Monday, May 15, 2006

Peaks and Valleys


A valley.
I spiral fractured my left clavicle last week on a routine bike ride to lunch.

I had to patch the front tire on the bike Sunday evening as I had picked up a thorn from a ride that weekend. I must have over inflated the tire or missed a tube pinch as it turned out to be a weak link.
The tube bulged out of the tire then exploded on my ride sending me over the handle bars and slamming me to the pavement unexpectedly. Most of the time in mountain biking you can feel a crash coming and learning to fall correctly is a developed skill (just like in snowboarding). Believe it or not I’ve crashed harder on the trail and was able to roll out of it unscathed. This blowout was completely random and took a bite!
As far as I can tell this is my new left collar bone looking forward from just behind my head. I had to have a titanium plate and 8 screws put in it to assure proper healing of the bone. I was directed by my surgeon to take 6 to 8 weeks off the bike and any other dangerous activity. This is going to be extremely difficult for me, but probably worth it in the long run.

You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred.
- Woody Allen