shelbyfv

Or faster! Then when you wreck it will really hurt!

MinnMan

Mostly this. My wife also knows this, though she also says that it wouldn't be fair if I left her alone. I'm pretty sure that the "me" that would be keeping her company would be an unsatisfactory companion if I couldn't ride at all. Giving up the outdoors for zwifting or its successors does seem negotiable at some point, though.

Carbonfiberboy 

There are also foot-powered sports outdoors. Hiking and trail running come to mind. You're still young, just a little too old to start rock climbing. There are so many wonderful sports . . .You're in MA, great place for outdoor sports in all seasons.

fooferdoggie 

it would have to be a hell of a crash on a trike.

Chuck M 

You made a personal decision we all will have to make unless one day circumstances make it for us. I like to think I have many good years left ahead of me, but I did depart from looking for old bike boom road bikes to enjoy and I bought a 1954ish Western Flyer 3 speed. While I hope to enjoy it after the rebuild, I think it will be my transition bike away from open roads and towards the MUP.

jppe

I Wholeheartedly support the decision you’ve made. I hate it took such a big crash along with all your injuries to force the issue. I’m having a more difficult time the last month getting motivated to ride. Maybe when the weather improves things might change. But getting out of riding shape doesn’t help with motivation either.

Enjoy your rides on Zwift!

Random11

Lots to think about here. I'm 71 and have only been riding a bit more than four years. I was a runner for more than 50 years, but knee issues put an end to my running, so I bought a bike. I've thought the day might come that I'd have to quit, but have been inspired by riders in this forum in their upper 70s and even into their 80s. I'm hoping I can do that, but not sure if it's realistic. For now, I'm sticking with the delusion that I can keep riding forever. But this thread has made me think...

Wildwood 

I had to give up volunteer ski patrol in my early 60s.
USFS Wilderness Ranger (paid Summer) went 2 years later.

When it is time to give up road cycling, I hope I live next to a bike trail.
If not, I can give that up too.
Life goes on.


dmanthree - You haven't given up cycling, just late to join the fastest growing segment of cycling over the last 2 years. Get that indoor jersey, shorts, shoes, cap and go crush the peloton!

Heal well. 6 more weeks of winter before you start the e-season.

rsbob 

Unless people are becoming unstable on their bikes and want to avoid roads, why not try gravel riding?

cyclist2000

I am still recovering from my last fall, I fractured my femur and in March, during therapy, my OT asked me "so is that it?" I asked him what he meant, so he asked me if I was done riding. I asked him if he knew something that I didn't. I told him that I am a cyclist, so I will ride again. If I has this injury from skiing or motorcycling, I would be done with those sports but I'm a cyclist so this may be a bad injury but not bad enough to stop me from riding. Right now I am cycling indoors, I'm not allowed to ride outdoors until I am able to walk without a cane. I will be riding outdoors soon.

I will know that riding is over when I can't ride safely anymore.

50PlusCycling

I have had a rough life, riding horses until my high school years, being a paratrooper in the Army, then traveling with the rodeo riding saddle broncs, and then being a competitive cyclist and motorcycle racer. One of the skills I learned in my earlier years was how to fall down. There no “right way” to fall down, but there are “less bad ways” to do it. That hasn’t stopped me from getting a few broken bones along the way, but I suffered fewer than I might otherwise have. When I was a kid, I met Evel Knievel at a publicity event, I think he holds the world record for broken bones. I’ll stop riding one day, but so far, so good.

bblair

Another option might be riding multiuse trails. My wife vastly prefers these to roads. No cars, generally slower speeds. Yea, we tend to ride the same ones over and over, but often stop for lunch or coffee. It's not the same as a spirited club ride, but it's still cycling. We even did a brewery tour a few years ago. 30 miles and 5 beers. Nice to know that there was no way to get lost.

PeteHski

One option is to cycle outdoors less often and only in the best conditions. Zwift will keep you in shape and may even improve it. Does it really have to be an all or nothing decision at this point?

andrewclaus

I agree it's a personal risk/reward decision, and we all face it at different times for different reasons. Right now, for me, the risk of not cycling is greater than the risk of cycling. Riding the bike is what's keeping me out of the doctor's office and hospital, getting treated for the chronic diseases my siblings and peers are facing. At the same time I'm getting fun transportation, enjoying the people I meet, smiling a lot, saving money, and saving the environment in many ways.

