The Straw that Broke the Camel’s Clavicle

 

She breathes and I breathe;

Her weight a soothing cloth

For a fevered life.

Thursday, April 1, 2021

 Breaking a clavicle is a fairly common bike injury but up until last Sunday, despite numerous accidents, I had avoided it.

 I’ve had my share of both common and freak bicycle accidents that have caused minor annoyances from a rib break to numerous lacerations and stitches, but two out of the last three falls, all within the short period of 5 years, has me seriously considering stepping away from cycling for a while and throwing my athletic energies into less risky endeavors like shark wrestling.

 Sunday was the latest and ranks right up there with a tree branch being cut and falling right in front of me in Panama as one of the more unusual; a dude losing control of his skateboard and launching it into my bike. I have no recollection of the fall outside of glimpsing the board out of the corner of my eye than standing and listening to two dudes, one of whom caused the accident, then doing what the good Samaritan told me to do – get in his car.

 He also had my bike in tow and was smart enough to take numbers and pictures of the skateboard dude’s license and car plate. He put this in the notes section of my phone.

 After being treated very kindly by all the hospital staff and cleaned up as best they could, I went home at 11 p.m. that night with the knowledge that I have a broken right clavicle that may need surgical repair. Today I consult with an orthopedic surgeon to discuss that possibility.

 When my last motorcycle was done trying to kill me by randomly shutting down with mysterious electrical problems, after 38 years of riding I decided that was that with motorcycles.

 This has that same very intuitive feeling with bicycles. I’ve bounced back from crashes before always with the determination to get back out there and ride. But not this time. This is my second hospitalization in 4 years and  my first surgery. I believe that’s enough to start placing my energy into other outdoor adventures that I’ve put off, like surfing.

 There just isn’t enough time to do everything and though I’m a strong rider, and would like to compete in duathlons and possibly triathlons, for the next couple of years I’m going to stay off of bikes and center my physical and competitive juices into running and improving my upper body strength.

 
Bicycling is a blast. I don’t feel there’s much that replicates the experience of it. But like many high-speed activities, as the speed goes up so do the risk factors and damages. How any of us balance those to make a determination as to what’s acceptable to us is highly individual. Right now my intuition is telling me to step away, at least for a while.