[Closed] Data for those NOT badly injured?

I have only had one serious injury in 19 years of riding. Fractured my shoulder and needed to get it plated. Had my share of bruising though nothing serious. I like to think I ride within my limits, which means I may not ever get any better.

I don't ride with a lot of people, but I'd say about half have had serious injury (major broken bones, head injuries etc), the other half minor injuries (sprains, strains, dislocations, minor broken bones) only. I'm in the minor injuries only camp and I intend staying there.

Broken collarbone off road.

Broken lots of bones (15) on road when I hit the side of a car turning right across me. I was lucky. A chap died when hitting a similarly immovable tree at Swinkey shortly after.

Just the odd scrape and two concussions road racing.

Most of the club have had some form of broken bone. Usually collarbones. It’s a very common fracture.

Not hurt myself in a couple of years, and my worst injury in 29 years of mtbing was a badly bruised(maybe fractured) coccyx. Painful 🤪 but not particularly serious. That was also a proper JRA injury, no speed involved.

Plenty of bruises, and some gouged shins, but I've been 'lucky'.

Probably 50% of the MTBers I know have broken something, but only one serious i.e. life endangering, injury that I know of. Mostly it's been things like collarbones and wrists...what you would expect from the type of crashes MTBers tend to have.

I ride quite fast, and have actually got faster as I've hit my 40s (if Strava is to be believed). Not that it's the be all and end all, but on local stuff I'm generally top 5/10%.

Confidence, but not over confidence, in ones abilities is important. I'd say a skills course that focuses on building speed and confidence in your own riding wouldn't hurt.

I’ve broken minor bones, and been hospitalised twice. Once for head injury/concussion, once requiring surgery (for a deep clean of the wound).

For balance, Ive broken more bones playing football, and am currently sidlinded for the longest period ever with a health issue.

Mates are broadly the same, a fair few minor to middling Injuries sprinkled with one or two nasty ones, with a coupe having had genuinely life threatening/changing ones.

my surgeon said no more mountain biking. Not because of my injury but because he hated it as he thought it was to dangerous. As if I am going to listen to him.

Ive always thought winter sports to be much more dangerous tbh. Pretty much 100% record of mates going on hols to do it and at least one of them comes back with a cast on. No thanks.

I've had some breaks but nothing actually serious- most inconvenient has been this bloody wrist. Meanwhile, I did suffer a big injury while just walking, when I broke my hip.

Winter sports are probably less dangerous than mtb, I would have thought. If you crash you just slide mostly. Easy to break wrists though.

I’ve been riding mountain bikes since 1986/7 ish and not had any serious injuries so far, and that includes riding in the Austrian Alps all summer for 9 years until 1999 and Alps trips all over most years since.
Not even any significant minor injuries I can’t think of (other than scrapes and bumps etc)

Lucky, super skilful, or a complete mincer, I’ve no idea 😂

Ive always thought winter sports to be much more dangerous tbh. Pretty much 100% record of mates going on hols to do it and at least one of them comes back with a cast on. No thanks.

I have done just shy of 300 weeks skiing and snowboarding over the last 30 years and only had one “serious” injury and that was only a dislocated shoulder, painful but sorted straight away and no lasting damage.
(Other than a damaged hip from years of impact damage that’s now been replaced with a fancy ceramic upgrade 👍)

I do come off quite a bit - lack of skill and sometimes being overcautious I reckon. Most of the time its just skin and bruises. Knee pads may be the best invention yet to help with those! I have had a serious off when I dislocated my shoulder half way round Borrowdale. Having said that I have had as many injuries on my road bike - including some time under a bus. Skiing so far has been fine! Worst injury ever was rugby, second one was all my knee ligaments going falling down a slope in my garden!

When it comes to it being on an MTB is a risk, but then so is everything else..... It does feel good though and it clears the mind. For me definitely a risk I shall keep on taking. Lets face it you can't rule your life because you might get run down by a bus........

