SHHH if my wife hears you I know what I’ll be getting as a birthday present. Or perhaps just a roll of bubble wrap and some tape.
I do always wear a helmet and wrist guards. I was a skateboarder as a youngster, and broke enough parts of my body then, thankyouverymuch. One bad complicated arm break just above the wrist is enough.
When I’m practicing something new (deliberately practicing as opposed to riding to get somewhere), I also wear knee and shin guards.
Right now I’m riding in hiking boots for the ankle support, but I probably should just go back to the ankle braces; they work great, but they’re a pain in the neck to put on and take off.
I use McDavid ankle braces, with straps. Initially I bought just one and wore it on the ankle that became mysteriously affected with pain, but after a week or so I thought better of it and bought a second. It’s this thing which laces underneath, and straps around:
I’m using Ossur Form Fit Ankle Brace with figure-8 strap.
I’m using these because this is what I got at the ER in Moab, and my local orthopedic surgeon approved it, so I bought a second one. My doctor’s office sells a similar brace with laces and figure-8 straps by Mueller. Doc said the key is the straps. I think non-stretchy straps provide better support than elastic ones, although I didn’t specifically discuss that with the doctor.
I didn’t even wear a helmet riding a bike and rollerskating the hills in San Francisco as a kid (nor seatbelts in the car), and I somehow survived. But try as I might, I’m not entirely a bulletproof kid anymore. My version of your list, for real, and for every ride ATGATT, is:
[LIST=1]
Helmet
Wrist protection
Ankle Braces
[/LIST]
I sometimes add KH leg armor if I'm really pushing my bounds on rocky stuff or learning new skills (not very often).
I normally actually wear my ice-hockey helmet, groin guard and a pair of soccer shinpads because they have ankle padding (handy for those pedal slips that bang that bone on the inside, and great for ‘pedal shin’).
I haven’t braced my ankles since I played American Football back in the 80s and then we used crepe bandages wrapped tightly in a figure 8 inside Roos ankle-high astroturf boots.
Those supports do look very nice. My one slight ankle sprain so far has me giving them serious consideration.
From years of racing, all-season commuting and mountain sports, i’m now on a first-name basis with most of the doctors and nurses at County General. I’m in and out of exam rooms with the regularity of Swiss clockwork. If I don’t show up for a couple months with something cracked, twisted or broken, the staff get worried and start checking the obituary column. Looking back, I wouldn’t trade a single one of my hiking, climbing or peddling memories for anything. Adulthood is seriously overrated. Get better quick, U-Shark!
From decades of racing, all-season commuting and mountain sports, i’m now on a first-name basis with most of the doctors and nurses at County General. I’m in and out of exam rooms with the regularity of Swiss clockwork. If I don’t show up for a couple months with something cracked, twisted or broken, the staff get worried and start checking the obituary column. Looking back, I wouldn’t trade a single one of my hiking, climbing or peddling memories for anything. Adulthood is seriously overrated. Get better quick, U-Shark!
I happen to have been out riding on the street the day James got hurt. What he should have mentioned was that it was 17 degrees F that day and he hurt his knee because it was frozen solid.
But try as I might, I’m not entirely a bulletproof kid anymore. My version of your list, for real, and for every ride ATGATT, is:
