Maybe Investing Isn’t Worth The Risk
A little while ago I had my worst mountain bike crash in a long while. Playing ironically true to the contrarian I am, I wasn’t even riding on the actual dirt trails when it happened.
I had just come off a nice screaming downhill trail section, which is the risky part, and did it flawlessly. That trail empties onto a paved multi-use path that allows me to connect to other dirt singletrack sections. I started down the paved trail and it happened so fast I’m not completely positive how it even happened.
I guess in a moment of brain-farting and zoning out I stupidly made the mistake of braking a bit too hard with my front brake while having the other hand off the bars fiddling around with my pack. A total rookie thing. With modern disk brakes there’s no room for that kind of noob bullshit. They stop you – quickly.
So…. my front wheel locked up and I did a classic Superman over the handlebars and smashed onto the pavement. I was probably doing about 17-18mph when it happened so I wasn’t putzing.
Now I’ve Superman’ed probably close to a hundred times in my riding career. There’s a right way to do it, meaning you know when you start going over the handlebars to roll your body in such a way that you’ll hit the ground in a sort of a roll-type move, sometimes even being able to pop right up on your feet.
This one happened so fast I wasn’t able to do that, I just hit the way gravity told me I was gonna hit. It wasn’t pretty.
Me, seconds before crashing. Ok maybe not
Dodged a Bullet There
I hit hard on my left side. My head hit the ground hard enough to crack my helmet. Thankfully I don’t think I had a concussion and if I did get one it was extremely mild as I had no symptoms afterward. Thank the Lord for the helmet.
All told I was pretty lucky. I had a decent amount of road rash on my shoulder, arm, thigh, and ankle. And I mildly sprained my right hand and pinky finger. Most importantly I didn’t break any bones, and my bike escaped unscathed 🙂
It could have been way worse. In the following days I was reflecting on the crash and part of me thought “Damn dude, are you getting too old for this shit?”
I really do not want to have a major injury at my age as it will take much longer to heal and getting back in shape after losing fitness at my age is just hard.
But in the end, I know the risk is worth it.
There’s A Finance Part!
It’s the same with investing. Do you want to achieve financial independence and be able to ride your bike or paddle your kayak on a Tuesday morning like I can? Well then you’ve got to have your money in the stock market.
And like mountain biking, that carries risk.
Sometimes, like in 2008, there’s a big crash. Funny how we call a huge drop in the market the same thing as falling off a bike innit? And when that crash happens you have to lick your wounds, weather the storm, and stay the course.
It’s part of the game.
Just as I had to get back on my mountain bike, which I did about a week after the crash, and get back on those trails.
Cycling is one of the things that got this formerly obese guy fit, and I’m not going to give it up after a crash. And when the stock market is the thing that gets you to financial independence and time freedom, you can’t pull your money out and quit it after a crash.
If you’re a decent mountain bike rider you’ll be enjoying the trails 99.99% of the time and crashes will be few, but they will happen.
And when investing you have to remember the market goes up on average 7-ish % a year over time, so over time you’ll be making money. But down years will happen, and big crashes, though infrequent, will sure as shit happen.
In both examples the risk is worth the reward, trust me.
Not so risky but very rewardy
Worth The Risks
In a nutshell, cycling, climbing, mountaineering, and the outdoor sports I love keep me healthy and fit. Most importantly I love doing them. As I’ve written about before, unless you find something you love doing, you’re not going to stick to an exercise regiment.
And most people don’t like exercise or going to a gym.
It’s no wonder America is unhealthier than ever and spiraling downward with a 42% obesity rate.
So in my moments of reflection after the crash I realized that yes, it is worth the risk. All of the outdoor adventure sports I love carry risk and it’s worth it to take those risks because the rewards are exponentially bigger.
And having your money in the stock market and keeping it there – even after a big crash – is also worth the risk. The rewards on the other side are amazing.
Glad you’re ok Dave! Be careful out there! 🙂
Thanks Julie!
Glad your okay. Definitely could have been a lot worse and thankfully you had your helmet on.
No offense Doc but I’m glad I didn’t have to visit folks like you 😉
well, i’m glad the damage was minimal at least. how about the embarrassment? has that healed yet?
on another note: we’re in.the upper ADK until saturday if you happen to be up this way. we’ll also be keeping our dough in the markets.
NO, the embarrassment has not healed, haha. The worst was having to tell my riding buddies what happened, they gave me a pretty good ribbing, as they should have. Enjoy the majestic Daks dude, I’m jealous!
Ouch, that sounds bad. Good thing you wore a helmet. We always wear one even around town.
Yes, we keep investing. A stock market crash is great when you’re young. Just keep investing and you’ll come out ahead. Although, I’m getting older and probably should rebalance to be more conservative.
You’re a young man Joe 🙂 But I hear ya, once you’ve won the game it’s best to play more conservatively.
I feel your pain man. It’s rare I go a season without at least a minor crash, and every time I rethink if I want to keep riding. Just like you, my worst crashes seem to be on the easiest parts. So it goes. I agree the risks are worth it, though I do less crazy DH and more XC these days. And just like the market, a crash makes your fitness take the elevator down. But the stair climb back up is always a good challenge, and an opportunity to work on previously unseen weaknesses. Glad you’re sticking with it.
I think it’s because in mountain biking we let our guard down on the easy parts, because the hard parts take so much concentration. That’s what I love about it – the focus needed. As you know you can’t think about much else when you’re bombing through tight singletrack, it’s moving meditation. Road cycling allows me to think about life and other stuff etc which has it’s benefits too. But on the mtb it’s full focus…. until I get to the easy connector path and then crash. Live and learn. Thanks for stopping by!
As a fellow cyclist, love the analogy. It’s definitely worth the risk, and just like investing there are ways to reduce the risk, like wearing a helmet and advocating for protecting bike lanes and trails. Now if these e-bike riders would just stop gunning it all the time.
Oooooh no, you’re trying to kick off a bike vs ebike war in my comments, haha. I do like drafting behind them 🙂
Good to hear you are ok and totally agree as a regular hard pushing downhill MTB rider in one of the most technical riding areas in the world, my close calls oddly have been mostly off the trail. (and don’t get me started on the risk as a cyclist on the roads). So keep on pedalling and keep on keeping on with the index investments 🙂
Yeah the riding in your neck of the woods looks sick, both on VC island and on mainland BC. Would love to ride there one day!
“But in the end, I know the risk is worth it.”
I’ve had that thought a hundred times on my MTB as well, Dave. Fortunately, I’ve avoided any serious crashes thus far, but it is something I think about when I’m speeding down an especially gnarly part of a trail. At 60, I hate the thought of the recovery period I’d have to endure, but I also love the thrill of the ride. So for now…the risk is worth it.
And you have to be extra careful with that extra power of the e-bike beneath you. I would have to do a lot of riding with that to get adjusted