My favorite blogger, Mr Money Mustache, calls the bicycle a "money-printing fountain of youth." Riding a bike and the lifestyle it promotes led directly to an early and very active retirement for both my wife and me, over twenty years ago.

CAT7RDR

This is as much a spiritual-relational decision as a recreational one.
I'm understanding that you are ceasing riding to be there for your wife.

You really love your wife to make that sacrifice.

Riveting

I'd argue that it is, even if not explicitly stated. The OP claimed a punctured lung amongst the other serious injuries, and punctured organs are as close to dying as you'll likely get. If the OP had only suffered broken bones and road rash, then I don't think the OP (nor the spouse) would be so nervous about the OP still riding (those very common risks should be obvious to all of us before every ride), but a brush with death due to a punctured organ will very likely cause you to ride differently, or possibly quit altogether in the OP's case (though not in mine). And there is something to be said about there being permanent injuries that are worse than death, but again, we all take that risk every time we get in a car.

Riveting

So people that ride and therefore risk their lives, don't really love their spouses because they aren't making the sacrifice to not ride? BS.

MinnMan

Gravel avoids vehicles pretty well, but it has its own hazards. A few months ago a good friend the same age as me (60), and a really experienced gravel rider, went down in a slow-motion crash when he hit a sandy patch on.a curve - broke his scapula.

zandoval 

Four broken ribs 13 months - Broken Clavicle after surgery 11 months and if no surgery 24 months - Plural inflammation 2 months - So its at least 18 months before any true major decisions are made on your type of ridding if ridding at all. Just remember ya don't want to be an Evil Kanievel.

You gotta a long road to travel but your alive! It could have ended to easily for ya at the spill. Thank you God!

Often we find ourselves thinking back on all the things we can no longer do... Ha! Just be amused at the changes. I think back at all the things my past young friends have missed over the years because they did not make it. Your big project now is to heal. You are going to rebuild that Beater Body of yours so that you can continue your life. So its breathing exercises, diet, dressing changes, and more than everything else... Thinking Good Thoughts!

Remember what your DI said... "Pain is your friend... As long as you can feel pain you know your alive!"

After my 2013 spill I could not get back on bike for one year and took 2 years to do it comfortably. Today 8 years latter I ride slow and careful short up and down routes of less than 10 miles, on no traffic back roads, on my Geezer Gravel Bike, knowing that my next spill will be the end of my ridding outside.

Send me a note if there is anything I can help ya with in your recovery... You are not alone...

Riveting

I didn't see a any mention of cars involved in the OP's crash. I ride car-less multi-use trails, gravel, and mtb at relatively high, possibly fatal speeds (when nobody's around). Crashing on any of those surfaces at 25-40 mph can be fatal. Fatal crashes can occur at pretty much any speed. The risks of getting injured or killed cycling were the same before the OP's crash, as the risks are now after the crash. The risk hasn't changed, nor will it, for any of us. The risk factor is not a reason to quit riding. The risk factor is a reason to not ride in the first place.

dmanthree

Yes, but that's just me. If I can't road ride the way I really want to, forget it. Maybe I'll see your logic more clearly going forward, but for now, well. Zwift. And even that won't happen for a few months. Also, I've had past injuries and simply can't afford any more "insults" to my body.

dmanthree

I wonder about the use of pain in another way: while on the heavy duty pain killers, was I doing things that I shouldn't have been doing simply because the pain didn't stop me? Did I set myself back in doing so? Anyway, off the heavy meds now. Just some OTC crap.

dmanthree

That wasn't my take-away from that comment. Every situation is different. Nobody made the claim that you don't love your wife and family.

dmanthree

Yeah, I've progressed from "this can't happen to me" to "I can't allow this to happen again." Granted, *evert* situation is unique and we all make our choices. I believe I've made the correct choice.

PS: anyone wanna buy a 2017 Roubaix, 56CM? In great shape and includes lots of accessories.

;-)

Riveting

I say hold on it, you may warm up to it again some day.

BTW: I crashed my 2017 Roubaix 56cm two times, resulting in a mild concussion during one due to a sand patch, and road rash on every knee, elbow, and wrist on the other due to a long deep parallel expansion gap i didn't notice until it was too late. And I once had the bike (which was leaning on something) fall over from a big wind gust and landed on a rock with its own weight, resulting in a cracked seat stay and a $450 repair bill. I still ride it like I stole it, but I pay a lot more attention to sand and cracks/gaps.