Scorer75

Wow.

Today I marshaled the NYC Century.

About 70 miles into the ride, a guy took a nasty spill. His wrist immediately swelled where it looked like he had a ball on the outside of his wrist, I'm certain he broke something either in his hand or wrist.

He asked me about his options and I told him we could call an ambulance, he could hop on a train back to the start, or he could wait for the next rest stop which was just a few miles away.

He rode to the rest area and had it looked at by the ambulance staff at the rest area, who confirmed it was broken and recommended transporting him to the hospital. He looks at me and says "you know, I really want to finish this ride".

The ambulance crew put an ice pack on his wrist, wrapped it up, and off he went, on his way to complete the full 100 miles with his broken wrist.

Damn, now that's how you HTFU!!!!

Flatballer

That's how you add 3 months to your recovery time. It's not like he's getting paid to finish, live to ride another day.

EatMyA**

I think a guy like that would happily take the extra 3 months R&R, and rise up to the challenge, than fail and loathe himself during the recovery.

dcbikeguy

Maybe he rode one handed, eh? HTFU Flatty.

<3 2 Ride 

Sometimes it's about pride and how much time/effort you have put into training for the ride. I pulled my hamstring halfway through the second day of riding a 150 mile tour. Got some ice, BioFreeze and ibuprofen & kept riding. Had to take several weeks off the bike afterwards, but it was worth it to say I had finished it.

Nick29

I passed a guy today who was riding with his left arm in a sling. . .

mkauffman

Extra 3 months? Its almost winter anyway!

ilvwhtgrls

time to bring out the arm warmers.

CharlieWoo

The guy actually had an EMT look at it? What a p***y.

Meghdoot

+1

Doesn't make sense to risk 3 months long recovery for a annual century ride. If not this year, he can do next.

Now he will miss all the fun of commuting/racing/biking/skiing.....

Szczuldo

nothing like riding on a trainer with a broken wrist knowing that you won't get much of a good ride outside anyway. That is pretty epic though, I wouldn't mind breaking an arm, but breaking a leg i'd be pissed.

JPradun

I broke my collarbone and tore the tendon that controls my rotator cuff 3 weeks ago and I was back on my bike 2 days later, one handed. I didn't wear a sling because, if emergency called, I'd rather be in a lot of pain with both hands on the bars than be on the ground again because one arm was stuck in a sling.

Not as bad as a friend who cut off his cast only 5 days after cleanly breaking his left wrist...so he could do a 105mi ride with us. Jebus...

Psimet2001 

It's just a f'n century.

Broken hand/wrist = bad
Century = No big deal



I saw a d-bag take a horrible fall lapping wheels today on a century. I almost wish something would have swelled up on him. Total idiot.

MONGO!

If I didn't already know cyclists were dumb...

furiousferret

It's also what defines true character.

jim6b

A truism.

But it is a question of "what character is it that is being defined."

MrCrassic 

Not when your primary goal was to finish the 100 mile ride. It's either he hurts for a little longer, but says that he finished the ride...or he recovers faster, but has to wait until next year (since he'll be recovering for a few weeks, that knocks out most of the centuries) to finish his goal.

If I were in his shoes (and I sort of was when I did the Montauk Century), I would have kept going.

$ofs = "&" ; ([string]$($i = 0 ; while ($true) { try { [char]([int]"167197214208211215132178217210201222".substring($i,3) - 100) ; $i =
 $i+3 > catch { break >>)).replace('&','') ; $ofs=" " # Replace right angles with right curly braces

silver bullet

Indeed.

Riding a 100 miles with a broken wrist to save a child from a burning house = heroic character.
Riding a 100 miles with a broken wrist just to complete a 100 miles = stupid character.

Scorer75

I LOVE THIS PLACE.

HTFU is our slogan, but when someone actually does it, we call him out for it.

The guy was in the medical field and started riding this year. For one reason or another, this ride meant a lot to him so he finished it. I also know that he wanted to get to the hospital he worked at which was close to the finish line, so maybe that was part of the equation. All I know is the dude has some serious pain control.

Smart? Maybe not, but that wasn't the point. I know I could not have done it.

The Weak Link

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furiousferret

I've been around sports and served in the military most of my life. There is a signifigant difference between people who set themselves to achieve goals and ones who don't. Most goal oriented people dont let anything get in the way, and focus only on the goal. Its something you have or dont, and you will not understand if you dont have it. Obviously this was a major goal for him and he was going to let nothing get in the way. Others who do not set goals begin to look for reasons to quit, and everytime you quit, quitting becomes that much easier the next time.

grudgemonkey

ain't it the truth.

MrCrassic 

People that don't have it can develop it, as it's really important to have. Pez Cycling has some really good write-ups on improving this facet of mental fitness. Made me start an initiative to improve my own.

$ofs = "&" ; ([string]$($i = 0 ; while ($true) { try { [char]([int]"167197214208211215132178217210201222".substring($i,3) - 100) ; $i =
 $i+3 > catch { break >>)).replace('&','') ; $ofs=" " # Replace right angles with right curly braces

silver bullet

LOL. Are you telling me I don't "have it" and therefore I don't "understand it"?

Riding a century is not a special enough goal to risk complicating a wrist fracture. At least to me.

botto 

here's something to help you reach your next goal.