General Cycling Discussion - helmet saved my life.... but not my clavicle

i was out riding w/ some friends today.... saw someone fly by and wanted to show off by trying to catch up. looked back and then went flying into the ground... my head and left soulder took the brunt of the fall. the helmet is cracked down the middle. i have a slight concussion too.... i had some memory probles for about an hour... and they have cleared up by now.

2 things to note:

i broke my wrist last august... and have only been riding my bike since march because of how long my recovery took.

tomorrow i was supposed to do my first ever cycling race... an 18kn crit. now i wont be able to do anything for a long while

*sigh*

Gee, I feel for you. I only bought a helmet last week. I have been wearing it. I hope to never need it, as you have needed one. Better luck in the future.

lol... i just got the latest issue of bicycling mag in the mail today.... and thtere's an artice about broken collarbones!!!!LOL

i was planning on doing a ms150 and a sprint tri by the end of the summer... now i will do neither. i'm just gonna get fat and lazy all over again. man... and i also paid $50 to enter the NYC triathlon in august!!! (the bike portion)

broken bones stink.... but i am so glad that i didn't get hurt worse. I'm thankful that I was wearing my helmet. I'm thankful that my clavicle didn't puncture my lung. I'm thankful that I didn't break my neck.... all things that were very possible considering how I fell and how fast I was going at the time.

ok time to sleep now... i am quite exhausted.

Do you have someone to check on you when you are sleeping.

Bummer :( Get well soon!

PS: how's your bike? ;)

The clavicle is perhaps the most easily-broken bone in the human skeleton. Fortunately, when I broke mine in 2 places at age 26, it took only 2.5 weeks to heal. It was far less painful and traumatic than my Colles' wrist fracture of several years ago. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

2.5 weeks...??? WOW!!!!

yeah i'm surprised at how little it hurts... it just feels really funny... like somethings trying to poke thru my skin. my wrist fracture hurt a LOT more. mine broke in two places too.

i havent looked at my bike yet.... i am kinda afraid to look. my friends packed my bike into my car while the police drove me to the hospital.

You might be pleasantly surprised at how fast you can get back on the bike.
A friend who is a pretty good racer has had two clavicle fx over the years and says he can start back riding in 2-3 weeks, though not strongly. You stay off
the drops for a while and don't do any sprints or heavy hill climbs but otherwise it is not so bad. Steve

My friend broke his clavicle when he tripped during our 4x100 relay race

He healed incredibly quickly :D

continuing the quick heal clavicle stories, my dad got hit by a car and broke his when he was training for an MS150 last year (it should be noted he dented a 2002 Mustang convertible which was the biggest satisfaction of the entire incident). He was riding in 3 weeks rode the 150 in like 5 and he's 50 something!!

dang that sucks, the clavicle seems the be the bone of choice for breakage. It's been 5 weeks since I broke mine and I havn't got back on the bike yet since it's still sore. good luck for a speedy recovery.

update:

went to see the doc today... he said i did quite a number on my collarbone...

i hit so hard that there are two bone islands that have separated off of the bone. i'm going in for surgery on wednesday. i just want to get this over with ASAP.

Originally posted by deliriou5
update:

went to see the doc today... he said i did quite a number on my collarbone...

i hit so hard that there are two bone islands that have separated off of the bone. i'm going in for surgery on wednesday. i just want to get this over with ASAP.

Good luck - and get well soon!!!!!!!!!! :)

So I had the surgery two weeks ago and now I am doing well, with a tiny bit of residual soreness. They internally fixated the bone pieces with a plate and screws. This has resulted in my left collarbone being twice as thick as my right. It's so thick that it limits my range of motion enough that I worry if I'll ever be able to golf or swim again. *sigh* at least i can ride my bike, right? ;).

Anyways, just wanted to put out that info in case any of you break your clavicle and are offered the option of internal fixation... there are definite costs to weigh... in my case I didn't really have an option....

Thanks for the info, and I'm glad you're back in one piece, so to speak. :)

Breaking your collarbone is like a rite of passage for cyclists. Look at it this way; now that you've done it, odds are you won't break it again. I guess... ;)

How is the bike? You said that you hadn't looked at it yet, but surely by now you would have?

Brendon

bike is fine... the shifters are pretty scraped up and canted inwards... but nothing an allen wrench can't solve...

i have a feeling the wheels are gonna need to be trued, but that's nothing major.

time to buy a new helmet though ;)