Originally Posted by AllieP
Since my mom can't type I'm sharing her experience for her. We took our bikes on an out of town trip to Kansas because I couldn't wait to ride in the prairies. Turns out we never got the chance for the prairie ride
but the city we were in had a great bike path all along the Arkansas River. 10 miles into the ride on an early Sunday morning we were coming up to a stop and she forgot to take her feet out of the toe clips. Over she went and landed completely on her right wrist. This happened July 17. This was the first time she had ever used toe clips. She wasn't sure about using them yet. I told her the bike path would be a good place to practice IF she felt like she was ready...but to really pay attention and DON'T EVER FORGET to take them out as soon as she started slowing down. Oh well - she forgot anyway. Needless to say I doubt if she'll be back on the bike before next spring! She had surgery last week with a plate, pins, and synthetic bone grafting materials. She had two cracks, one splinter and countless "pieces" impacted into her joint. Meanwhile, talk about guilt! It's my fault or mostly my fault. I wish I could turn back time and make it never have happened.
Don't blame yourself, Allie. I'm sure your mother doesn't. People fall over while clipped in all the time with no injury. I fell the second time I used them. It was just bad luck that your mother's fall resulted in such a serious injury compared to the little scratch on my arm! Of course you wish you could go back and do things differently but that's the very nature of an accident. Every accident is preventable if we go back far enough but, unfortunately, we don't have that luxury.
Just take good care of your mother and let go of the guilt. It would kill me if one of my kids was racked with guilt over something like this and you don't want to add to your mother's pain, right?