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Broke my neck

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Old 10-21-19, 12:51 PM
  #51  
Schwinnhund
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I feel your pain. Hang in there. I'm sort of in the same boat. I am 60 years old and have just been diagnosed with MS. I've been unable to walk for the last few months, much less ride. Next week, I am going to pull some of my bikes out of the shed and see if I can ride again. I don't care if I can't break any speed records, as long as I can still ride some. I'd like to do a few more centuries. I am not ready to pack it in yet.

Take care of your self and consider yourself lucky. It could've been a lot worse. You'll be riding again. I can feel it.
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Old 10-21-19, 07:10 PM
  #52  
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I know there are airbag vests for motorcyclists. Could these be used on a bicycle to help prevent some of the above mentioned neck injuries?
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Old 10-23-19, 10:25 AM
  #53  
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Originally Posted by downtube42
I've worked in software development my whole career, and at times had roles that focused on quality. The reality is all people make mistakes. The biggest mistake is not recognizing and planning for that reality.

The road up Gresham Butte - SW Walters Dr.

Oh, about those glasses. They're still in the ravine somewhere. Since I can't drive or bike for a while, I have plenty of time to select a new pair.
I was doing the Springwater the other day and rode past Walters. Stopped and turned around and moved up just the first little part of it. I thought I could see why you like to do that ride. It looked fairly challenging from where I was. I'm going to do it the next time I'm out there. Hope you are healing nicely and feeling better.
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Old 10-23-19, 03:59 PM
  #54  
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December 2010, I broke C-1, C-2 (Hangman's break) and T6. I was trying a jump on a mountain bike that I had no business trying. My stupid mistake bought be 9 days in ICU. I did use my Scott MTB as a walker to get home. Back in those days they lag bolted this composite creation to my skull.

I know the brace is misery, you will get better. I had to promise my wife that I would never disobey the laws of gravity on a bike again.
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Old 10-23-19, 08:40 PM
  #55  
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Originally Posted by bpcyclist
I was doing the Springwater the other day and rode past Walters. Stopped and turned around and moved up just the first little part of it. I thought I could see why you like to do that ride. It looked fairly challenging from where I was. I'm going to do it the next time I'm out there. Hope you are healing nicely and feeling better.
Ride it in the daylight, and make damn sure your brakes are good. It's a fairly steep descent with some shallow curves, then for the last two curves is drops off steeper and the curves are 90 degrees. Sneaky. If you go into the sharp steep bits carrying too much speed, you can be in trouble. Historically when I'd ride this with other people, I'd leave them in the dust on the downhill. Fearless, I was.
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Old 10-23-19, 09:39 PM
  #56  
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Originally Posted by downtube42
Ride it in the daylight, and make damn sure your brakes are good. It's a fairly steep descent with some shallow curves, then for the last two curves is drops off steeper and the curves are 90 degrees. Sneaky. If you go into the sharp steep bits carrying too much speed, you can be in trouble. Historically when I'd ride this with other people, I'd leave them in the dust on the downhill. Fearless, I was.
I think I should probably listen to you...
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Old 10-25-19, 07:24 PM
  #57  
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After my crash in Aug 2011, I spent 6 weeks in this TLSO brace. I had been fused T7-T12 after the burst fracture of my T9. I could take it off to sleep, but wore a hard cervical brace in bed.




I spent 12 more weeks in that hard cervical brace after I got out of the TLSO. I had cracked C1, C2 and C3, and suffered an Occipital Condyl avulsion as well...
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Old 10-29-19, 06:43 PM
  #58  
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First post-crash workout last night, 19 days after the accident. I did 35 minutes on a recumbent trainer, spinning easily but hard enough to work up a light sweat.

Felt nice!
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Old 11-01-19, 11:04 AM
  #59  
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Originally Posted by downtube42
Usually when something bad happens I can look back and find at least two bad choices that led me there. This one has many...
  • Deciding to ride up then back down a steep twisty narrow road after dark.
  • Solo
  • Riding said route without my GPS in follow-line mode.
  • Failing to update my glasses when the prescription was obviously no longer correct.
  • Descending at speeds appropriate (at best) for daylight conditions.
I went over a guardrail; I'm guessing the deep L-shaped laceration in my left thigh is from the guardrail upright. Down a ravine maybe 15', where my head contacted the ground breaking my C3. Blackberry vines may have helped slow me down before impact.

Post-crash, another poor and potentially fatal decision was to crawl up out of the ravine, get back on the bike, and coast to the bottom of the hill. Lucky is such an understatement. I have to go back to my 20's on a motorcycle to find such a stackup of stupid and potentially fatal decisions.

I'll take 3 months in a neck brace with no complaints.
You are very, very lucky. The last guy I saw in a crash like that over two years ago is a permanent quadriplegic. Worst thing that ever happened in my presence and it still haunts me to think about it (which I do whenever riding and think about doing something sketchy). I cringed just reading your post!
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Old 11-02-19, 12:44 AM
  #60  
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Lucky is good.

Today's follow-up appointment went well. The hard brace stays on another four weeks, then another checkup. I am allowed to take it off to shower, which is a quality of life improvement.I also saw my CT scan for the first time. Sure enough, there's a fracture on the front bottom corner of C3. The smaller piece is where the ligament connecting C3-C4 attaches to C3. The primary purpose of the neck brace is so I don't cause that ligament to pull on the fractured bone.
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