Nothing better than being at home after a hospital stay. Great news. Start your six week timer and eat well. You'll be back out there soon enough.

MaxBucksbaum said:

thanks all. @jules cleats were my first thought, but no problems there.  Will double check the saddle as well.  Probably will just take a few more rest days and hope that sorts it.

I should have said that overuse is always culprit #1. Go look at your training volumes for the past couple of months and make sure you haven't dumped a ton of miles into your joints without enough recovery.

Considering Max has been putting out record watttttzzz since his crash recovery, yeah I think he might want to slow it down a skosh...

@mugwump I got a husband pillow for sleeping which helped me a lot when I had the broken ribs, in the first week sometimes sleeping on the couch with that backed onto the arm rest for support was better than the bed for me

The incentive spirometer also became my frenemy, I couldn't do much at first and while it was pretty painful to use that thing it kept me entertained and it was a good way to see some progress.  I know your situation is a bit different so take what you will from that.

@mugwump Let us know if you are accepting visitors.. I can try to swing by to pay a visit when I'm in Brooklyn on the 9th or 10th. I can't seem to get my days straight these days....

@MaxBucksbaum  Damn that incentive spirometer!  It hurt but I got it going ok until my second surgery, And a week later I'm barely back at where I was before the second surgery.  on the good side, climbing the four flights to my apartment was a nice shot of exercise into my lungs and heart. I had intended to use it as a game when I was first in the hospital, but it hurt too much.  

@AndrewJohnson thanks.  Not sure yet.  A neighbor stopped by today, which was great.  But she was passing by, and I'm still not sure of the up/down of my body and the days themselves.  Hope to see you and everyone else soon.  Just trying to figure out how.  Bummed to be missing the foliage ride.  

Went to see the Rib Doctor today. 

It's been a bit over four weeks since the rib surgery.  They supposedly put one of these titanium things on three of my broken ribs. (not so many bolts)



On the inside, no less.  Supposedly it's flexible and doing it on the concave side is better for healing.  

I was surprised they didn't take an x-ray.  Whatever.  It was a follow up, seemed it was more to make sure I was alive and breathing.  But I was told the ribs should be fine.  

All good news, if slightly hilarious. Were you conscious when you were admitted?

Quite conscious.  The police even removed the bike wallet I carry that included my business card and Flanzig's advice on what to do if in an altercation with a car.

Good thing for your noggin, probably pretty rough to live through though.

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Mugwump is a super classic handle, and I don't want to see it go.

mugwump is dead, long live Alabama Xray!! 

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Alabama Xray is incredibly bad ass tbh! Glad you are on the mend, JP. 

So I mentioned X-ray Alabama to a friend who works in the PICU and he enlightened me! He said in trauma cases ERs typically have a bunch of these “people” in their system so they can easily get meds and do all the doctoring with limited administrative issues which makes a ton of sense

Saw the collarbone doctor today.  Another few x-rays.  

Good news.  things are healing well.  

Reality check.  it is not surprising that my ribs and scapula are hurting more than my collarbone.  

Bad news.  They don't want me riding outside until January.  

I can ride indoors though.  Got on the rollers today for a zero-resistance 30-minute spin.  

Now I'm contemplating a smart trainer for the first time.  While having the bike locked in place is a drag, the distractions could make this time bearable.  

If you don’t compare it to outside riding too much, a smart trainer really is a great machine. I’ve always compared using them more with the rowing machines I used to do a lot of indoor workouts on than with riding outdoors. All the small gamification/social aspects in zwift, as well as the structured workouts and races really add up in making it less boring to do a ride while staring at the walls of your apartment.

For me, I tried Zwift back in the Beta trial days, and kept it for maybe a year? Back then it wasn't as sophisticated, no races, and workouts were just starting to show up. Also not many people and too many bots. I have a dumb direct drive trainer with a manual resistance thumb trigger which works but it's annoying to have to manually change stuff to go "up hill" in Zwift. I don't have the cash right now for a smart trainer and even for Swift. Maybe after the move and things are settled down... 

Andrew, I’ll be out of town 15 dec - 5 jan, if you want you can pick up my elite direto xr to try it out during that period 

edit; of course these posts are in a wrong thread, sorry

Lennart, Thanks but I think these next two months might be a bit chaotic for me with me starting the move to the city. I'll be happy just to get some de-stressing rides in, and I'm not afraid of the cold, I have heated socks 

@mugwump glad to hear you can at least spin the legs out. If you're contemplating a smart trainer, seems like now is the time to buy. With all the sales, there are steals and deals aplenty to be had

as Lennart suggests this might not be the right thread. 

