Thread: Caution?
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Old 08-26-20, 03:09 AM
  #13  
canklecat
Me duelen las nalgas
 
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I'm a little more cautious now after discovering I have premature bone density loss due to a longstanding thyroid problem. Didn't find out until a couple of years ago when I was hit by a car with worse injuries than I'd have expected. Seemed to take forever to heal. I figured a few weeks but it dragged on for a year, and still aches more than two years later.

Full body scan revealed lots of healed fractures that I wasn't aware of, especially ribs. I remember the rib cage pain from those falls but never sought treatment because nothing could be done about those anyway, as long as there was no puncture. But during the past year I discovered I had two broken vertebrae in my neck, C1-C2, from being hit by a car. The first medical facility I visited neglected the neck and concentrated on the shoulder, the most obvious injury. Going around with a broken neck for months, especially the two most critical vertebrae, shook me up. So I'm much more cautious now about some things.

My main change was to omit some fast-ish club rides with riders who are younger, stronger and more reckless. I enjoy riding fast and still have a few good days, but I don't trust drafting people who don't call out hazards, or run following riders into traffic cones swerving at the last second and leaving everyone else hanging.

So now I do my hard workouts solo. If I crash it's my fault -- assuming no drivers or critters were involved. Occasionally I'll join friends for casual group rides where I know I can trust the other riders. There are a couple of friends I'd trust for hard workout rides with just two or three of us, but we're all over age 50 and cautious with the pandemic so we aren't riding together often. When we do it's a very casual pace, side by side, no drafting.
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