Advocacy & Safety - Collarbone Break!

I've been an avid cyclist for the last twenty years (after a 10-year hiatus after the bicycle boom). For Christmas last year, I bought my new bride an entry-level road bike so that she might share in my passion. I also bought her a helmet, gloves and proper clothing.

Starting last month, we rode together several times and I was pretty comfortable withher bike handling skills. Well, yesterday I met some friends for an early ride and as I left she mentioned that she might go for a ride in the local park (very safe, 15 mph limit, wide roads, etc.) When I got back to my car after my ride I had 3 messages from her. She had crashed and was waiting for EMS to arrive! I got there in time to help with the backboard and take her bike home while I got her insurance card. Her parents were also there and followed the ambulance to the hospital.

When I got to the hospital, she was waiting to go into radiology. Turns out she has a badly fractured clavicle with a triangular piece broken loose.

I feel horrible. In all my years of riding, the worst I've ever had was a scraped elbow - not from a fall but from a passing car's mirror. I don't know what I could have done if I were with her to prevent it. The thing is, I've ridden this park many times and ther is a fairly sharp turn that she was on when she crashed. Turns out she was pedalling through the turn and her inside pedal hit the pavement and caused the crash. Of all the safety tips I've offered her, it just never occurred to me to warn her to take sharp turns with the inside pedal up.

Fortunately, when she landed on the back of her left sholder, her helmet took the brunt of what would have been her head hitting the pavement. She's in a lot of pain right now and having a hard time finding a comfortable position.

I guess what I want to share is don't assume that the things that you might not think to share with a new rider are not important. Plus, I don't ever recall reading about this as the cause of a crash. Maybe it's more common than I thought. John

Did it myself. No breaks though. I've gotten so when I am not actively pedalling I set the crank arms horizontally. If she is willing to get back on a bike consider a tandem. Them you can be sure it won't happen again. Or get her a recumbent. No chance of pedals hitting the ground.

Mountain bikers I know warned me about this type of crash and had the same solution as ken--pedals at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock.

I don't think Toyman should blame himself. There's no way you can cover everything when you're teaching somebody how to ride. Falls are common for new riders, even though they don't get talked about much here. Broken collarbones are common cycling injuries. I'm sure she'll make a good recovery. Give her my best wishes!

Thanks for the kind words Roody. I know she'll ride again - this woman is fearless! In fact, when we first started dating, she talked me into trying skydiving (tandem) even though neither had done it before. Plus, I'd never even been up in a small plane before.

Just checked her bike: scrapes on the end of the left pedal, brifter and bar end. Nohing too bad. It's one of those Sora-based Motobecane/Windsor/Dawsons that are always on ebay. Aside from having to true the rear wheel after putting it together, it seems to be a fine machine and quite a value for the money.

One more thing, since it is a small frame (50cm) it came with 650c wheels. Perhaps this made it more prone to this type of accident since the ground clearance is lower. John

toyman991

Oh, this is a tough situation. I've been a cyclist a long time and been married a long time too. My wife occasionally joined me on simple bike rides and sometimes pretty extensive tandem rides where she didn't have the responsibility of bike handling. When we moved to a new location (intentionally near the bike path that led into Boston) she decided she would start commuting regularly to work. The first week was hellish for me. I had no less than three separate occasions when she had pretty bad falls on the bike path. All of them were due to her inexperience with handling the bike. Though none of her injuries were as serious as a broken collarbone they were pretty bad scrapes and bruises. She persisted and was able to continue riding without incident after that but it freaked me out. I had given her some pretty straightforward advice on how to ride but most of it was about how to handle the bike in traffic- watch for car doors, stop for red lights, don't ride on the sidewalk etc but I had neglected to look more carefully at her general bike handling skills.

I went for a ride with her to analyze the problem and found that her line of sight was wrong. In other words she was looking roughly 10-15' ahead of the bike as if watching for road hazards instead of lifting her head and looking well ahead of her so she could anticipate hazards long before she got to them. This is a common mistake for new riders and they will often come into corners, encounter other cyclists etc unprepared because everything comes upon them with a suddeness. I don't know if this is the problem she was having but when she gets back around to wanting to ride you might want to watch how she rides very carefully so she doesn't repeat her error.

In the meantime, she sounds pretty outgoing and willing to take risks so I'm sure she understands that it's part of taking on any new athletic activity and involves some risk. Be supportive and positive and she'll be back on the bike in no time and probably end up being a good rider.

pedal scrapes and collarbones are pretty common, and I had both, although not at the same time.

The first thing my roomate siad to me one i got back from the doctors, was "didn't tyler hamilation finish the tour with a broken collarbone"?

the first week i was in too much pain to do anything, but by the middle of the 2nd i was on a stationary bike. with doctors persion i was back on the road in 6, and back on the mounatin in 9. sounds like your wife's break was worse than mine, though.

my collar is slightly less than symetricalnow, but it healed up fine. The worst pain was over in 2 weeks. Give your wife some time an encouragement, and im suree she be back up on the bike in a couple of months.

