First Bad Fall
 

66 YO, semi-retired and riding 75-100 miles weekly on a new Diverge gravel bike. With a group of six on paved trails when suddenly confronted by a large snake crossing the trail. Instinct was to swerve around which was successful, but was so sharp that my front wheel tucked under when swerving back to regain balance. Landed on my right shoulder and head (thank you helmet). Four hour surgery to repair a badly shattered and displaced clavicle and now in a sling for at least eight weeks. Damn, just as I was getting in decent shape. I now keep hearing my wife’s words when I bought the bike, “You’re gonna get hurt.” (Don’t yet have enough posts to show you a truly impressive pre-op x-ray).

Bummer but wildlife happens. Deer, turkey, cats and dogs, squirrels, chickens, wild hogs. Now add snakes. Hope you recover w/o permanent impairment. :thumb:

I hope you recover well and get back on the bike soon. (and don't let a broken shoulder stop you from getting on a bike trainer - rule #5 in effect)

Wildlife - same rules as when driving a car for me. Don't let avoiding wildlife cause a bigger accident - when possible.

Snakes get run over if I can't get around them safely. Rabbits/squirrels - bunny hop if possible.

My normal ride has beavers and otters that run out of the high grasses at any time. Near miss every other ride or so...

Several years ago our work group received driving safety training from the highway patrol. The related tip was "always run over whatever the animal is, never swerve"....

Unless it's a moose. :eek:

I ran completely over a dog once. I was on my Surly LHT and the dog was relatively small, around 30 lbs. but I felt both wheels go over. Apparently, the dog was fine, or at least got up and ran off like he was.

Crashes do happen, and I've had a few. Speedy recovery to the OP.

then you assume your most aggressive aero tuck and pray you’ll fit under….😄

How do you run over something like a moose or bull elk?

oof, bummer. Hope your recovery is quick and you're back at it soon.

A work colleague hit a cow at high speed on a local bypass, which didn’t end well for either party.

could have been worse, she could have said "you'll shoot your eye out."

I'm exactly your age and find myself in a similar predicament, but with a herniated disk. 7 weeks so far and therapist said this week I'll be lucky to walk properly before another six weeks. Cycling and running will come after that. My daughter gave me some good advice to always make clear to each doctor or therapist you meet that your objective is to be cycling again, as soon as possible. With them you form a team and you want the end goal to be the same for everyone involved.

I've found it helpful to read the "How far did you ride today" thread to keep my mind on my love of cycling and my eagerness to be back at it.

May your recovery be quick and as painless as possible.

We used to do training rides in Prospect Park in NYC, and if you know the loop, it's alittle over 3 miles and there is a decent followed by a left at the bottom, well, this one day there was like 5 of us off the front, and I pulled off the front just before the turn, and as I slide back I notice a gap between the front guy so I slide back in behind him, just as I look forward, there is a mounted cop on a horse and we are headed right for him. I yell as loud as I can and guide the other 3 guys right, but the guy in front had his head down, and in his own world, and he t bones this animal, which didn't even flinch, and just looked down at him laying on the ground, surprisingly, he wasn't seriously injured.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...395127d57.jpeg

the cow might have been under the influence :)

don’t worry - you’ll be back

and hopefully good as ever

years ago an older friend who was in his 70’s went down hard after hitting a hole - he broke his pelvis, hip, arm, ribs .. hit his head … etc

he was in the hospital and rehab for a while - but he returned and incredibly was riding as strong as ever (after a fairly short period - but unfortunately cannot recall the time)

still recall one of his early rides after the setback - we did a 40 mile ride so mrs t2p tagged along thinking she could hang with us no problem (with an old guy that was on the mend) … nice spirited ride and that old guy kept spinning - but mrs t2p hit the wall at around 36 miles and I had to retrieve her and her bike after finishing the ride :)

the only issue that guy had was getting on and off the bike - often not exactly graceful - but once he got going he was fine

That's funny!

Thanks for the encouragement and the well wishes. Good advice - Bunny hop next time.

Or, in the spirit of t2p above, have a phaser mounted on your handlebars. Voice activated, if available.

But mostly, heal well. I'm sorry this happened, but glad it wasn't worse.

Or udder the influence. See what I did there?

I'm 72, last summer while walking to a water fountain to refill my bottle I tripped over a curb. Smacked my forehead, elbow and knee, I have over 13,000 miles on my fat tire bike. My buddy wanted to call for an ambulance, probably 6 people ran to me to offer assistance. I didn't loose consciousness just a stupid trip. Of course my wife said "what happened to you?".

I was riding with my head down once, looked up and suddenly saw a cat 10 feet in front of me. Ran the thing clean over with both wheels. Turned out to be a road kill cat corpse that was already dead, thank god...

