Broke my forearm in a freak MTB crash, now typing (and wiping) one-handed. Got another 32 days in a cast, and those xmas cookies ain’t gonna get off by themself.
Have done 2 trainer rides this week, 1 with arm in a sling (doesn’t work that well) and 1 with the arm free, leaning on the arm pad (hurts more, but allows more power to the pedals). I think if i had a taller, temporarily higher cockpit that it might work better. Any suggestions, with pics, most appreciated. Looking for maybe a temp modification to raise pads 6 inches to rest the arms - stem will not allow that, having been cut off at present height. And this took forever to type with 1 finger so pls forgive brevity.
My wife broke her arm, (distal head of the radius), in a crash in a road race a few years ago. She could not ride the road bike, but she could ride her TT bike on the trainer with the forearm propped up on a few towels.
You just need to find a position that is comfortable, and then use something like towels to modify it to work for you.
I broke my collar bone but was able to suck it up for the 3 weeks of one armed training riding I had to do. I did do some research at the time and stumbled on this pic. If I’d had an easy way to rig something like this up I would have given it a try.
my son literally suggested this setup to me and i scoffed at it as unrealistic who knew?
thanks for suggestions. i rolled up a couple of towels today over the pads, which helped, but i still couldn’t throw out power higher than rpe 8 without my butt coming right off the seat. looks like my hilo training may have a lot of “lo” in it
are you not worried about rotting your skin under the cast with sweat? when son broke his sliding into second this summer he was told to keep it dry sweat does not equal dry
Maybe the USA is different but here in the UK if you ask really really nicely to the guys putting the cast on they will slice it down both edges sides to make it a 2 piece cast and then just use 2 or 3 velcro straps to hold it together. Means you can both shower(assuming no open wounds to keep dry) and sweat issues are not so much of an issue.
yeah his was presliced but still wrapped up well. he had a bad break of both bones just below the growth plate. unable to line up 100% and he/we did not want surgery. he had a really hooked bend for his hand for 3-4weeks, ie taking off was not an option
he felt the resetting a week or two later was bad enough. without meds they rewrenched it to get it more lined up
Time for some LSD training? That’s Long, Slow, Distance. Stay in Z2 max. Keep it easy. I didn’t attempt to train when I broke my collar bones over a few years ago. I was into Motorbikes at the time and was back riding within a couple of weeks, albeit short distances.
I did it with a very short stem and much higher than the one in the picture, but it worked well “well” for the 3 months that I was on the trainer. Depending on bike setup you might have to worry about your knees hitting the bars.
When I broke my arm trainer rides never worked for me. The sweat inside the arm cast made it flexible to the point where my arm was not being supported any more. I made my own with bandages, 2 aluminium splints and athletic tape. It worked a treat. I’m not sure the Downhill MTB weekend was a good idea, but it doesn’t seem to have done any long term damage:)
Sorry to hear about your injury. Lots of good advice from the posters to date. However, as a care giver for this type of problem, my main concern (and hopefully yours) would be the ultimate healing of the fracture in the best possible position to give you the expected service for the remainder of you life. Cast on, cast off, pressure here, pressure there, just from the position of outside observer, this would seem to be in modest conflict with the ultimate goal.
I don’t know when you need to be race ready but for many readers this is down time, the so-called off season where a little backing off, CrossFit, squash, basketball, bridge, etc. are in order. I’m not trying to tell you what to do but if you were my patient I would ask you to heal first, train second, and follow the suggestions of posters where doing a little less could be effective.
Best of luck in healing and your return to the sport.
When i broke my shoulder i flipped up the bars like the bros used to in the 70’s. Just sat straight up and pedaled hard as hell due to hiw mad I was.
The extensions make a nice handle.
Sorry to hear about your injury. Lots of good advice from the posters to date. However, as a care giver for this type of problem, my main concern (and hopefully yours) would be the ultimate healing of the fracture in the best possible position to give you the expected service for the remainder of you life. Cast on, cast off, pressure here, pressure there, just from the position of outside observer, this would seem to be in modest conflict with the ultimate goal.
I don’t know when you need to be race ready but for many readers this is down time, the so-called off season where a little backing off, CrossFit, squash, basketball, bridge, etc. are in order. I’m not trying to tell you what to do but if you were my patient I would ask you to heal first, train second, and follow the suggestions of posters where doing a little less could be effective.
Best of luck in healing and your return to the sport.
Thanks all for great inputs. esp for the caregiver insight. true that it’s the normal off season, but for me, mtb IS my off season. i’ll be leaving the arm in the cast, and won’t be compromising the healing. gotta at least keep some semblance of maintenance for another 4 weeks, and trainer seems to be the least negative impact. cross, bball, running; none work with the cast.
found a way yesterday to put a foam roller in the bandsaw and cut notches out for the armpads, then strapped it down to the aerobar. rolled towel on top of that, and i have a decent solution.
who knew?
