June 30, 2009

It only hurts when I laugh

Years ago in a USCF Racer Training course the session coach said “there are two types of cyclists; those that have crashed and those about to crash.” During that part of the training we were taught not to extend your arm in a fall (could fracture your arm or collarbone) and try to tuck-and-roll in a fall.

Feeling rejuvenated about my racing and having modified my training plan after I did the Denver City Park Crit - I was out on a training ride before work that following Friday morning. The plan was to do about a 30+ mile ride with a few sprint intervals tossed in. About a few miles into my ride I made a mistake that ended the ride. Somewhere between slow motion and a blink of an eye I found myself heading for the ground, tucking my left arm, and landing on that left shoulder and side. All with the impact that felt more like a hit by a Denver Bronco lineman versus an average fall. Moments later sitting on the sidewalk I realized something was wrong with my left shoulder – “So this is what it feels like to go -Thud- like a Pro cyclist!”, I thought. The “prize” – some road rash, a separated left collarbone, two cracks in the shoulder blade – one slightly torn 53x11 jersey; but hey the bike is OK! (still trying to laugh about it Ty!)

Between being frustrated about the crash and the big detour in my training plan (755mi since Jan-09) I have been reading VeloNews and other stuff around the Web. An article on the PezCycling News website under their ToolBox section is helping me put things into place. Marvin Zauderer (http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/default.asp?pg=fullstory&id=6684) wrote a follow-up piece about the Garmin-Slipstream pro Steven Cozza and some fellow cyclists who are recovering from traumatic cycling crashes. (P.S. Chris Carmichael and Bicycling had a good article about Lance’s collarbone comeback too.)

What I am learning as I start my recovery is that I’ll have to be patient and not jump to early (hmm sounds like racing tactics), that it is OK to take it to the indoor trainer, I can reset my training plan and still remain focused on the Fall CX season. And finally a little depression is normal with such a huge change in my training and lifestyle.

Jeff

3 comments:

Jeff@5280Denver said...

P.s.s - Cudos to Voler for our team jersey! I have only 1 medium size hole and 3 small holes in it after a 10-15 foot slide on a concrete road surface. Which I thought was amazing durability. Must also be the coffee fortification .... hmm maybe?!?!
Jeff

Saddledancer said...

So sorry to hear about your setback Jeff. laughter is the best medicine (unless you can get in some saddle time).
get well soon.
Ty

Jeff@5280Denver said...

Thanks Ty - I just started back on my indoor Cyclops trainer and have done 2 sessions. One bummer is that I lost about 5-7 lbs (mostly from legs/calfs/chest) since the accident due to not being able to eat.

So like we've been saying - smile + laugh + take in stride!
Jeff