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Questions about bike hire abroad and everything light bike related. No off-topic chat please

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mdeth1313
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sat Apr 22, 2006 12:38 am
Location: Dutchess County, NY

by mdeth1313

Sucks, but I think I was pretty lucky. I was about 1-2 miles away from work (@ 5:30 am). Got hit by a falling branch. I think it fell because it wasn't there 1 second and then it was. Snapped the fork and pulled spokes from the rim, then hit the downtube and did a number on that. Everything else looks ok, a few scratches, etc. , need to get the handlebars properly inspected.

My left side took the brunt of it, after my shoulder hit, my head hit the pavement, not terribly hard, but my helmet cracked in a few places. Fortunately, one of the custodians from my district was behind me and stopped, gave me a lift to work so I could call my wife to come get me. X-rays were negative, not even swelling, they think it's a low-grade AC Joint sprain. If the pain/soreness improves over the weekend, I won't need an MRI and it'll probably be a 2 week vacation from cycling.

Meantime, I was looking at new framesets and had decided to wait, looks like that just changed.
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Speedplay is the devil!

RyanH
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by RyanH

Just in time for a fancy new disc bike. Glad to hear you're okay. If you don't have it already, tegaderm makes a world of difference coming from someone that has crashed two months in a row.

by Weenie


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mdeth1313
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sat Apr 22, 2006 12:38 am
Location: Dutchess County, NY

by mdeth1313

Thanks- no tegaderm necessary- here in NY it's perpetual winter, I was all bundled up in full winter gear and only got a small scuff on the elbow of my espresso jacket. Aside from my shoulder, the muscles in my back and side have tightened up quite a bit so there's some serious soreness going on there. Ice on the shoulder, heat on the back/side.

Is this what menopause is like? :shock:
Speedplay is the devil!

AJS914
Posts: 5397
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:52 pm

by AJS914

I'm glad you are ok. Falling tree branches are no joke. A limb from our tree fell this winter and trashed two cars. It weighed over 100 pounds and was 25 feet long.

glepore
Posts: 1408
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2013 4:42 pm
Location: Virginia USA

by glepore

man, with the winds we've been having, no surprise. Crap all over the roads here. Glad its not major, now its not n + 1
Cysco Ti custom Campy SR mechanical (6.9);Berk custom (5.6); Serotta Ottrott(6.8) ; Anvil Custom steel Etap;1996 Colnago Technos Record

P90Puma
Posts: 62
Joined: Tue Jul 25, 2017 7:00 pm

by P90Puma

Ditto everyone on glad you are OK, what does everyone do here to check that the components are OK?


IE: mcfk stem, thm crank, etc.

mdeth1313
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sat Apr 22, 2006 12:38 am
Location: Dutchess County, NY

by mdeth1313

Update- I got really lucky. 2 days later and my range of motion on the left side is coming back nicely, the soreness in my back and side had improved siginificantly as well. I can still see how my shoulder is a little swollen compared to the right side and moving my arm in certain directions hurts, but not nearly as badly as it did 2 days ago.

@P90Puma - looking over the bike I can see where the impact was from the branch as well as when the bike hit the road. I was not on the bike when it went down, I went out and to the left and it fell on the right side. The impact probably stopped the bike or slowed it quite a bit, I actually had my fly6 tailight camera on , I'm going to go back and look at that today. The right shifter was turned in and a little scuffed - there was a slight scuff on my right pedal and nothing on the cranks, the FD had a slight scuff and the rear derailleur had a slight scuff, but no major impact. The shifter appears to have taken the main hit so the bars I'll remove the tape and have to take a look. I have a second set of bars so I'll probably use those and see about having these inspected properly.

Incidentally, I went to work the next day (in my car). I saw the remnants of the branch and decided not to and drive over it in my car a few times :o

Towards the end of the week I might be able to do a little spinning on my computrainer just to keep my legs moving.
Speedplay is the devil!

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Calnago
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by Calnago

Glad you’re going to be ok and came out on the good side of a close call. That must have been quite a branch to snap those fork legs like that. Ouch!
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Bigger Gear
Posts: 560
Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2009 6:58 pm
Location: Wet coast, Canada

by Bigger Gear

Hey mdeth1313, I can feel your pain. I did a grade 2-3 AC separation (my riding buddy who is a sports PT calls me a 2.5) and it sucked., this was about 6 years ago. After a lifetime of racing motocross, BMX, MTB, road, and lots of DH skiing and snowboarding I'd never injured a shoulder. And then I crashed on a corner I'd ridden around 1000s of times.

One thing not too overlook with any AC separation is injury to the rotator cuff muscles and tendons. See a good PT and start doing your excersises as soon as you can tolerate the pain. I was doing ROM work with a theraband on about day 5 and stayed off the bike for 4 weeks, but it was in November which made it pretty easy to do so. The worst thing for the overall outcome of your shoulder is to just isolate it and risk having what is known as a "frozen" shoulder. Good luck in your recovery.

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wheelbuilder
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by wheelbuilder

Glad you are ok, and it seems as if you are on your way to a quick recovery. I had a horrendous accident the day after Christmas that I am still recovering from. (mentally and physically) Broken collarbone that required surgery, three broken ribs, concussion, and pretty severe road rash that is still not fully healed. After surgery I had/have some nerve damage and range of motion problems that are getting better now. Was off the bike for 2 months.
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mdeth1313
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sat Apr 22, 2006 12:38 am
Location: Dutchess County, NY

by mdeth1313

Bigger Gear wrote:
Sat Apr 14, 2018 2:59 am
One thing not too overlook with any AC separation is injury to the rotator cuff muscles and tendons. See a good PT and start doing your excersises as soon as you can tolerate the pain. I was doing ROM work with a theraband on about day 5 and stayed off the bike for 4 weeks, but it was in November which made it pretty easy to do so. The worst thing for the overall outcome of your shoulder is to just isolate it and risk having what is known as a "frozen" shoulder. Good luck in your recovery.
No PT for now. Frozen shoulder would be funny. I teach high school and I'm not one of those idiots who shows videos and sits on their asses. I'm also left handed so I really had no choice but to use the damn arm. The Friday after the crash I was back in school- only thing I did differently was put my notes from last year on the board and go through and explain because it was a review of something they'd done the year before.

I went for a follow up with a different orthopedist. This time I went to the guy who has seen me before for other issues. He specializes in knee, hip and shoulder injuries. Unlike the walk-in clinic, where I saw a hand guy, I have a relationship with this doctor as he's seen me, my son, my daugher and done kneee surgery on my mother-in-law.

He took the time to show me and explain exactly what happened when I hit the ground, that it's a grade 2 separation and from examining me he doesn't think there's any tearing or anything else like that. My mobility is excellent, but, more importantly, he was able to give me a timeline for recovery and told me what I should and shouldn't be feeling over that timeline. He doesn't think I need PT right now, and I agree.

The worst part now is the pain from the impact on my chest/side along with the muscle soreness in my mid to upper back. I guess going from 20 mph to 0 without a bounce or a slide does that. I guess it's what people feel after a seatbelt stops them in a car accident.

I'm waiting to hear back from my homeowner's insurance - my understanding is they're going to cover me, including replacement cost, which is good, because the new frame arrives Tuesday.

I was also cleared to start riding whenever I feel ready. Hopefully by the end of this week (optimistic outlook) or sometime next week.
Speedplay is the devil!

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prendrefeu
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by prendrefeu

I'm glad to hear you are healthy and survived this accident.
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