So, about a month ago I was test-riding new road bikes. I eventually went with the Specialized Secteur which is awesome.

On my third test ride (Kona Zing Deluxe) I slipped on some wet leaves, the rear wheel went out from under me and I went down hard on my left side. Anyone watching (like the car that pulled through the intersection without even stopping to see if I was okay) would probably have laughed and waited for me to get back up. I had a little road rash on my knee and some pain in the ankle. Nothing extraordinary. When I got up I realized I couldn't put my full weight on the foot. I limped back to the bike shop. Luckily, the bike wasn't damaged at all.

My wife asked if she should take me to the emergency room. I said no -- I've had sprained ankles before and I knew they wouldn't do much except keep me sitting there -- in pain -- for hours. So I went home, rested it, iced it, ACE bandaged it, and elevated it. The pain was bad for the first 12 hours or so, but I managed.

It got gradually better over the next several days. Six days later it was enough better that I could get on the bike again, if only for a little bit. So I went back to test riding and ended up buying the Secteur.

It continued to get gradually better for a couple weeks. Between the ankle and the cold weather I reduced my riding down to only about 40 miles a week, didn't ride two days in a row, etc. In other words, I did what I felt was "taking it easy."

Fast forward to this past Monday, exactly a month after the accident. I had a scheduled checkup with my doctor. I mentioned the ankle and she took a look at it and offered me a referral to get it x-rayed. Which I did the next day.

Turns out I broke my freakin' leg, the fibula to be exact. I went to the ortho yesterday and he put me in a walking cast. No riding for at least a month, possibly longer. I may end up with a plate in my ankle.



The moral of this story (apart from "John is a #$%^ idiot") is to be careful out there. And ride a couple miles for me this month.

OK, John wins the HTFU award for the year. Can we all agree that riding with a broken leg gets him mega tough guy points?

He gets some points, but would have gotten a bunch more if he had known the leg was broken and rode anyway.

hehe...good one. I've skied with a broken leg . Well, cracked actually. Two runs after I cracked my Greater Trochanter. Wasn't very smart.

I will award points but won't outright give the award yet. Had he been riding with the bone poking through the skin...then yes.

Take it easy and may you have a speedy recovery. You'll be back on your bike in no time!

For get HTFU and tough guy, you got the proper title ^^^^^^^ right here.

We need to remember folks, when we have a bad crash, we need to go to a doctor and get checked out. This doesn't always mean emergency, if you don't think it's serious, book an appointment with your regular doctor. Wet leaves are both sides of the same sword, they can make Teflon look like an abrasive, and you never know what is under them.

Have you endured grief from the wife, I thought you needed to see the doctor kinda stuff? Sometimes the wife is right, that's one of the tings you married her for.

Get better fast, you are the stud of the month.

WOW!!! Hope you have a speedy recovery!

Thanks for the HTFU points, all. I agree that having it poking through the skin would've been worth more points, though.

My wife has been very supportive. No "I told you so" or anything. I think she's already tired of carrying the groceries in and the trash out...

Two days down, twenty-six to go.

I will, and I will. Plus you get some HTFU points as The Historian suggested.

The @#$%^ cast comes off tomorrow. The weather sucks, but I'm still hoping the doc will let me back on the bike. We'll call it physical therapy if we need to -- I just need to get out of the freaking house.

Here is how it works, as explained to me by an orthopaedic surgeon, it's a balancing act, they need the bone solid enough that it's not going to come apart on it's own, but the longer it's in the cast, the more it's going to affect eventual recovery of range of motion. It can take as long as 6 months to heal completely (depends on age), if you were in a cast that long, the bone would be healed, but you would never be able to walk (or ride) on it, because there would be no motion left in the joints. So now they put a cast on, for the minimum time they feel it needs to be in one, then start things going again. The PT should work the ankle for a couple of weeks, no riding at all, then put you on the recumbent in their office for another couple of weeks, then allow you on your bike, but only if it's on a trainer for at least a month after that, or until the xray shows no shadow where the break was. This is largely because, if you fall again at this stage, it's going to come apart and that doesn't leave you back at square one, but closer to square -10. The therapist should be one that deals with a lot of sports injuries, and the game plan should be to get you riding again.

Reality check time, the easy part is over, that first couple of weeks, your going to think that PT is the field torture experts go into when they want to go legit, follow the PT's instructions though, and be glad you have been riding and the legs are in good condition. The better your condition before an injury, the faster and better you recover.

Not quite a Randy Van Zee accomplishment (he finished the final 800 miles of RAAM, from Ohio to the coast, on a broken pelvis).
But certainly tougher than what I'd deal with. Definitely frontrunner for the Tough Guy of the Month award.

I'll take the pain, as long as I can be mobile again.

I'm not even in that league. The only award I want is to get back on the bike. Even if it's just a stationary recumbent or on a trainer. Anything to get moving again.

Hey at least you have that shiny new bike waiting for you as motivation to power through the PT.

Ok don't hit me, I am new here but what does HTFU stand for. I did a search but it only comes up with where it is used??

Harden The F-bomb Up or other variations like Hairy Trolls Fling Underwear....I'm pretty sure it is the first one though.

It's commonly used when someone is in perceived need of stopping the whining and getting to work, like "this hill is too steep for me," or "I broke my collarbone and can't ride."

Cast is gone! It's been replaced by a boot though. An upgrade, but still no bike time for a while yet.

Another trip to the doc today... I'm out of the boot. Two weeks of light activity and stretching. Then... cleared for takeoff. Woot!

Great!

Just make sure to keep it light and don't overdo it or that boot is coming back.

Cleared for normal duty and back on the bike! Got a brief ride in Wed when it wasn't so cold. Only about 11 miles, but it felt great. Hoping for a break in the weather this weekend to get some more time in. Looks like we'll have some mid-high 40s on Sunday/Monday -- sounds like a ride!

You won't get hit here.... just answers. These folks understand us noobs. I went so far as to post a picture of my bike taken:

1. From the wrong side.
2. Without the chain on the largest front ring and smallest rear cog.

Both of these serious violations of BF norms were overlooked by my friends here.

Fred I am

Congrats John!

Made me laugh! Thank you!!!