All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

The mental block from taking a surprising crash on an easier trail is one of the hardest to recover from. It rattles and humbles you instantly, and makes you doubt your riding. So much of mountain biking is confidence and vision that these crashes are one of the hardest to recover from (aside from long-recovery-time big injuries). Unfortunately there is no universal procedure, as every person's personal psyche is different and requires different strategies for gaining confidence. BUT, that's the key, gaining confidence. So, do things that will help boost your confidence. For what it's worth, here's my advice.
-Dump the clips, get on some flats. This will remove that large piece of doubt that you can eject from your mind. Once you're confident, put the clips back on (though I doubt you will).
-Ride the same trail that you got injured on again, but at 50%. This will feel stupid slow, but your brain needs to see that it wasn't the trail, or you, but rather a small outlier that caused the fall.
-Go ride a harder trail, one that's not intimidating but fun. Ride that at 75% or so, allow your mind to see that you have the skills.
-Go back to the trail you got injured at, ride it at 75%. Just have some fun.
**Throughout the process focus on flow and smoothness. Since you're only riding at 50-75% you should have plenty of reserves of focus on finding the flow of the trail, NOT going fast. Remember that being rigid and riding your brakes will make you more likely to crash again, so dial it back and find the smooth lines. In the long run this WILL make you faster (every once in a while I purposely ride a familiar trail slowly, looking for the fun and smooth lines).

I JUST took a similar fall. Playing on an easy trail, popping off everything, sliding through every turn, just being a hooligan. Then I took a weird pop off a lip, and landed in a rock and wood pile. Broken hand and elbow, now I'm out for another month. Between skating as a kid, snowboarding in Utah for 20 years, and mountain biking, I can't remember too many years without injuries, some worse than others. I enjoy pushing myself, and I also know the risks involved. I'm getting better at the recovery process, now in my mid 40s. Your body can heal, the mind is much trickier.

There are so many options man, no need to wait. I run the POC VPD Air, and love em, they've taken some seriously burly hits and I wear them on EVERY ride no matter the length or temp. Still, there are so many great option right now. Check out the reviews on PB as well.

 

Lots of good advice already given. One other thing I've been told is to pick a song and sing it, preferably to yourself, while you're riding. It keeps you from overthinking how you're riding and prevents tensing up. Really does make a difference, assuming you already have good fundamentals.

 

You TW while not at work?

I am a MTB Guide in Knoxville when you make your way over here. I hope you will consider my services. www.knoxoutdoortours.com

 

It was a rare exception, I almost always am not on TW while out of the office

 

"Scotty doesn't know" is my go to

 

Lol same, I honestly thought we were all just on here to pass the time while "working"

 

Correct. Boutta go give blood and I'm in the lobby, #anti-doping

 

I had one of these just over two weeks ago now. It was on a pretty rowdy section that I've done before. Ripped jersey and shorts, lots of scratches, bike was fine but I hurt. I haven't ridden that section again yet and to be honest, I've pretty much avoided all rowdy sections.
Instead, I've been focusing on my endurance. I've done a lot more climbing than usual and I've explored a few new trails. Focusing on my weaknesses (climbing, haha) to make me an overall stronger rider. We'll have beautiful weather all weekend and I'm planned on riding Friday (big ride), Saturday (recovery ride), and Sunday (fun ride). On Sunday, I'll go back to that section and hit it again - just without thinking it. The lead up to it is pretty flowing, I'll probably take it slower than usual, and it'll be a solid 9 mile into my ride. If I'm that far in, I'll just tell myself I'm warmed up and ready, and just hit it. No stopping before it and looking, no second guessing, just going for it. Worst case, I eat shit again and I don't visit it for at least a few more weeks haha

 

I will make sure you keep you in mind when we venture out there. Thank you!

 

my theme song.

 

I've been very happy with the POC VPD Air knee pads fwiw.

 

got the taco ‘pimped’ at the bike shop.
gotta love new bike day!

 

Think it just takes time to gain the confidence back. Take it slow no rush. I hurt myself plenty of times snowboarding and lost confidence. Just start small and work your way back up. I messed up my hand a few weeks ago on some jumps biking and will be going back to the same trail today. My plan is to do the smaller jump a few times to gain the confidence back before trying the big one that i hurt myself on.

 

You afraid to raise your heartbeat?

 

The anti-wobble hitch tightener that came with the 1Up RakAttach was not the best quality. I'd have to tighten it every 2 weeks and the steel plate has deformed and rusted. I replaced it with a US made unit. I'll post an update in a couple of weeks if it performs any better or worse.

 

I wasn't super impressed with the quality of that anti-wobble plate either, but I've had it on my truck for 1.5 years now and it's still tight. It is rusting, but I leave the rack attach on all winter. There's definitely more play than if the 1up were mounted directly to the truck's hitch, but it's still better than any other tray rack I've seen.

 

Lol, local mtb thread having an e-bike meme war Here's some of the better ones:

 

hmmm..... cant b happy for a guy?
i been raising my heart beat with the Tallboy and Nomad long enough. lol

and my Tarmac (not pictured) helped me complete a bunch of double centuries.....

 

i like the rack. also. nbd is always a fun day.