bruised

Hello and happy new year!

Here’s something to think about when riding dirt on your fatties and MTBs.

Firstly, I haven’t posted here in many years and I’ll explain why.

I’m 61 right now and got crazy about cycling in my early 50’s, so not that long ago. It changed my whole life and outlook. I lost 100 lbs in under a year, rode gravel centuries, cycled year round including through the freezing winter weather up on the shores of the bay of Green Bay in Door County Wisconsin.

( I used to post here a bit but I doubt anyone will remember me.)

In August 2015 I came off a Salsa Beargrease fat bike big time. I was single tracking at Peninsula State Park in Fish Creek WI and went over the bars on a fast downhill. It happened so quickly I couldn’t get a hand down and my chin took the full force of the impact. I was a wreck but nothing was broken. I used to run a cycling blog at the time called Fat Man Biking and I wrote about the accident here:
https://tent.bike/2015/09/07/crashing-out/

I only posted one more time on my blog, about a month ago after the crash, and it’s basically abandoned, as has been my cycling activity.

Here’s why:

While it took me a couple days to recover physically from the accident, I didn’t know it at the time but I hurt my spine, my neck. C3 through C7 to be exact.

I also hurt my confidence badly, and couldn’t get enthusiastic about riding the trails again, so I stopped.
A few weeks and months later I began with some weird health issues, neuropathy in my feet (or so it was diagnosed). One day I was riding on the road and had severe muscle spasms and palpitations and ended up in the ER. They couldn’t find anything wrong even after a stress test. I didn’t associate any of this with the bike accident, it just didn’t figure since I had seemed to fully recover from the crash.

I’d various minor health issues that may or may not have been related to the incident over the years but around 4 years after the crash I developed a sharp pain in my left arm. I did nothing about it, as guys do, thinking it was just old age.

Over a three year period the pain spread to my shoulder and neck and when it got to the point where it was pretty unbearable I went for help. They X-Rayed my arm and shoulder but not my neck and nothing showed up. It was misdiagnosed as a rotator cuff injury and PT was prescribed.

I knew instinctively that diagnosis was wrong so I pushed back and they ordered up an MRI which was scheduled for weeks out. Meanwhile I had a heart attack and had a stent fitted, which became relevant when I had my MRI.

The MRI showed that two vertebra where pressing up against my spinal cord, one of the two pinching and compressing the cord acutely.



An emergency surgery was scheduled then I received a message from the surgeon’s office saying that they couldn’t perform the procedure due to my being on blood thinners from the stent.

Long story shortened a little but I had to wait almost six months before my surgery could take place. That was an agonizing 6 months as I was not only in severe pain but also had the possibility of my spinal cord being severed should I receive a knock or suffer a fall.

So 7 days ago on December 27th I had a decompression and fusion surgery on my neck. They wanted to go in through the front of my neck, my throat, but couldn’t, due to the amount of bone being removed from my vertebrae. They installed rods and bolts and got me all stitched back together in a 5 hour procedure. I’m now at home recovering.

So far I still have all of the symptoms that I had pre surgery and all of the arm, shoulder, neck pain is the same. So that’s disappointing but I’m hoping it will improve in time.


Sharing this is a little cathartic, I’m not soliciting good vibes messages. But I just wanted to share so people might think more seriously about taking adequate protection when riding their bikes.

I should’ve had a helmet with a chin guard, I didn’t think enough about the consequences of riding without one.

Anyway, though it’s been about 8 years I still have my Salsa Beargrease. I love the bike, it took me to many places and I’ve many fond memories of riding it.

Who knows, maybe in six months or so I will take her out for a spin.
I hope you all stay safe and well during your adventures in 2024.

C

DiabloScott

I frequently think about how lucky I've been not to have had an accident like this - or cancer or a heart attack or a stroke or Parkinson's or something.
You can be careful and safe... but bad luck will find a way to mess you up sooner or later.

zandoval 

Ya Got It Stud!

Your story brings many old and current conditions for me as a bicycle rider. I had a roe over ten years ago that changed everything. More then fractures and strains is the physical loss of my core strength. I can ride 20-30 miles but cannot get up out of a deep couch... WHAT? For me its always a surprise. Often I feel like a normal person and then am humbled by a disability I have forgotten.

