Chris_in_Miami

I crashed on my Voyageur yesterday after riding to the beach to hang out with some friends. We had just ridden a short gravel/sand trail after a brief rain shower, and that was the perfect recipe for sand-caked tires. I started to make a sharp left turn at very low speed in a parking lot and my front tire slipped out like I was on ice. The group I was riding with came to my aid with a bag of ice for the shoulder that I landed on, but I was seeing stars from the pain, and could feel lots of popping & grinding when I tried to move my arm. When it became clear that I was done riding for the day, I called in a rescue from home and went to the ER.

The end result was a broken clavicle and a 6-8 week recovery, but the good news is that the bike appears undamaged

KonAaron Snake 

I'm so sorry Chris...I saved a spot on the bench for you. Glad the bike made it through ok!

debit

Oh man. It's good that your bike is okay, but the injury sounds painful. Hope your recovery is swift.

Italuminium

Get well soon!

leftthread

Best wishes and heal well, Chris.

Chris Chicago

that blows, sorry. will you have to stay off the bike til it fully heals?

rootboy 

OUCH! That sucks. First time I ever crashed a bike, circa 1967, I broke my clavicle. No fun whatsoever. My sympathies. Do they still make you wear that "figure 8" brace?

Chris_in_Miami

Thanks for the well-wishes! As is tradition here, 8 or 9 speed Chorus-level or better components are welcome in lieu of flowers @debit - it is fairly painful and the grinding sensation is tremendous motivation to keep the arm immobile. This is only my second (and hopefully last) broken bone, the first was in my right big toe which occurred while cycling about two years ago. I was able to make it home under my own power that time. The painkillers I was prescribed yesterday are working great.
@Aaron - I'm happy to be on my feet and mobile, how's your recovery coming?

KonAaron Snake 

Chris - getting there...probably about 2-3 weeks to walking. I'm already on an excrcise bike, which feels like some return to normalcy. I'd guess official biking approval is still another 2.5 months away, but I'll be on a bike in a month or so. The reason I'm not supposed to ride is if I have to put my foot down, so I bought a Raleigh 20 with no stand over...that should mitigate risk. I'll use that for a bit.

ScottRyder 

I broke my left clavicle in 1976 due to a Cape Cod crash. Still aches when the weather is damp. Best wishes on your recovery!

Scott

Chris_in_Miami

I believe so, I have to meet with an orthopedic doc tomorrow.

Thanks, I'm wearing the clavicle brace now. Interestingly, I was just watching a video of Mark Rosenberg's method of posture correction in which he improvises a similar brace to pull the shoulders back.

rootboy 

Good luck with that Chris. Hopefully they've improved the technology of that brace thing since I wore one. That thing was awful.
Sorry to hear about your collar bone. Makes me wince. Speedy recovery.

Drillium Dude 

Oh, man, I can relate: I shattered my right scapula into 9 separate components back in December 2006. Irritating as hell to deal with the immobility issues for the duration of the healing process. I'm sure this break will make you one-winged for a little while.

Chris, I hope you've got some good indoor hobbies to keep you busy for awhile - and that you can do with one arm

I'm glad to hear it wasn't worse (relatively speaking, of course) and that the bike sounds okey-dokey. Heal up fast, dude!

DD

Chris_in_Miami

I've been contemplating getting a spinning bike, this incident is pushing me in that direction. I have no intention of going C&V in that direction, the modern stationary bikes are pretty nice.

As for the re-injury, I did exactly that with my fractured toe. I rode in a Critical Mass ride two weeks after the initial incident, and had to do an emergency stop when someone ahead of me decided to stop unexpectedly. I came down hard on the same foot and could feel the toe "pop" again, but the pain went away pretty quickly. By the next day it felt pretty good, and the pain I was feeling for the previous weeks was nearly gone. Weird, improbable, dumb luck.

Thanks again to all for the cheer!

RobbieTunes

Been there, and I remember laughing (under painkiller) when the ER doctor kept saying "clavicle." For some reason, I found that word funny, and for some reason, he didn't. Then I told him I needed a haircut, and he asked "why?" and I had to explain that I couldn't comb my hair with a broken..."clavicle." I continued to laugh and he continued to be mildly offended at my attitude, but the collarbone, at the time, was the least of my worries.... I also had a broken wrist on the same side, and when I told him it would hurt my love life, he didn't get it. Some doctors have no sense of humor.

I'm allergic to almost any kind of painkiller or anaesthetic, so things moved quickly to an insanely critical state after that, anyway. I could be in an ad for Road ID, I guess.

All PC's were DOS back then, so I didn't miss any of this fun web stuff.....

Heal well. As you heal, do NOT experiment with movement to produce the grinding effect. Glad you're OK, and the bike is, too. Despite our concern for your bike, we definitely want you back out there.

KonAaron Snake 

Curtis from Via is lending me an excercise bike while I recover...which is extremely nice of him. I can't say enough good things about Via.

Chris_in_Miami

It's uncanny how similar my experience was - I usually cope with stress & pain through humor (seems a bit more dignified than shrieking,) so while I was waiting for the intake nurse to see me and watching TV in the waiting room, an ad for a lawyer named "Rich Logs" came on, and I came unglued. Hysterical laughter apparently gets you moved to the end of the queue in the ER. Fortunately for me, the intake nurse had a good sense of humor, so there was no problem when she asked if I was allergic to anything and I replied "bullets."

My wife and I have been working "clavicle" into sentences all day.

RobbieTunes

Salsa.

bobjpage

Good luck with the recovery!

seedsbelize 

I haven't had a broken bone in the last 30 years, and can't imagine being immobilized for more than a few days. My wife dreads the day I can no longer ride. I wish I had some words of wisdom and encouragement. I do know that it is not good to push the schedule, as I did on both occasions (ankle and shoulder). Get well soon.

The Golden Boy 

Hey Chris- best of wishes- hope you heal soon and hope you don't find damage to the bike.

On a somewhat "Chris_in_Miami" sort of note... I've been actively sourcing parts for my High Sierra build. I've got an SR stem and bars- they came with drilled Diacompe levers- with "Schwinn Approved" "safety" levers (I actually was going to try to find a set of turkey wing levers for that bike). I was going to be rolling with stem shifters, but just today I got some Suntour barcons.

SteveSGP

OUCH!

I crashed back in January (6th actually, I'll never forget that) and landed hard on my right shoulder. I didn't break anything but I'm still rehabbing the shoulder and can only just now sleep for a short time on my right side.

toytech

Best wishes on your recovery, I had a class 4 ac separation year before last. The doctor looked at it and basically said "that sucks"
and " it is just going to be like that now" pointy shoulder that is. I guess if you break it in the middle they can mend it back together easier than if yo tear the end off like I did.

Bikedued

Still smiling from the Rich Logs and love life. I actually giggled out loud at those. I hope you heal well and are back on the bike quickly. Oddly enough I have always hated left turns and curves. Even more odd, that the only time I've ever crashed was on a right hander. I was hauling butt like I normally did on a bike when I was 16, started into the turn. I made it about halfway through, and the old dry front tire lost traction. My left hand and foot stayed on the bike, and both right foot and hand came off. My chin smacked into the pavement before I even knew what was going on, and I still have a scar to show for it. I limped the bike home at half speed, and I must have been quite a sight with my white T-shirt covered in blood down to my shorts.

Just knocked on wood too, as I am going on 45 without ever having broken a single bone in my body!,,,,BD

mapleleafs-13 

you know what this means!!! Bike buying/building time. Since you won't be riding for a bit, maybe it's time to scour ebay, and craigslist a little more for an addition to the fleet. Wrenching can be the next best thing to riding.