There's nothing wrong with a healthy dose of self preservation. There's a lot of furniture to bounce off or skewer yourself on, you're generally in the middle of nowhere with poor access, little to no phone signal, add in the potential of disappearing off the edge of a trail and not being spotted, it could definitely ruin your day/month/year/life.

For all the scratches and scrapes, I've never broken a bone in 20 years of mountain biking.

I have however recently managed to break my femur doing 5mph on a cycle path coming home from work.

Nope, I don't fall off

As my riding fitness and skill has got better I crash far less. I now ride pretty techy stuff at a good pace and crash way less than I used to when riding much less techy stuff. I used to crash all the time, now it's rare.

So you can progress without crashing.

The trail won't change, but you and your bike can. But you have to push yourself and train and learn. Better tyres, tweaking pressure, setting your suspension will make the bike better. Getting fitter and improving your skills and experimenting will make you better.

My ambition frequently outweighs my talent

I take my time descending - I've got better, but I was mainly a roadie that did a bit of MTB. That changed when my spine was broken riding to work - I steer clear of road riding now. All the main injuries and broken bones have been drivers idiocy.

MTB is far safer.

OP - you're not going to be able to extrapolate anything from the anecdotal tales of woe on this thread that will help you decide if MTB is too dangerous for you or not. There's a risk involved, you know that and if it outweighs the reward for you then it's not worth it.

Worst thing I've done is a Grade 2 ACJ separation on the 3 Peaks, other than that I've had minor concussion once and a broken finger, lots of small cuts and bruises from brushing things.

Worst injury I've seen from a rising partner was severe concussion, coupled with a broken shoulder blade and fractured wrist, it was a big off.

I honestly think self preservation is a good thing and a lot of injuries are caused by the old "body writing cheques the skills can't cash" and a fair chunk of machoisim

I have to try and keep in the forefront of my mind that I have two crushed vertebrae in my spine and was told by a specialist to never ride off road again. That was 10 years ago, at the time I was diagnosed with Osteoporosis. So I've no real interest in finding out what happens if I break a bone.
I've seen first hand what can happen. My wife broke her leg on her bike on an innocuous trail which then resulted in a replacement knee. It's had such an impact so I'm very conscious of this.

My ambition frequently outweighs my talent

This so much 😳 list of my injuries mix of mtb, road, cyclocross and motocross.
9 collarbone fractures.
Rotor cuff injuries to both shoulders.
Compression fracture of vertebrae.
Acl injury requiring reconstruction surgery.
3 broken fingers.
Broken thumb.
2 scathoid fractures.
Ankle fracture requiring surgery.
2 sternum fractures.
At least 10 rib fractures.
2 concusions.
Damage to blood vessels in leg requiring surgery.
Lost 2 big toe nails.
Probably a thousand cuts and bruises of note.
Mtb or any active sport is reasonably safe if you stay within your comfort zone. That great if you enjoy yourself there, but historically at least I've always pushed untill I crash. Coming up to 60 now and have promised Mrs taxi to calm right down, I'm trying and hopefully its a promise I wont break but...........

I've taken the view that MTBing as a sport is a massive exercise in developing a mental game alongside the physical skillset.

Most of the injuries I have had happened when my mental game was weak; doubts crept in.

I’ve had my fair share of biking injuries, the worst was on road aged 17, serious injuries and life changing injuries, the latest was at BPW and entirely my fault, innocuous trail combined with too much speed. Lots of incidental offs and minor injuries in between.

But, would I give up biking just because of the risk. Not a chance. It’s my version of therapy. I can get my fix at any pace riding along a gravel path. It doesn’t have to be “extreme” to tickle my itch. I’ve become less gung-ho since BPW, partly because of the risk to my family and the consequences to them. But they know that I have to ride to be tolerable.

Just enjoy what you do at your pace. As Charlie says “it’s not a bloody race”.