What ever it is "Et Vincere Aptet" - "Adapt and Overcome"

Do what ever you have to do to ride. If you must wait to heal then do it. Its a good time to build your future bike. And by future bike I mean one that fits your remaining abilities and is safer then the one you used to ride. Most likely a lower seat height and more upright position. You may need a special helmet. And you may need multiple modifications to your riding style. Its all worth it.

I remember when I finally got permission to ride again. It was a short scoot around the neighborhood with my son spotting me. I was somewhat ashamed at being out of breath at return but there was a smile on my face and sweat on my brow. I know that if I ever survive another accident my family will ground me for sure. So I am extra careful.

The bike I ride now is so discombobulated from what I use to ride its almost embarrassing. Its some kind of quasimoto hybrid, ravel, touring, road bike. But it fits me and I ride.

Here's a thread I posted over 10 years ago about the accident. As I review it I also note that some of our forum members have had much, much worse and are still riding. BRAVO to all!

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...ga-chromo.html

RB1-luvr

oof. That was tough to read. You have an amazing positive attitude.

I am seven months out from an otb faceplant that caused whiplash, concussion and three days of memory loss, among other problems. I'm wondering how long it will take me to fully recover. I'm 59.

George

Good luck on the surgery recovery. You have a good place to ride. I use to sail up there out of Egg Harbor. Very pretty. Sometimes I wish I was still there.

Eyes Roll

I wish you a speedy recovery.

I say it again. Brakes/braking system is extremely important, be it a bicycle, or a motor cycle, or a car, or a truck, and so is having your hands and feet on the brakes and applying them on time. Accidents happen, most of the time, because the wheels are spinning and due to lack of control over the speed. Accidents rarely happen when the bike or vehicle is not moving. For the same reason, descending downhill is more risky and dangerous than ascending uphill.

Alan K

With time and physical therapy, I’m sure you will improve and be riding soon enough.

[My younger brother and I have always disagreed on method of recovery, He likes the idea to push as hard as possible and I think that we should pay attention to messages of our body and go for a gradual improvement. Either way, ultimately you will feel better.]

You may have to make some adjustments to your bicycle so you are sitting a little more upright and not leaning as much as you may have in the past. Because of fusion of vertebrae your range of motion will reduce so it may be a good idea to purchase a rear view mirror instead of twisting your neck.

Best wishes for speedy and full recovery!

Fredo76

Best wishes for the pain to leave and the mobility to come back. I imagine it could take quite a time for the nerves to quiet down. I once had to delay a root canal over the holidays, and unlike the other ones I'd had, this time the pain didn't go away immediately, and lasted for weeks afterward. They did a cat scan looking for the source of my headaches. Half of a bottle of oxycodone (not all at once!) in a more permissive time finally calmed things down. The rest of the bottle lasted me for years, even with my bad back.

Good luck.

t2p

wow

and during this absence we were concerned something serious happened

whew

OldsCOOL

Wow that’s a rough stretch of road you’ve been down. If I may ask, how did you go over the bar? Hit a rock? Man that’s a wicked surprise. I love trail riding but try not to get crazy at 66yrs old. Road riding is more my thing. I wish you well in your recovery!

Jumpski

Thanks for sharing your story, and good luck with your recovery.

shelbyfv

That's a cool bike.

JustaJoe

Quite a story, and it must be a huge relief to finally have things properly diagnosed and addressed. I hope you have a perfect recovery and can enjoy life without the pain!

Several years ago, I did an OTB face-plant on a street. Broken wrist, severe concussion, right side of my face was road-rashed away (it did heal up so I can continue my modeling career lol), numerous other smaller issues. That has set the tone for me since: remain hyper-aware, minimize risks, re-assess thinking about what constitutes a satisfying ride. Probably boring for many/most, but trundling along on my hybrid, enjoying the scenery, stopping to talk or watch nature or sports has proven to be immensely satisfying.

bruised

Thanks for the feedback and well wishes.
In response to one of the questions, I have no idea how I ended up going over the bars, which is one of the most disconcerting things about the whole experience and one of the reasons I ended up being so timid about going back out on the trails.
A few days after the crash I went back out and there was enough evidence left to reconstruct what happened but nothing to show for the actual cause. No rock, no root, no nothing.

