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For those of us who live in SF/Bay Area and doing mountain biking Mount Tam is a special place with amazing network of fireroads and trails to ride. It so happened that after moving from San Diego to North Bay, I got hooked up on this sport. And like with any passion one pursues, sometimes bad stuff happens even in magical places.

Long sory short: this Thursday after 1.5 hr ride on trails, I was descending on the paved road in the residential area and my front tire blew up. Since it was a curve and downhill, I was a little slow to response to the problem. The result was the fall on left shoulder with an attempt to rollover, hitting the road at 10 mph and breaking clavicle, scapula, 3 ribs and puncture in the left lung (helmet saved the head). Doctors put the metal plate on the clavicle to get rid of "floating" shoulder and it looks like they did a really good job.

The recovery period is 6 weeks which puts me 1 month away from the trip to South America in December. From your experience, is there a real possibility to make it according to this plan or it is totally unfeasible?

Rinat

Hi Rinat, I just found this site last night, so I'm not sure exactly what your plans are come December, but I thought I would reply anyway.

Several friends have endured a healing clavicle, and as you said, it will take a full 6 weeks to completely heal but you will be able to begin PT way before then, helping to build back flexibility and a little strength. I would think 1 month after that would be plenty of time to recover upper body strength if you remain focused on the goal. Ribs are notorious slow healers however as there really isn't a way to isolate and stabilize them. As long as you aren't in danger of them poking at your organs then they are really nothing more than a nuisance. I'm not familiar with the healing rate of a lung but considering the amount of blood flow and what a lung is made of, I would guess it would be fairly quick.

I think the key here is not to loose your lower body strength and overall fitness. A bike trainer is a good thing to use, since the trainer will keep your bike stationary and secure, allowing you to ease onto it. You can also spin sitting upright so your upper body will be completely still. If you don't own one already, you might consider it for this reason but they are handy even when healthy, despite living in the Bay Area. I, like you also in the Bay Area, find myself training on it about 10 times a year, mainly when its dark or stormy out, or when the Giants need one more win to clinch the division. Squats and lunges can help maintain strength. Core work would probably be out of the question until healed. Another key will be diet and rest - you know lots of protein and calcium.. and try your best to get a good nights sleep.

If you are looking for a little inspiration, check out what Frank Shleck did in this years Vuelta a Espana. After breaking his clavicle in 3 places in the 3rd stage of the Tour de France, he came back just 2 months later to take 5th place in the Vuelta. Hang in there!

Rinat, very sorry to hear about your misadventure on Mt. Tam. I live on W. Blithedale and ride the mountain 4-5 days per week and I've often thought about experiencing a blow-out and/or an encounter with an unmovable object but I never thought that it was possible to do the bodily damage you did to yourself at 10mph...are you sure that you weren't travelling a tad faster???

Nonetheless, you will heal in time for your trip but it will take much hard work to keep fit and work through the discomfort. Just find a great physical therapist, get the rest that was mentioned in the other reply, eat well, keep your core and legs as strong as possible and before you know it, summer in South America will be your prize for the effort.

Good luck and take care!

Sorry to read this and I hope you have a good recovery- a lot depends how you approach your rehab and upon how ambitious your SA plans are. Having done some riding around Tam, you were lucky you were "only" doing 10mph...

Oh man, that sucks. I broke my elbow last year riding my bike on pavement. I wasn't even going that fast .. just botched the clip (really badly) after going through a stoplight on the way to a nearby trail.

It took a week of ice, ibuprofen and denial before I decided to go see a sports doc. The first question the radiologic tech asked was "did you do this on a bike ?"

Heal quick !!

Best of luck and hope for a speedy recovery Rinat. Hope to run into you again in the hills sometime. Have fun in SA!

Just looked at the logs in my Garmin GPS/training watch: I was realy moving fast 22-24 mph at the time of the accident which explains the severity of the injury. Anytbody in the North Bay who can refer me to a good a sports doc/physiotherpist/rehad specialist who can help me? My orhtopedic surgeoun is great, but he will most like go through the usual routine of 6 weeks in hiatus before starting anything on the recovery path.