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 <[email protected]>,
Badger_South <[email protected]> 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, [email protected] (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

 

[Neil Cherry]

On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 14:32:12 -0400, Badger_South wrote:
> On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 11:04:28 -0700, [email protected] (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.

--
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http://home.comcast.net/~ncherry/ (Text only)
http://linuxha.sourceforge.net/ (SourceForge)
http://hcs.sourceforge.net/ (HCS II)

 

[Badger_South]

On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 19:56:00 -0500, Neil Cherry <[email protected]> wrote:

>On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 14:32:12 -0400, Badger_South wrote:
>> On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 11:04:28 -0700, [email protected] (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