Anyway, like I say it pretty much devolved from there and ended my cycling days, but I still have my Beargrease and an old Sette Razze carbon, so maybe in a few months I’ll make a comeback!!

cheers

marko_1111

I hope I'm not too late to provide a little anecdotal insight. I have a bit of experience with spinal fractures, but I have more experience with nerve damage to include TBI, neuroma / neuropathy, etc, etc. While I can't speak to spinal surgery - and thank goodness you survived to have that bit done - I've broken my back in nine or so places, will never feel my shins again, have red hot poker neuroma in my right foot, and again, etc, etc.

We're about the same age and had crashes at similar points in our lives. You're 61 and crashed about 8 years ago, and I'm 63 and about 10 years out from being hit by a truck and thrown 20 feet. What I can tell you is to be patient. Nerve tissue grows at a glacial pace. The good news is it can; the bad news is that's not necessarily so great. For a long time I couldn't feel all my injuries but with a few years of tissue growth have more and less nerve pain than immediately after the crash. In the end I suspect your experience may be similar.

Boy it's hard to unsee those photos. Yikes man your x-ray was terrifying. Oof. Ugh. Can't imagine waiting for surgery while at any time you could be paralyzed or worse. And no offense to your surgeons, but I'm afraid that incision is going to leave a scar (ok that was a joke). I have scars, some elegant, some Frankenstein-like.

Little wonder you're cycling averse. Serious PTSD there. Not to mention you don't remember how it happened. I've experienced this, including returning to the scene, so there was probably a concussion in there somewhere for you as well. I guess one of our differences is I was already steeped in cycling and had been since my mid 20s and was well versed in accidents and ER visits and surgeries and therapy and recovery before being hit by an effing truck. I couldn't help getting back on a bike, but then again I'd given up all my other sports and didn't have anything else.

Also, I would seriously council you not to beat yourself up about that chin guard. For all we know that piece alone might have provided enough leverage to sever your spine completely on the spot. Or not. Or maybe you'll get a full coverage helmet before you get back out, because that fat bike appears to have come out unscathed!

Happy New Year, indeed, and

Cheers

PS - Couldn't help but like this less than subtle reminder not to lose your sense of humor:

terrymorse 

1. Glad you’re recovering
2. indoor cycling isn’t horrible and pretty safe
3. Pills and Ills content?

rsbob 

Very sorry to hear about your accident and residual suffering. No one wants to the the cautionary tale but your message is important as well as the well-wishes.

I have a close friend who was an avid mountain biker that had an unknown mishap doing a single track decent and had a brain bleed and almost died. He gave up the sport except for some very mild gravel riding and is a full time marathoner. A friend’s son also crashed while mountain biking and fell on his face, like you, and lost an eye and almost lost the vision in the other eye since there is some type of sympathetic relationship between the eyes and brain. He has given it up as well.

I mountain biked for 10 years after being an avid roadie the prior 20. Absolutely loved the technical challenge and physicality of mountain biking. It was a rush executing good downhill runs. Had my share of ‘offs’ but only one requiring a few months off the bike. During that time I had a self inflicted back injury lifting something too heavy and had a compressed disc which had a whole slew of issues. As a result, my back always hurt for days after each run time out, so I gave it up and went back to my first love, road biking.

Heal fast, take it easy and no more object lessons for yourself or anyone else.

Clyde1820

Yup.

Did all my "hard knocks" before my twenties set in, then have had a long life of relatively-safer excursions and exploring. I don't "bounce" the way I did at age sixteen. (I'm still surprised I survived some of those.)

