reohn2 wrote:I think it's important to understand just how man people in NL cycle well into their 80's and even 90's,which in turn a fall for such elderly people more often may lead death or serious injury,that a young person may just shrug off.
Indeed! Once I bounced but now I'd crack - perhaps even shatter.
Two lads in the club I used to ride with in Lancashire have artificial hips. They're now 73 and 80 years aged. Both got them following a low-speed sideways fall off a bike. One was knocked off by another cyclist in Spain whilst the other fell on an icy metal strip on a bridge. I rode with both for many decades and have seen them, in the their younger days, fall in a far worse fashion with nothing but gravel rash.
I read an article (can't now find it) somewhere that examined oldphart hip breaking events and concluded that a good recovery can be made if the battered hip is replaced within 3 weeks of the fall & break. Any longer and the eventual replacement is far more likely to be problematic, with the worst cases resulting in a decline unto death, often via pneumonia or similar!
So best not fall off, really - especially after Brexit has torpedoed the NHS and erected a Trump facility in its place, in which they pretend to make you better but make you worse so they can charge more.
It comes to us all. Where are the entrepreneurs with their hip protectors? These are what we olepharts need, not the plastic hats.
Cugel