I get loads of injuries. I’m probably in A&E once or twice a year.

I’d say most of the 20-odd people I ride with regularly have broken something MTBing. But I haven’t (yet).

Only ever broken my little finger - I shattered two knuckle joints dry skiing.

Skiing has also provided what felt like my nearest-to-death experience, which involved tumbling down steep ice towards the edge of a huge rocky cliff and stopping just in time. 😳

Only significant bike injury was my fault as a mechanic, coming off an ill-maintained road bike years ago. No breaks but briefly unconscious and skinned my back and half my face.

I'm fairly "reserved" when mountain biking, esp regarding jumps, though I like a bit of speed

Skiing similar - I ski slower than my technique would probably allow, though I still "make good progress" Prefer the technical side. Don't feel any need to keep up with people ragging it and taking big risks in either sport. Too old now to make quick recoveries so I don't really want to need one

I've never broken a bone, probably due to loose joints - so many sprains and dislocations, mostly from footy, that I now can't really run or even walk moderate distances without limping for days

As a roadie I’ve had a lot of crashes, racing, training rides and even commuting to work on my own.
In fact I’m now in pretty constant pain and have problems sleeping. Been to the doctors and had an X-ray but nothing found.
I ride mountain bikes as well, very limited skills, probably have an off twice a month. Last road crash was in november, that’s triggered off an old injury and is damn painful. Constant tingling in my shoulder and fingers.
Probably worst road crash was during a race, only one lane closed, coming down a descent at speed in a group, horse and cart coming towards us, the front riders see the horse and start braking, as I couldn’t see what was happening I hit the person in front then landed in a hedge with a barbed wire fence and a small stone wall. That one hurt. Loads of road rash crashes but nothing serious.

Been riding for nearly 16 years, on and off road. Never extreme, maybe 500 miles a year off road, 3-4k on road. Had two minor concussions in the time, slipped on ice/mud and helmet hit the ground and did its job.

I've not (yet) done anything major. I don't crash much, when I do come off it's generally been with a bit of warning and a few times I've managed to more or less lay the bike down and run off to the side.

The worst recently was up a short steep climb that I didn't make, ran out of grip due to ice/snow, put my foot down and it just slid out from under me. I ended up tumbling off the back of the bike and cracking my hip on the ground, big bruise and a bit of a limp for a week or so.

Been riding 20 odd years, up till 5 months ago I could say the worst was 2 broken fingers, lots of bruises and bits of skin over many minor stacks. 5 months ago, on a fire road and not going stupid fast, came off, broke T11 vertebrae (3 column break) and base of skull. Don't remember my only ambulance ride or most of the next 5 days in hospital. On the bright side, all healed now and doing my first 100 km mtb 'race' tomorrow, the otway oddysey. will be done a bit more gently than in the past.

It’s a matter of risk vs reward. The problem is that the risks are hard to quantify and only you can say what the rewards are worth.

FWIW the risk of a “life changing accident just riding along” doesn’t bother me. These are very low risk events. Of course it’s a disaster if it happens, but it could happen anywhere and I don’t feel that I am really increasing my risk on a gentle bike ride. Since I love riding my bike that tiny risk is well worth it.

Bombing down stuff that isn’t too challenging at stupid speeds is worth the risk to me too. The risk is still low as I shouldn’t crash. Yes, the speed itself increases the risk of any crash becoming serious, but I love that feeling of speed, so the risk vs reward is worth it.

Once things get more technical my attitude changes. I don’t like falling off, even at low speed and at my age I don’t bounce as well as I used to. In fact I tend to shatter. Crucially I don’t really enjoy that feeling of being outside my comfort zone. I understand that some people live for that feeling, but for me scary isn’t fun, it’s just scary. So, for me, the risk vs reward on that stuff isn’t worth it and I’ll walk stuff most half competent mountain bike riders will ride quite happily. Yes, I walk less than I used to as my skill (and bike) has improved, but I’ll always walk more than most. That’s just where the risk vs reward is for me, but we’re all different.

