Head games- crashes

Maybe tone down the jumps a little until it's out of your head on its own.

Work on technique for a bit without worry about speed or clearing everything, ride within your comfort zone and don't push your luck until you're settled and out of your head. Keeping building up the skill, comfort, familiarity, blah blah. Challenging yourself is good, riding above your head isn't - not saying you were, just generally.


I'm no expert, not even a little bit, but that's kinda where I'm at and besides a couple of sprains and bruises which I couldn't care less about I've been ok since taking it up again, albeit still slow and sketchy.

Sounds pretty mild for dirtbike injuries/crashes. Time to pick up golf buddy lol. But seriously; technique, fear, and gear are what keeps me safe. I don't think of every car crash I've been in when I drive to work, and I don't think about my previous crashes when riding dirtbike. If I did, I probably wouldn't touch one again lol. And I'm a slow C guy. I would recommend you take some classes. Get some seat time so you can feel more comfortable jumping or getting out of the way of faster guys. I've been riding a lot more the last few years and it does seem being a little bit faster everywhere will make you a bit safer.

What you’re experiencing is normal, and a big part of all sports. Everyone goes through this just nobody likes to talk about it.

Nobody turns up to the track/trail and just crushes it every single ride. Doubt/fear is always gonna creep in after something goes wrong it’s our brains trying to keep us safe.

Like the other lads have said try to focus on something else for a while to distract yourself from the danger of it all and after a few things don’t “go wrong” you’ll naturally start to feel more confident in yourself again and be willing to push yourself.

A huge part of sport is understanding the highs and lows and trying to enjoy it anyway. Just ride your bike as much as you can and you’ll be feeling good and crushing it again soon. Then you won’t haha. Then you will. It’s addicting

If you haven't, DO get some professional instruction, preferably one-on-one.........then go practice. The safest way -- and quickest improvement -- to start out on dirtbikes is pro instruction, then plenty seat time. You can't teach yourself something you've never done, and watching videos isn't enough. You can only learn a physical skill by DOING it.

I'm a few years senior to you, had my life-changing crash in Baja 20 years ago, and big jumps are a no-go item for me. Risk analysis, pure and simple. I'd LIKE to do them, but common sense says no. Last time I was off work for 9 months, can't afford that (or worse) now.

Plenty of fun and challenging "vet" tracks everywhere now.

Take it from someone with 42 years of riding........you do NOT bounce, or heal, as well as a 20-year old. Don't try and keep up with them!

Another suggestion, do other types of riding too, not just track.......singletrack, offroad, desert etc. You might just discover something you like even more.

Sad to say, but over 50, having a geat ride is one on which you don't get hurt 🤣

I’m curious why you say it was your fault you got landed on.

It's interesting that you bring up jumping, because I was thinking the other day how it's the safest part of riding a bike. Once you have the experience and have cleared a given jump a few times, unless your bike fails, its pretty darn safe.
Compare it to going 50-70 mph across the desert, banging through rocks, or riding snotty dirt in trees and to me it's way safer.

Getting landed on is something else , but should be mostly avoidable if you are staying out of the fast line and/or not cross jumping. Probably also a good idea to stay away from less experienced C class riders. Those seem to be the more common instances where someone has more balls than skill and something bad happens.

I have been riding for 50yrs. Jumping is fun and safe . . . until it’s not. You didn’t see a small lip on the face and the bike endos. Someone cross jumps and takes your front wheel out. Someone lands on you. You were very lucky. A lot of potential energy while you’re in the air and it’s going zero out when you hit the dirt. I don’t think I would have broke my femur on snotty single track. Not trying to dissuade you from riding. Just have to realize the risks and big air is big one.

I wouldn't blame myself personally, if the guy behind saw you get a little squirrelly on the way, or even just saw that his closing speed was up on yours, then following your line off a jump or assuming you'd clear the lot in that scenario isn't smart riding on their part, especially if we're talking practice not racing and there's nothing to gain. It's just one of those unfortunate things that can happen, so definitely don't beat yourself up about it 👍

Not like you crossed over on him or did anything crazy and unpredictable. All the best getting back on it.

Now that we're in our 50s, this won't work as well, but I always looked at the quality of the girls who would date me vs. the quality of the ones who dated the guys who jumped all the big gaps. That's all it took when I was 16.