Down for the count.....
 

A little over a week ago I got caught up in a crash in front of me and crashed hard during a club race. I went in upside down, still clipped in, backwards, at 43kmh. The rider behind me said my rear wheel hit him on the shoulder as I went by.
Concussion, separated shoulder, hip subluxation and on it goes. I got a bruise on my hip the size of two dinner plates. Bike is ruined, so is my new Sworks helmet.
I wish I was 22 but I'm 51. I figured I would be riding already. I'm delusional and getting depressed. Missed over a week of work already.
People at work probably think I've skinned a knee. This is taking forever.

Don't count on coming out better in your 20s. That would have been a painful crash at any age, with recovery probably taking at least a couple of weeks off the bike.

My worst accident was in my early 20s during a rookie criterium. A passing rider swerved into my line and cut my front wheel out from under me. Bruises and road rash along one entire side of my body, shoulder to ankle. I was in the Navy at the time, in a nearly year-long advanced C school, at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. One of the instructors warned me to bandage myself up so it didn't show through hospital scrubs and to say nothing and not go to sick call, because I hadn't asked for permission to race in my free time. He said I might actually get gigged, even end up with disciplinary action or worse.

So I did as he suggested and didn't miss any work. Fortunately I was a Corpsman and all my buddies were Corpsmen, so I didn't even need an official sick call or ER visit.

But I'm pretty sure it was longer than a week before I could ride again. I took the bus for awhile.

That is when riding gets serious. Is your employer going to cut you some slack? Remind me if I ever complain about riding alone. I'm sorry, best wishes and my prayers for a quick recovery.

Sorry to hear this. Hope you heal quickly. What bike will you be getting?

Ooh! That doesn't sound good.

Do us all a favor and keep us posted on how your recovery, both physical and mental, progresses.

Nice rangefinder for the profile pix!

What's the grade of your shoulder separation? That can make a huge difference in your recovery time.

With injuries like yours, it'll be some time before you're back on the bike. Do what the doc says and take the time to heal up.

Thank for the replies. I see a specialist on Tuesday about the shoulder separation. The emergency doctor said it was "moderate" but he said further examination is needed.
I have sick time, so I'm not losing income. But if I need shoulder surgery I don't know how long I can be off.
The bike was dropped off at the Cannondale dealer. It was a CAAD10 Ultegra and it was nearly new. I really liked that bike. It was snappy and a great climber. The dealer was really understanding. Two of the guys that work there were at the scene of the crash. They are going to see if I can get a crash replacement frame which would be the cheapest way to go. The Souls wheels I was running are ruined though. I may go for another set.
I have a Specialized Roubiax so I still have a bike to ride if the CAAD10 takes time to repair.
The guys from my club were great. Only two of us were involved and we had immediate help. The fellow that gave me a ride back to my car even stayed with me until my family arrived.
I am bummed about ruining thousands of dollars of equipment from no fault of my own. But that's racing I guess.
I was kind of thinking I would be riding this weekend and heading back to work on Monday. So I stopped taking the Oxycocet ratio 5mg/325mg tablets and woke up at 4am in great pain. I only take one in the morning along with Advil and maybe another later in the day as I've read these are highly addictive.
I'm not ready to ride, the pain killers are just feeding my denial. My doctor wanted me off for a month when he saw me. He said two weeks minimum then come see him before going back to work. I want to cut it to one week. I want my routine back.

Oh, man ... do I feel that.

My last serious crash was occasioned by a 25 MPH front tire blowout on a descent. I ended up with a broken collarbone, 4 broken ribs (I gotta drink more milk), and the mother of all road rash. There were places near my knee where it looked to be scraped to the bone.

And as I was laying in bed in the hospital, my mom and sister came to visit. My wife was already there.

My sister looked at me and remarked:

"Well, maybe this will finally knock some sense into him."

My wife's response was perfect:

"If you really think that, you don't know him very well." :p

The focus has changed. Competitive recovery and recuperation is now the routine.

Rest hard. Nutrition. Stretching. Contrast baths. Etc.

Go at rehab and healing as hard as you went at training and riding.

Not much you can do man...Just grin and bear it.

I fractured my ankle in November and tore two of the ligaments up to 90% by shooting a freaking basketball and coming down on the side of the walkway...like wtf...