I rarely ride proper mtb these days ,so when I do now, I always ride like Miss Daisy. Whilst riding I have been treated in hospital for...being impaled, broken hands,rib,chipped elbow,damaged eyeball ,twice!,an osteochondral lesion ,which was drained,oof !
So now I'm a coward and don't bounce like I once did.
If you're having fun ,crack on , if you want to go faster , go on a skills course.
I also slowed down even more after the birth of my son.

Feel like you just mind f****d me into riding slower. Are you doing Ard rock? Is this phsycological warfare?

was going to crow comment but decided against it as i'm out riding later 😉

i've had loads of injuries since i was a kid. bmx, football, snowboarding and mtb.
i learned from each one but i'd never stop me, ever

I think it was me that posted about the broken neck. It's been pretty seized up this week and when I saw the physio yesterday she banned me from riding last night. Hoping to go to Windhill on Sunday so I've clearly learned f-all from my experiences.
It was surprising after the break last year that so many friends and colleagues assumed that was me finished with MTB and were amazed when I said nope (none of my riding mates assumed that though, they bought me a new lid to replace the wrecked one). If I had made the decision to keep riding but just try and take all the risk out of it I think it would have been more likely to make me crash due to doubt as others have said and also taken all the fun out of it. In that scenario I'd probably rather give up and find another hobby TBH. Not saying that my feelings on it won't change in the future, mind.

w00dster

As a roadie I’ve had a lot of crashes, racing, training rides and even commuting to work on my own.

I ride mountain bikes as well, very limited skills, probably have an off twice a month. Last road crash was in november, that’s triggered off an old injury and is damn painful.

Makes mental note, never to ride within 100m of w00dster

It's ok, I think him and Taxi25 have been taking them for the team. Cheers guys 😚

snackdragon

I don’t ride that often (say once or twice a month on average)

I think this is probably the core of the problem. If you ride more frequently you'll become more accustomed to the sensations associated with travelling over rough terrain at speed and or dealing with technical terrain. Repetition will bring familiarity, which will lead to greater confidence and less fear.

To all those that crash - please stop wasting NHS resources 😀

No major crashes here. Hurt my shoulder quite badly but nothing broken. Quite a few cuts/grazes. Nothing serious though, don't ride hard or big enough to warrant it

I don't know any regular mtb riders (3-4 rides a month min) who've not injured themselves badly enough to stay off the bike for a while.

This is the cause of some domestic discussion.

some people I know seem to be permanently broken and the slightest off seems to put them out of action.

others seems to regularly walk away from high speed offs with nothing more than scuffs and scrapes.

fortunately I'm in the scuffs and scrapes camp.

Going faster is all in your head. To go faster and be more comfortable, you need confidence. Confidence comes from trusting your skillset to deliver consistently when it's required and that the deployed techniques are correct. This can be developed by widening your comfort zone, and the best way to do that is through some skills coaching or at least analysing your own techniques and performance to improve it, perhaps by video and review. If you 'just hold tight and go fast' this is where the accident/injury inevitably occurs. If you attempt to ride out with your comfort zone, accidents will happen. If you learn to extend your comfort zone safely and wisely, you can go much faster by practicing and having confidence you're deploying the correct techniques instinctively. If jogging was out of our comfort zone, we'd be at risk of running down the street and falling over, but because it's well practiced at a young age, we typically have full confidence in our ability to navigate obstacles while jogging and therefore can go fast and still feel safe. Accidents still happen, but usually when you push too hard or take your eye off the ball on the easy stuff.

Hire a good skills coach and you'll see a massive difference!

the biggest thing I have done to improve MTB confidence is to ride bmx at the bmx track.

To all those that crash – please stop wasting NHS resources 😀

I'll take up something less hazardous then. Like watching the TV, with a slab of Stella and 20 fags.