I hope your girl feels better, there is not much that can be done for the break.(except movies on demand and maybe footrubs) Just remind her that she is now in the "Club" and she got her initiation over with right away. But don't feel guilty, think of the freedom and happiness you were opening to her when you brought her to cycling. She sounds tough and sounds like she will bounce back quite well. Good luck

We all fall at some point. As much as you want to protect her, you can't teach her everything and, even if you could, that doesnt mean she'd remember when the time comes. Hopefully she'll get back on the bike as soon as she's feeling up to it and be a better rider for the experience.

It certainly is an interesting question though about bikes with 650 wheels possibly being more prone to this kind of accident. Are the pedals noticably closer to the ground?


Stacy

9 out of 10 Orthopedic doctors will not operate on this type of injury.
I broke mine in 2 places and would have been deformed for life if I hadn't continued to look for a doctor that was willing to set the bone. (my shoulder was compressed into my torso by about 1-1/2 inches)
A Titanium plate and 8 screws later I am back to normal with a wicked cool scar on my shoulder.
Two days after surgery I had full range of motion and was back on the bike in 4 weeks, and back in the gym lifting weights in 8 weeks.

Enjoy

Sounds a bad break in both senses of the word. Please pass on our sympathy.

On the bike handling front, it might be useful to give her some practice in specific techniques, once she's back on it. I've run sessions for adults on occasion. Sometimes they've simply been refreshers, on other occasions, it's been the first time the rider(s) have practised them.

At the risk of teaching granny to suck eggs, find a flat area (grass or tarmac) and set out some slalom runs, using bottles, stones or whatever is to hand. I usually start off with straight line slaloms with the obstcles about 6ft apart and gradually reduce the gaps. Vary it by offsetting the obstacles a foot or so to turn the route into a zigzag.

As she gets her confidence back (assuming it's been damaged, that is - not sure if a tandem skydiver will be affected), get her to try it one-handed and/or faster. To improve balance, make sure she keeps her head level and move the eyeballs only, as far as possible, to "spot" the obstacles.

You can also use a more widely spaced zigzag, where she can ride somewhat faster, to practice freewheeling round each obstacle and putting her weight on the outside foot while lifting herself off the saddle just a little to build up good habits.

Include advice to "swing" the bike through the obstacles rather than consciously "steer" it using the bars.

There are plenty more exercises of this kind and I'm sure you can improvise others.

Never had to teach my wife tho' - she regards 2 wheels as an offence against the laws of nature and only rides a trike

If she is willing to get back on a bike consider a tandem. Them you can be sure it won't happen again. Or get her a recumbent.

You dont have this sort of accident twice, but it is not a nice way to learn.

Buzzman made a good point about not looking far enough ahead. I have noticed that when children first learn to ride, they maintain their eyes focused as when they are walking and ride straight in to trees, trash cans etc.

9 out of 10 Orthopedic doctors will not operate on this type of injury.

They will if there's reason....they just don't consider a deformity to be much of a reason.

Mine doesn't show too much:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/axessdenyd/88764189/

...it will probably show up a little more when I stop being fat.

Ouch, Tommy! I just looked at my wife's films again and her break isn't quite that bad. We'll see what the orthopedic surgeon says tomorrow. With her permission, I'll post an update.

I just showed her this thread and she is grateful for everyone's wishes and concern. She did point out, though, that I may have given the impression that she was new to bike riding - she's not - but this is her first proper road bike.

From all accounts, she was really moving when she crashed, about 20mph or so. Like I said, she's fearless. John

oops, sorry, didn't mean to add insult to injury by assuming that she was a novice rider.

Interestingly enough it was my wife getting used to her new commuter bike (much lighter than her knobby tired mountain bike she had ridden for years recreationally) that caused her all the grief. And it was actually her strength on the new lighter, faster bike that literally threw her for a loop. Sounds like she just needs to get used to the faster, quicker handling of the road bike and the possibility of low road/pedal clearance- though I'd be curious to hear what the bottom bracker height is on her bike and the crank length.

I've noticed some really strong riders who have built excellent speed and strength in spinning classes and on stationary bikes who've also had an adjustment period where they must match their power with their bike handling skills.

She sounds like the type that'll be back on the bike in no time flying along with new found confidence and skill. Best of luck to you both and heal well!!!

Thanks Buzzman. I think you nailed it. She's very aerobically fit and amazingly strong for her size - and six years younger than me. Before long, I may have to sneak in some speed work to keep her from dropping me! You know my male pride is pretty fragile, maybe I'll have to adjust her rear brake so it drags a little :)

On another note, she hails from your town and when I went up there to meet some of her family last summer, I was amazed by the beauty of the area. I also dropped in to Harris Cyclery to meet the famous Sheldon Brown but that's another story.

I also dropped in to Harris Cyclery to meet the famous Sheldon Brown but that's another story.

That's my LBS. small world.