The original prognosis from the ER was "walk it off, there is no break." They were surprised when I asked for crutches -- meanwhile I had a baseball protruding from my ankle. Two weeks later, I still couldn't put an ounce of weight on it, so the podiatrist told me to do these stretches (which not only required putting weight on it, but shifting the weight to the front of the foot, neither of which I could do) and gave me a lace-up ankle brace to replace the hard boot the ER gave me. Four more weeks after that, I finally decided enough was enough and seeked out the best orthopedist in the area who re-did the x-rays and found that I tore my ligament (ATFL) so bad that it pulled the edge of the tibia off. Who knows how much of what is connecting anything in there anymore. He said I should have been in a hard cast for 8 weeks and then a walking boot after that...but at this point, I should continue doing what I was doing...

Anyway, long story short, I can walk now, can jog awkwardly, but it took MONTHS of work just to get my ankle to bend upwards enough to walk (dorsiflexion). Recovering from injury is not an easy road and is never the same from one person to the next. I'm normally the type of person that says "slow down and focus on the journey" -- but with injury, you really need to not do that, just try to look toward the future. I never thought I'd walk normally again, and I'd be willing to bet that most people given the same situation wouldn't be where I am today -- because I had to push through pain that lasted days every time I'd stretch my achilles. I lost nearly 2" on my right calf. I could feel a divot in my quad muscle. I learned to walk with an inward twist of the hip joint which turned into a ton of pain in the muscles up there. It still doesn't feel exactly right...about the only time I'm moving and not thinking about it is when I'm on the bike. You'll get there if you believe and work for it.

In either event, I can add the following advice. Whatever joints / soft tissues are NOT affected by the immediate injury, KEEP THEM MOVING. If you need an exercise band to work out your calf, do it. If you can't bear that, at least go through full range of motion everywhere you can three times a day. Do not let the injury cause unaffected muscle groups and joints to tighten up. It will only make recovery (when it is time) that much harder. Also, if you can, try to find something that gets your heart rate up each day for 20-30 minutes...anything at all. If you don't, your heart rate will slowly increase on its own. I came out of my injury with a resting heart rate in the mid 80's...that is absolute resting...any sign of action would put it up to 110.

So anyway, it's depressing, it sucks, but you'll get through it...everything is temporary.

So much good advice here. I wish I would have posted sooner.
Treating the post crash routine as serious as I did my training is golden advice. I'm depressed and not eating right, no appetite. I got to get serious about this.
And my family said the same things. "this will teach you not to act like a kid".
This bruise actually goes down to my knee, and extends across my back. But its fading now.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b4...pszebgmkmd.jpg

OUCH! Yep -- one thing I've learned is bruises travel DOWN. I wouldn't be surprised if you had some bruising in your foot in all honesty.

You're up and standing so that's great, keep moving as much as you can...walk as much as you can. Walking is such a simple movement people don't realize, but we can literally sustain our lower body's muscles (or rebuild them after an injury) with just walking alone -- spend 2 months not walking and you'll know exactly what I mean by that.

You'll know when it's time...and the good news is that the bike is much easier on soft tissues and lower impact than running or just about any other cardiovascular activity (except swimming, although that can be tough for people with shoulder issues).

I think I'm going to do exactly that. I can't run but I can walk a bit. Tonight when the wife comes home I will ask if she wants to go for a bit of a walk. Maybe start with a couple km.
She will probably think its the drugs or head injury making me ask her as I'm usually riding.

That's not unusual after an accident or any kind of trauma, especially if there was a concussion (which the helmet damage indicates). Concussions can have lasting consequences, so don't ignore changes in mood or behavior that seem uncharacteristic for you. That's where it's handy to have family, friends, etc., to give us a little feedback if we seem out of sorts after an accident.

Since you're aware of it, be sure to discuss it with your wife and doctor. Depending on how your recovery progresses it might even be a good idea to get into counseling with a psychologist or appropriate group. I did that myself 15 years ago, about six months after a wicked car wreck that busted up my back and neck. I'd begun to experience tunnel vision while driving in traffic and road rage over minor incidents that I'd usually shrug off. I knew this wasn't like me, so I went into counseling for a couple of years, took the meds the staff psychiatrist prescribed for anxiety, etc. The psych doctor diagnosed it as PTSD, which surprised me. Going into therapy and taking meds for a couplafew years helped a lot. I gradually discontinued taking those about 10 years ago, so it's not necessarily a long term thing after an accident.

