Coming back after a minor accident

[Badger_south]

As some may know I had um, a little 'accident' on 6/16,
typical noob mistake in braking wrong making a U-turn in the
rain and misjudging my slowing / stopping distance. Got a
nice dent in the old ribcage, and spent a week having
trouble sleeping, getting in and out of bed and stuff, and
ended up taking a week off after a 250 day streak. (bah!).
(The ends of the ribs on the left side still have 'tender'
areas, but I can mostly now take a really deep breath and
not feel that muscle spasm thing but slightly)

Got back on the bike on 6/21, but still couldn't really take
a deep breath yet. Rode cautiously for a couple weeks, and
had a bit of 'loss of nerve'.

Happy to report that as of Tue (7/6), almost all effects are
history, and the sense of control and resumption of training
at speed (such that it is) have returned and I feel faster
than ever.

Had three gr-r-reat rides this week, and that's all it took.
Even rode in the rain again last week, but for enjoyment,
and not a typical 'training ride'.

I think if I were younger, the recovery time would have been
half that, b/c I've always been a bit of a crash and burn
and get up and go kinda fitness guy in my 'ute'. But for the
'mature' (heh) riders in the ng, it's a data point.

So if ya have a minor crash, expect some recovery time, but
don't dispair, don't be afraid to take it easy, and if old-
timers can get it back up and running and be trim plumb and
level in under 3 weeks you can too.

Actually I spent a week of the 'slow time' working on my
form, and spinning a lot, and trying to 'relax' more, so
it was really only a few days off - the rest of the time
was for uh, psychological recovery. Believe me it had me
a little worried, b/c when you lose the 'nerve', it can
be daunting.

-B The main thing is the bike was OK after a little truing
of the front wheel.

[Tom Keats]

In article <m7hte09gd3ms43g69q28h5eg5l0vpiacho@4ax.com>,
Badger_South <Badger@South.net> writes:
>
> As some may know I had um, a little 'accident' on 6/16,
> typical noob mistake in braking wrong making a U-turn in
> the rain and misjudging my slowing / stopping distance.
> Got a nice dent in the old ribcage, and spent a week
> having trouble sleeping, getting in and out of bed and
> stuff, and ended up taking a week off after a 250 day
> streak. (bah!). (The ends of the ribs on the left side
> still have 'tender' areas, but I can mostly now take a
> really deep breath and not feel that muscle spasm thing
> but slightly)
>
> Got back on the bike on 6/21, but still couldn't really
> take a deep breath yet. Rode cautiously for a couple
> weeks, and had a bit of 'loss of nerve'.
>
> Happy to report that as of Tue (7/6), almost all effects
> are history, and the sense of control and resumption of
> training at speed (such that it is) have returned and I
> feel faster than ever.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Taking a brief respite once in a while can do that.
Improvements in condition seem, for some people at least
(including myself), to come in plateaus rather than a y =
mx+b straight line. Of course it's better if ya don't have
to get wrecked, to be persuaded to lay off the bike for
awhile :-)

I figure the worst thing about cracked ribs is there isn't
much one can do about it -- just stuff to /not/ do. It's so
maddeningly restricting. You must be feeling like you've
been set free now.

Anyhow, I'm glad you're off the disabled list and back on
your wheels again.

cheers, Tom

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[Badger_south]

On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 11:04:28 -0700, tomk2003@hotmail.com (Tom Keats) wrote:

>Taking a brief respite once in a while can do that.
>Improvements in condition seem, for some people at least
>(including myself), to come in plateaus rather than a y =
>mx+b straight line. Of course it's better if ya don't have
>to get wrecked, to be persuaded to lay off the bike for
>awhile :-)
>
>I figure the worst thing about cracked ribs is there isn't
>much one can do about it -- just stuff to /not/ do. It's so
>maddeningly restricting. You must be feeling like you've
>been set free now.
>
>Anyhow, I'm glad you're off the disabled list and back on
>your wheels again.