Never did do aggressive single-track cycling in the hills, though I've done uncounted thousands of miles of trail running. Only spilled badly once, running out there. But I never did want to get tangled up with a bike on the hill routes we had. Same with surfing; I stuck to body surfing, for much the same reason of not wanting to wrestle with a board in the rough stuff. Good thing, as coping with a 15-25ft wave is already problematic enough without having a six-foot "spear" being flung at you by ol' Mother Nature.

rsbob 

I loved trail running with my black-lab mix Eddy. Every day we would run miles through the forest When he and I weren’t mountain biking - he was an expert at staying 20 feet ahead of me at all times and having all the turns memorized, we would run together. What a wonderful memory and wonderful companion.

bruised

Thanks for your comment and insight. It seems particularly pertinent given your experience around nerve damage and recovery.

Going in to the surgery I’d been given some optimism for waking post surgery and having greatly reduced symptoms. The surgeon was concerned over the amount of time I’d walked around with the condition and the fact that my spinal cord was already partially damaged, but there was still some hope for a fairly immediate relief from the pain, which has been pretty chronic for over a year.

Well, I’m 10 days post and have all my original symptoms plus increased pain levels and some mobility issues in my arm.
I haven’t gotten started with any PT yet, so we’ll see.
I know there’s a lot of people out there going through far worse times than me so I’m just grateful for having had the risk of a full spinal cord rupture removed (hopefully) and for coming out of it able to walk and be mostly mobile. Honestly thankful to the surgeon and to everyone who took care of me and for the support and well wishes here. I don’t have a base of friends and family and this is the only place I’ve shared what’s going on so it means a lot right now to have this connection.

cheers

C

Clyde1820

Nerves can be funny little devils. (Have some nerve-involved issues in the hips and a leg.)

Given that now those cervical vertebrae are no longer impinging directly on the spinal column, hopefully the swelling will begin going down and the body's ability to repair will be rejuvenated. No way to tell, of course. You're immediately post-op, so there's going to be regional swelling and whatnot directly related to that. So, there's still a lot to hope for.

Wishing you well. Nerve stuff's never fun.

79pmooney

Been there. Very, very different. Little physical injury. Broken collarbone. Road rash. A blood clot on my hypothalamus. A bruise on the top of my spinal cord, causing seizures in my right side. The consequences were life changing, Full blown TBI though the phrase had yet to be coined. It has cost me a lot.

And yeah, I get it. Sympathy is nice, like a pretty bandaid on a broken leg. I wish you the courage and wisdom to accept all the **** you cannot change, and the strength to go after what you can. And real peace accepting what is now yours.

At the same time as my accident, the daughter of my mom's friend had a tumor removed from her spinal cord. Doc had to cut into her cord to remove it cleanly. (Other docs had been missing it and giving her painkillers and pacifier drugs for about 8 years instead of finding it.) I got back into racing that next season because the only thing I knew how to do well was ride a bike. That fall, my mom suggested I visit this woman. I did and witness someone so weak she could barely navigate the ground floor of the house on her crutches. The upstairs bedrooms were completely out of reach. "She has to do the same hard training I had to do to get back to race speed" I thought as I sat with her. Offered to coach her. She accepted. We started at one city block as the round trip distance. Ten weeks later we were up to 2 miles on rough outskirts of Boston streets in March. (Shes a trooper.)

Our lives then took us to opposite corners of the other coast but we stayed in touch. A few years later she mentioned she knew the time would come for the massive surgery to rebuild her spine and that would put her in a wheel chair, probably for life. Years later, I learned that she was in for that surgery, that it went well and that I should give her a call. Did. We arranged I would spend the 4th of July weekend with her, roughly two weeks after her discharge. Did. And amazing. She'd arranged to have a contractor remodel her condo to be wheelchair friendly, a cut put in the curb at her car and was completely psyched to start this next phase of her life. Had a lightweight sport wheelchair custom made while she was in the hospital with quick release wheels. Had the transfer to and from her car with chair assembly almost down pat when I got there.

This woman has been an inspiration for me. She's spent months on a hospital bed from a botched surgery and still managed to be upbeat and the nurses' favorite care.

Hermes

We moved the thread to P&I and deleted the surgery pic - no gore.

bruised

Gore?
sorry.

Clyde1820

Sutures (staples) are gore, I guess. Who knew?