Let's offroad / mountain bike / mtb / ride dirt

What exactly have you done DJ?

Went off a drop far too slowly. Front wheel dug in and I got dumped on head/shoulder.

Heard a crack and momentarily blacked out.

Today I can barely move my arm in certain directions and still have a headache.

Possibly time for new helmet. There are no obvious signs of damage.

Are Mtb helmets any better than road ones or do they also suggest replacement after one impact?

I now remember why I use carriage returns and not punctuation, I phone keyboard is shit for my sausage fingers.

Bad luck, practice doing little drops in the region of 1-2' street riding and on sets of stairs to help get a feeling for drops.

MTB helmets in general are just styled differently (peaks) to road helmets unless you go for a skate lid style one. There is a giro hex helmet which has a little more protection around the back of the head than a road helmet. A few others like this too. I know I've just contradicted myself.

the next time you guys go out i would be keen to join if possible it isn't black run style mtb'ing you do is it ?
any pics of recent outings ?

I think the definition of a 'black run' is something involving obstacles that cannot be rolled over slowly by a novice. You have to be committed to clearing it at speed and possibly with specific skills required. For example a gap jump with a big hole in the middle where you either clear the jump or die horribly on the spikes in the hole.

There was only one bit we did that could be described like that, which was the very last bit where James tried to kill himself. I did warn the guys about it but evidently not quite strongly enough! There are other bits of Swinley that could definitely be described as black run type stuff, including gap jumps with nastiness in the holes. However, I wouldn't do any of those myself let alone take a newbie over them.

The bits we did were all things that you can roll over slowly. Some of it was 'technical' in that there were slimy rooty bits, steep slopes (up and down), small drops, loose ground, berms, jumps you can roll slowly or take faster and get airborne, etc.

I would definitely recommend Swinley forest as a place to start even for a complete novice. It will give you a good introduction to off road riding but there is nothing you have to do if you don't feel confident enough to try it. On the other hand, as you build your confidence up, it also offers more technical and difficult obstacles to try. So even for the expert, there is still fun to be had.

MTB helmets in general are just styled differently (peaks) to road helmets unless you go for a skate lid style one. There is a giro hex helmet which has a little more protection around the back of the head than a road helmet. A few others like this too. I know I've just contradicted myself.

I just bought myself a new lid a few weeks back. Talking with the guy in the shop, the only difference between road and off-road designs is the shape of the back. Road ones tend to go for a more aero form but off-road ones are straight protection. Of course you then get the extreme stuff like super aero track helmets, full face downhill ones, etc. But for standard issue kit, the back of the head trade-off seems to be all there is. Certainly the basic construction and level of impact resistance are identical.

X ray done

Radiographer would not give diagnosis so waiting for the dr again

Strained not sprained

No fracture but huge bruising. So painkillers and trying to keep it reasonably mobile are the requirements.

So.....woohoo! Right?

Woohoo

Jump for joy

Cunt shit fuck damn - any sudden movements hurt so much

Ouch DJ, hope you recover in time for the weekend. Glad it isn't anything worse though!

Decided to work from home today, my shoulder is also giving me gyp from the austrailian incident, figured I'd not aggravate it by riding in today.

Woohoo

Jump for joy

Cunt shit fuck damn - any sudden movements hurt so much

But it's not broken.

Strained not sprained

No fracture but huge bruising. So painkillers and trying to keep it reasonably mobile are the requirements.

They given you the fun ones?

Glad to hear nothing is broken or torn.

I've just done much the same as DJ, on my local trails, only to my elbow. Sucks man. After a brilliant day with Moog out in Dorking on Saturday, I went for a "quick hour spin in the local woods" today, where there is some nice singletrack I've done a thousand times, and just... fucked up. I'm not even sure how. Hospital sent me to xray a second time because they couldn't believe it wasn't broken from the swelling I had... It's sooo hard to flex my elbow atm. :/

having broken, strained and sprained elbows, collarbones, and wrists mtb'ing over the years, I actually think the strains and sprains hurt more in the short term for some reason, heal soon dj and Mc

cheers guys

mcnebula, get well soon, what did they give you?

i am on diclofenac which has made me feel a lot more comfortable, but fuck its the stupid things like unloading the dishwasher and lifting a plate to put it on a shelf that leave me doing the tourettes impression

DJ, I'm exactly the same mate. I did exactly that trying to slice bread earlier... Ngggggaaarrrhgh haha. I took a spill early in the year and fractured my coccyx, I got dyclofenac (brand name voltarol, I think) for that. I'm on co-dydramol 10/500mg x 2 (which is dihydrocodeine tartrate and paracetamol) and ibuprofen 400mg x 1 after meals...

Heal up mate!

I fell on my ass once badly while BMXing when I was a yout. Couldn't slouch for about 6 months because of the pressure it but on my coccyx. A teenager that could not slouch! It was tough times indeed.

A Ginger that could not hang his head in shame. Oh the pain.

Drugs wore off by lunchtime today, was wondering why it was all hurting. Now feeling comfy again.

Inversion Riders on Vimeo

Wicked. 4hrs to get up there. :)

A big dose of HTFU was used in the making of that film.

doesn't even look much fun

Really?

what are you on about that looks like excellent fun.

curious use of the word 'trail' ?
admirable bike handling for sure but was waiting for some flow in it and it, just didnt come.
usual wednesday trail ride later in Purbecks if you want to come Tommy? plenty singletrack.