the Vision Line was similar, I ticked off the features up to the fantastic road gap that appears in so many pictures. It all flows beautifully and the feeling as you drop across the road into the deep banked berm induces a strangely serene form of excitement. I wasn’t in a rush to progress, so I just practised on that first part of the line until I was feeling comfortable. 


Roll on another day at Revs, but with an unusually inauspicious start. Dog-tired, a headache… one of those days that I wouldn’t normally ride. But it had been a busy week with no riding, so I made a decision to ignore the signs and get out and clear my head. With limited time I didn’t do my normal warm-ups on the other tracks; even so, all the early features on Vision felt good. I dropped into the road gap. That felt smooth, with lots of grip into the berm that fires you into the next feature, a step-up. The first time, I took it slowly. It felt controlled but with a small case on the landing. The next run, I hit the road gap quickly and smoothly, then went deep into the step-up. On landing, my front wheel washed out and… ouch.


Back on the horse

Where does a now 53-year-old, amateur mountain biker just getting into jumps, who has had a big crash and carrying lots of injuries, go from there? First, a confession that may sound strange, but maybe because rehabilitation has been my career, I’ve really enjoyed the rehabilitation process. I’ve spent 25 years as a Registered Sport Rehabilitator and 21 of those also as a university lecturer. I’ve also spent eight years as an associate editor for the world’s number one sports and exercise medicine journal. This all helped turn rehab into a puzzle, something I could chat about with my friends in medical teams across the world and plan the best way forward.


After a short period of relative rest, I started rehab. With one good arm and leg, sensible and progressive single-limb exercise was the order of the day, along with a gradual progression on my injured limbs targeting the joints and muscles that weren’t injured, then gradually progressing as healing allowed. Six weeks was a euphoric point in the whole process: with a custom orthotic for my foot and bracing for my wrist and hand, I was able to get back on my (somewhat modified) bike, with a very clear focus on smooth and comfortable riding only. Although slower than I would have liked, everything progressed from there up until the point four months later when I finally got back to Revs for some sensible laps obviously…


Choose fun

But what about jumping? Once I was back to being able to ride, I chose fun. I went back to why I started jumping in the first place: mucking around with friends in the woods, practising and getting better at jumps. The crash meant time off the bike, but it hasn’t been a setback. More of a realignment, perhaps.


Beyond bones and bruises, a large part of rehabilitation has been getting my head in the right place. I’ve never been overly sensible with extreme sports and risk but after more than five decades on this crazy spinning world of ours, I am finally getting a bit better at making good decisions. Don’t quite fancy a feature I’ve done hundreds of times? I just move on and do something I do feel comfortable with. There is nothing I need to do, just things I want to enjoy doing and be able to do again the next day. There’s a science to rehab and staying healthy, but also perhaps a smidgin of the mystical in paying attention to the auguries of ‘not feeling it’.


So, where am I now? In many ways, I’m in a great position. I am generally fit and strong, my deadlift is the best it has been for years (it would shame my 18-year-old self) and my jumping has improved significantly; I’m more chilled and better able to place and move my bike in the air. I can now also manage a full day at a bike park and still feel fresh at the end of the day. Nine months in and my body is still healing, my wrist still has a fair way to go until I can load bear more normally on that side but it’s getting there. However, from the latest round of imaging, it seems I won’t be riding anything adventurous without a brace for a while. 


On the way back to jumping, I have spent lots of time doing things like the new B-Line at Llandegla, great low-risk practice for getting comfortable again on bigger jumps. Then on to bigger features, the fairly new Continental Line at Revs offering a superb and grintastic learning playground. So many different line options and features to build up and link together with that wonderful feeling as you flow smoothly down the line from feature to feature. There is something really liberating and focusing for your mind when you ride a line as the builder intended – every feature is a smooth gateway to the next. A birthday ride at Bike Park Wales last week saw me on the revamped A470 line for the first time. There was something quite superb about being able to just hit it, being comfortable on all the jumps and getting that sense of flow, something I couldn’t have done not many years ago.

Move with the times

I also picked up an ebike to go with my Propain Tyee, and learning to whip it on the local dirt jumps (‘whip’ is a generous word but I’m getting there!) has been a huge amount of fun. It is surprisingly poppy for a heavier bike! I’ve been learning to move my bike more, thinking about how jumps feel and how that interacts with my positioning and where my weight is. Playing around with all these things makes you a bit more flexible on trickier features. Even if it’s only a quick bar turn, you are more relaxed and if things don’t quite go as planned, saving it becomes a laugh out loud moment instead of a painful learning experience.

And the Vision Line? Although I am definitely in no rush to try that second road gap/step-up hip for a third time, I have noted that the feature forms a natural break in the line, so maybe at some point if it feels right, I will start playing on the line again and adding on some additional features. No rush and no pressure as I am looking forward to many more years of jumping, and fun with friends – that really is going to be my focus. I’d argue that if you progress sensibly, jumping is a lot easier on the body than fast, wheels on the ground, technical trails. Just jump. It doesn’t have to be big and it doesn’t have to be big and it doesn’t have to be scary – just relax, enjoy the airtime and if you just aren’t feeling it, then give it a miss!