Originally Posted by
ColorChange
Recursive, how long did your bones take to realign?
What training did you do and when after the break?
My case was complicated by the fact that I had my spleen removed around the same time. (and due to the same incident)
The pain was my guide. Basically, I allowed myself to do anything that hurt less than x, where x is some quantity of pain that seemed safe.
It was 6 weeks before I got back on the bike. I wasn't able to do any training during that 6 weeks as I was barely able to walk for most of it. (that was the spleen, not the collarbone) After that, I mostly didn't do any structured training, just easy riding. I avoided sprinting or otherwise putting pressure on the shoulder for a few weeks. It took about 4 months (from the injury) for the pain to go away completely, by which time I was riding as normal, minus the drop in fitness of sitting on a bed and couch for 6 weeks, which was actually less than I would have thought. After that, my shoulder worked exactly as before. Same range of motion, no pain. I just have an Awesome lump where the bone fragments joined together at a goofy angle.
You may be able to do something in the intervening period, like ride a trainer sitting up. My spleen situation prevented me from doing that. You'll be back in form with plenty of riding weather left in the season. I timed mine perfectly after the season in early November, so it was late December when I started riding again.