I also once saw a guy run over a 7 year old kid. The kid had dashed out of a gate next to the road and then somehow fallen, I guess he fell trying to dodge the cyclist. The cyclist didn't have time to stop and ran over one of the kid's legs with both wheels. It was agreed that the cyclist was not at fault.

That's pretty stupid advice if you're riding a bike.

Sorry for your injury. It's a risky hobby for sure.

I always get a little nervous when I see a squirrel or deer nearby... never know what either of those will do, especially squirrels.

I used to be active in the Potomac Pedalers club in the DC area, and several years ago a member was killed on a fast descent, reportedly because a woodchuck came out in his path. This was on a hill where it's easy to hit 40 MPH coasting. Don't know the details - whether there was contact or whether it was from swerving to avoid contact. I guess maybe in a case like that it would be better to just keep straight and hang on.

Read another account of a squirrel getting caught up in the spokes of someone's front wheel and causing them to crash.

Wishing you a quick and speedy recovery. Stay safe

"Oops, sorry. Didn't mean to say that. Maybe you can JB Weld it back together." :)

Snug up that sling and go for some long walks when you're feeling a bit better, so you don't lose fitness during your downtime. Good luck, and keep going.

Oh, the irony of riding for fitness and health.
I broke my clavicle in a fall, on a suddenly icy road. Hope you have a complete recovery.

sorry to hear about your accident. I guess I should count myself lucky w/ just an ac joint sprain

https://www.bikeforums.net/pills-ill...nt-sprain.html

front wheel tucking under never ends well. hang in there :thumb:

check out the pills & ills subform over at the 50+ subforum for more good old timers & their bounces. I didn't start falling until I got a mountain bike. kind of got used to it, until the shoulder injury. now I don't want to fall anymore. heh, go figure :D

I feel the OP's pain, and wish them a full recovery. I had a crash on May 28th, just me, resulted in 3 fractures in my neck, 2 broken ribs, and a messed up right shoulder. My neck is doing okay, stiff and sore, having started PT this week. My ribs are healed. My shoulder still has issues. It is protruding to the front, and has an elevated big knot at the rear top of the shoulder. I am seeing an orthopedist Friday, the 9th. I suspect either a torn or detached tendon, or maybe a displaced clavicle. It is very painful with most movement, always sore and stiff. I am soon to be 72, riding bikes for 65+ years. This was the first time I had serious consequences from a ride and fall.
It certainly could have been a lot worse. The ER had me transported to a trauma center, 90 mile ambulance ride, due to the neck fractures being unstable. It was determined at the trauma center that surgery was not necessary, but I wore hard shell neck brace 24/7 for 8 weeks. My shoulder was so swollen and bruised that the deformity of the shoulder could not be seen. X rays showed no fractures. It took a long time for that swelling and bruising to reduce enough to see the deformity. Likely going to need an MRI to determine the actual damage.

Wow, Now feeling blessed that it was only my shoulder. Sounds like you might need a total shoulder arthroplasty to improve functionality. Coincidentally, I’m an occupational therapist that works at a specialty hospital for joint replacements. My surgeon did state that I may eventually need a TSA as well. It would mean another eight weeks in a sling, but that’s better than shoulder dysfunction forever. Good luck with your consult!

I've been wondering how many other participants here are currently sidelined from cycling due to injury or illness. Since I can't walk without pain, even with a walker, and I live in a second-floor apartment, I won't have been outside for most of the summer except to go to medical appointments. All because I carried a somewhat heavy shopping bag a bit further than I'd planned. I was intending to extend my touring experience that I started last year, but now that'll have to wait until next year. I'm not getting any younger in the meantime. I've been very fortunate in that my mood has been consistently upbeat except for one deep plunge for a few hours in the hospital when my internal state made me fear having to have a Foley catheter on a permanent basis because my bladder wasn't emptying properly. Luckily, things started functioning again soon after.

I know none of you personally and I've been hanging around here only since last year, but your existence is a great help to me and hopefully others who can't meet other cyclists on the road, in real life, due to some situation or condition. Injury or illness, while a real drag to go through, is not completely unpleasant however. I'm very fortunate to have a few close people in my life and it has been an experience close to spiritual in accepting and rejoicing in the help and encouragement they've offered me. In the last few weeks I've gotten closer to my two daughters than we've been most of our lives. I have people at church praying for me. Not that long ago I was a mostly unhappy person who kept to himself, but in the last few years, through a lot of soul-searching, I've come to realize the joy of being in close relationships with others. To be able to draw on their support in moments of pain or distress has given me a whole new outlook on life. I now deeply cherish my friends and family. Their presence allows me to me keep my spirits up while I crawl my way back into the swing of things.

So to any others of you who currently can't ride, for whatever reason, but still feel part of this cycling crowd, you're not alone and I for one would enjoy hearing about your current misfortune, or past misfortunes. I've thought about starting a new thread on the subject, but this current one seems appropriate, thanks to jevery57's initial sharing and the posts that followed.