I crashed yesterday and broke my collar bone. The rider in front of me went down and I had no place to go. I hit him and went over the handle bars. While in the emergency room the Dr. made a comment about how cyclist have the most broken collar bones. It got me thinking about how many here at the 41 have broke there collar bone in a crash.

there's this one guy. who was here on this forum. but isn't anymore. hebroke a lot. including his back.

sidenote - cary is an awesome place. wish I could bring my bike up there once and ride when we go.

Me. Broke mine and separated my shoulder.

A coupla times.

That and ribs...

Shattered mine in 7 pieces

Let me know whenever you're bringing your bike and we'll go for a ride. There are some nice routes around here. Just let me heal up first.

Enough about all that, how's the bike?

Funny you ask...My first question once I crawled to the side of the road was "how is my bike?" One of the guys I ride w/ a lot just laughed at me said your bike is good. I checked it out once I got home and it's in good shape. Some bar tape and a new saddle and the bike will look as good as new.

If you were watching the Giro yesterday that Katusha rider may have broken his.

Good.
I asked because I wrecked on Saturday and I spent 10 minutes going over the bike before I realized my arm was bleeding and my right hand was blown up like a balloon.

Did this, but 5 pieces. Elected to go non surgery which was a bad idea. Really tender joint now especially since one of the pieces is backwards so it really really sticks out.

At the time 10 years ago, I was in a crit and actually had a guy come all the way across the road (from behind me and on the wrong side of the yellow line to where I was against the curb) to hit my front wheel with his rear derailleur and broke a bunch of spokes in my front wheel. So my wheel tacoed at 30 mph, got caught in the fork and I had a very quick meeting with the pavement. The bastard then left the course before the end of the race and took off (it was the penultimate lap).

I was so pissed that I threw my bike off into the bushes when I got up and then realized that my left arm had done none of the throwing even though it was involved in those nerve commands. I felt up around that area and felt mostly mush and then some jagged stuff. The pain started when I touched the jagged stuff.

Sounds like you should set up a poll.

I'd be in the "Yes, I broke my collarbone in a bike crash" category....

Separated my shoulder so my collarbone sticks up, but not broken. Lucked out I guess.

Same here

You're right, a poll would of been a good idea. I'm just enjoying reading all the battle stories.

The Dr. said my break was in a different area of the collar bone than the ones he normally sees. I broke mine in 2 pieces towards the end of the collar bone near the rotator cuff. The Dr. said it would take 4 to 6 weeks to heal. I asked how long before I could start riding again. His response was as soon as I can take the pain. It looks like I have a htfu moment coming.

I broke my shoulder blade and three ribs in addition to the collarbone. Had surgery, and still have the plate. The limiting factor for getting back on the bike was the ability to lift my arm onto the handlebar. There was a time where I was kind of flopping it on there with my other arm. Maybe I was a little too eager.

Broke mine in two places, surgery with plate/screws (still in). Good as new now....actually according to X-ray and doctor, it's stronger now than before break.

Doc told me surgery was required, but that it would heal faster that way.

The only thing I've broken riding was my jaw. Collarbone has remained intact.

I quit racing when I turned 50 because of this. I broke my collarbone and ribs because someone else screwed up. The worst part was that it screwed up an entire summer of cycling. Who needs that. I don't even like to do group rides anymore with people I can't trust.

Collarbones are easy to break.

I broke mine in a motorcycle accident when I high sided...landed on my shoulder and head. Thankfully was wearing a helmet or I probably would have suffered a brain injury. I got knocked out and had a mild concussion...The collarbone was broken completely in two. I still have the knot where it mended. When I was launched off the bke my thoughts were not about my safety but "oh no! I just wrecked my bike!". I was still wearing my brace when the bike was ready to pick up after getting fixed and I rode it home.


Iknow it wasn't in a bicycle accident but I did break it.

Once the bones started mending together, I found as long as I didn't hunch/roll my shoulder forward I was ok. As I said I could ride the motorcycle. Did not try riding my bicycle (at the time I had a 1983 Trek 500). Playing softball was out tho....I did try that.

I would expect more from motorcycles, but maybe they end up worse. I'm 40 and have yet to break a bone. I'm planning on keeping it that way

Yep, and I'm 39 and the only break I've ever had as a small hairline fracture in my little finger when I fell off my bike around age 8 or so Now, there've been a few times I wrecked where I probably *should* have broken something but somehow managed not to. I'm counting my blessings.

*knock on wood*

Not yet, but of my friends who race most have done it at one time or another.

I think having a broken collarbone is a better injury than blowing out your knee in a skiing accident. I could be wrong but it would seem there are fewer long term complications from a broken collarbone than ligament injuries.

collar bones are very easy to break...i've done it twice on a motorcycle (once in a high speed roadracing highside, and once in a lowspeed off-road tumble). if you do it enough and don't elect for surgery, you can draw a face on the lump and it looks like you are growing a second head.

after the first break, i found out a friend of mine broke their collarbone by falling out of bed, and another when she tripped as she skipped down the street (both were kids at the time). instead of stopping motorcycle racing, I told my worried parents that I would sleep on the floor and not skip, so as to mitigate my risks.