I do want to add/insist -- Zwift (or similar platforms) might not be for everyone, however the problem of "I can only do 20 minutes" "inside is too boring" has been fully solved.

A direct drive smart trainer (ie wheel off) connected to zwift, and a proper fan, will likely change how much you ride inside. If you enjoy riding bikes and fitness you will likely love such a setup.

Add on top, group rides, races, workouts, pace partners, and the gamemification of it all.

Let's go ride virtual bikes

I have only recently started using the zwift ride , I have previously never been able to do indoor riding , but i will do 2-3 short workouts a week before my ride to work and i have been strangely "enjoying" them , best way to start the day !

Saw the collarbone doc again today. More xrays.

Things are going well.  My range of motion is not back to 100%, but, according to the doc, it is pretty good for three months after this big crash.  He thinks I'm at about 70% of where I could be, but that the remaining 30% will take a while still.  An example of the issue is I can barely get my left hand behind my back to jersey pockets--though this particular motion he thinks is the one that takes the longest to come back. 

I don't know where I am in terms of being healed up.  He said 'all bets are off' when it comes to crashing on my left shoulder, but he also said that would be the case a month from now, and longer.  Not sure what to do with this, as it's a worry, but I went basically my whole riding career without crashing into a cement wall until now.  It would seem that such a statement is the case in any high-speed crash.  (and my wife cracked a few bones in her hand tripping and falling on the sidewalk, which seems like a much lower speed incident.)

Want to find another doc with a bit more cycling experience to think about this some more.  I've got a lead; a guy I rode with some when he was in medical school and I was in college.  I only realized he fixed collarbones when Phil Gaimon mentioned his name in a video about Phil's own disastrous crash on the track back in 2020.  Youtubing crash recovery is leisure time fun.  

I'm seeing the doc again in two months.  Probably more x-rays then.

But I did get outside.  And it was glorious.  As glorious as a 30-degree day with 15mph winds and 30mph gusts can be.

MaxBucksbaum said:

In the past few days I've had some knee pain that has gotten progressively worse.  Specifically on the outside of my right knee, and it only hurts when riding (walking is fine).  I haven't made any changes to my position as of late so a bit confused as to what it might be.  It did start after the bear ride, so I think some if it could just be overuse, but took a few days and some light riding and it doesn't seem to be getting any better.

Any ideas or suggestions are appreciated.

So this has still not resolved for me unfortunately, good amount of stretching, strength work, some position tinkering and an AI fit that showed nothing was super out of whack.  

I've been off the bike for 2.5 weeks while I was in Colorado.  Figured skiing would make it worse but turned out to be completely fine, even under a lot of stress/pressure in the race course and in the bumps.  Now back home and the pain is acting up after one 45 minute ride.  Next step is finally going to a proper doctor.  I have some heel wedges I'd like to try as well- but will likely try to do a professional fit assessment, any recommendations on good spots are welcome.

That sucks. 

That's rough Max.  Definitely hit up a doc.  Even better if it's one that has experience treating cyclists, or even just endurance athletes.

As for fit, I went to ACME back in 2023 and the fit has been great.  Can recommend Jonathan enough.

@GregHoge Yea definitely would like to find someone with a sport background.

I have heard good things about ACME but man are they pricey! Maybe thats just the cost these days, but $500 seems steep

Sorry all. Been hit with a nasty bit of Achilles tendinitis so gonna be off the bike for a while as well : (

MaxBucksbaum said:

@GregHoge Yea definitely would like to find someone with a sport background.

I have heard good things about ACME but man are they pricey! Maybe thats just the cost these days, but $500 seems steep

Max, if your issue is a simple one to spot you can go to any experienced fitter. If your issue is complicated or really subtle it may be worth the extra money to go with ACME as they are probably the most experienced in the NY area. 

@MaxBucksbaum I was thinking about this the other day and realized the guy I see for PT every so often also does bike fits (he's a former bike racer, so he gets it).  I've never gotten a fit from him, but his PT always gets me on the right track within a few visits.  

https://www.ascentptnyc.com/

@PatrickGrehan @GregHoge

Thank you both, appreciate this info!