I was a little worried about how I'd react to bicycling in traffic again when I resumed riding last year. But everything's been okey-dokey. I feel as confident riding in traffic now as I did 30+ years ago when I cycle commuted almost daily. Better, in fact. I've lost my youthful quick temper and don't get my feathers ruffled over inadvertent stuff drivers do. Unfortunately my body and cycling speed have slowed down with age as well. ;)

And opioid pain relievers can dull the appetite with some folks. But being unable to sleep due to pain ain't good either. Try to find a balance.

It's like you're reading my mind. I think we're living in parallel universes.

Ricoh: Have patience.

Ron H: Thanks for the laugh!

Yes it takes a lot longer to heal. Wait till you're 60.

I stopped racing in my early 40's as I was not quite fast enough to hang with the local NYC masters crowd and found the Cat 4/5 a little scary with tons of 20 year olds taking chances. I could not then, and won't now, have to apologize to my wife for taking such risks. She's put up with a lot from me and thus deserves better then living with an old fart who thinks he's 20 still.

When you have crashes like that you do not always come back. I would suggest maybe not race in a tight group like that because if you do it will happen again.

Sadly you are not the first person to say this. I'm so far away from racing I haven't really though about how I will feel in a peleton or even a group. I always thought it would be cross that took me out. When I do get back I will start out alone on my 1x10 Kona Unit on quiet dirt roads.

Since I never was of racing caliber, I was spared the race-related crashes and other mishaps. On group rides I maintain a safe following distance, even when this means being relegated to the back of the pack, which is fine with me. I tend to do far more solo riding than anything else, plus a bit of casual small group cycling.

That bruise looks exactly like Africa! Look on the bright side- at least there is still skin remaining. Best wishes for a speedy return to the saddle.

At age 59, two crashes, two cracked LAS Squalos, and end of riding career. I'm 65 now and still miss it. At 51, you're a kid. I didn't even get good until I was 55+. ;)

And what is this "opioid pain reliever" crap from another poster? My wife is a pharmacist who's had several surgeries in the last 10 years and would NEVER use this stuff for more than a day or two. When I was destroying my body trying to get good, I never took so much as a tylenol.

Pain is manageable, but depression sucks. I don't have an addictive personality, but depression from suddenly stopping riding at a high level is palpable. After a minor injury (before the concussions) I starting driving my favorite bike routes in my convertible. Didn't help much.

Hang in there. Focus on any PT you're getting. And remember - your just a kid.

May is nearly over. The last few weeks just flew by but I did indeed concentrate hard on my recovery.
The concussion improved rapidly. The only lingering affect seems to be getting tired. At around 2 or 3 in the afternoon I just seem to run out of gas. And get a pressure feeling headache. But if I sit still for 20 minutes or so this will pass.
I have torn the teres minor and I am waiting for further tests but the soonest I can get in is July 28th! But I can put my left hand on my hip now. I could not do this until last week.
There is nothing to be done about the separation. I have a bump to forever remind me. And it is getting better. My pelvis aches all the time but this is also improving with walking. I used to run 3x a week before the accident but I have found I really enjoy walking. I may use walking as a recovery day in the future.
I am in the gym now. Four times last week. Light weights and stretching. I lost about 6 pounds and I weigh about 155 now. I'm about 5' 9" so it is not to bad I guess. I stopped taking the pain med percocet 2 weeks ago. Even though I only took one in the morning and sometimes another after lunch I felt the effects of stopping them. You kind of feel achy like you are getting a cold. But I still ache so it is not all on the percocet. But I would be careful with this drug.
I began by walking about a block to walking 5kms. My hip seems fine. But it feels like there is a pillow pressing against it.
My shoulder is improving to the point I may be riding soon. I want to ride now. Today. I believe I can. I think its been long enough.
Cannondale may be offering me a new CAAD12 as there are no frames available. My LBS has been very helpful.
I do not know if I will ever race again. I just don't feel it yet. I kind of thought I could do some time trials and maybe some cross but the desire is just not there. Maybe it will return. I ride about 10-12000 kms a year, or used to to anyways.
I think if I had another crash like this it would kill me. Or turn me into a quadriplegic.
Turning my recovery into my routine was golden advice. I got up in the morning and made it into my routine. Great advice. As soon as I did this and noticed slight improvements I felt relieved that progress was being made, and my depressed feelings vanished.

Wow!! Crazy crash! Sounds like recovery is going well. All great news.

+1!
Best regards