Hey thanks. Ya know I don't think I cracked a rib...I'm
thinking major cartilage contusion / bruising...although at
the time it was a little scary, b/c 230lbs falling on the
bar ends even from five feet up (don't ask me how I managed
-that-) is uh, quite an impact. It hit at about the place
where the rib cage curves in to the body and caused a
bruise, but then slid up and made a knot about 4-5 inches
long, and big around as your thumb, with a nice red mark.
I'd think a cracked rib would take a little longer, but
anyways. Yeah.

It's always a hoot when you injure a muscle b/c you really
have no idea all the movements that require that muscle just
to get around. I couldn't even roll over in bed without
about 2 minutes of jockying and slow movement by degrees - I
was actually laughing at myself, except, uh, I couldn't
laugh or sneeze or even um, grunt or strain.

But one good thing is once it was pretty much healed, it got
me into doing situps again! When I get hurt, I get mean with
myself that way. "ok, it hurts, but take that, (ab crunch,
negative sitback)".

The major thing was the psychological - I was kinda way too
focussed on, uh, "not falling". Fortunately that has passed.

-B

[Badger_south]

On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 19:56:00 -0500, Neil Cherry <njc@wolfgang.uucp> wrote:

>On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 14:32:12 -0400, Badger_South wrote:
>> On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 11:04:28 -0700, tomk2003@hotmail.com
>> (Tom Keats) wrote:
>
>Badger, glad your better. Your recovery reminds me of a
>fall I had last year. I was training for a 200 mile ride (6
>weeks later). I was crossing Rt 9 (Freehold NJ, major
>roadway). I tend to accelerate really fast at a light
>change and pulled my left foot out of the clipless pedal,
>slammed my knee into the handle bars. That lifted the whole
>bike in the air, I fell towards my right. I must have slid
>20 ft with traffic. I bruised my ribs, skinned the inside
>of my left thigh on the chain ring (don't ask how) and the
>inside of my right thigh. No road rash or anything worse. I
>think I scared all the drivers. I was bloody and greasy. I
>finished the last 35 miles of my ride that way (I'm not too
>bright :-). It took a week or 2 for the chain ring marks to
>go away. It took 2 months for my ribs to stop hurting. I
>don't have a problem with getting back on the bike. I tend
>to ride in traffic a lot and I may be too fearless. I don't
>panic when getting buzzed and that does concern me. Each
>person heals differently and regains their confidence
>differently.

Thanks Neil. Yeah, there can definitely be a bit of a humor
component to these kinds of things. The previous little
crash left me covered in mud along one side of my body, and
grease on the other leg. I jumped up and the first thought
was the bike, and wanting to continue the important training
ride I was and and was relieved I just needed to straighten
the handle bars.

I was blissfully unaware of my half-Swamp Thing appearance
until I walked into the house and my wife started hollering
about mud and carpets.

I forget your age, but I think it's important -not- to let
these things spook you, and when you're young, it's no big
deal. As long as you're not incautious, the confidence part
is important to have, and IMO, keeps you out of trouble, b/c
you're not being hesitant and indecisive.

I've only had a loss of 'nerve' a couple times, one was
after a minor car crash and really this was the only other,
but it can be daunting. My thrust was to add a note of
encouragement and some visibility to other riders that it
comes back and you can be better than ever.

What's also humorous is the way one gets dinged and scraped
in all the most improbably places when you lay down the
bike. It's like 'how did I get a cut on the other side of my
leg and an imprint of the chain ring on my forehead?"
Heehee. Then the next morning you wake up and feel like your
whole shoulder had a bad sunburn and there's this brown
patch of almost abraded skin, and other little scrapes and
stuff that show up when you take a shower. It's a running
joke between me and my brother "wait until tomorrow and see
what else hurts". He said he didn't know he had a bruise on
his ankle until his daughter ran up and jumped on his lap
and accidently kicked his leg, and was talking to me on the
phone and laughing and hollering 'ow, ow, ow'. It was
hysterical.

Anyway, take er' easy!

-B