Wow that sucks. You’re not alone in the idiot department…many of us have been there. When I was in college, I was riding, sans helmet because they weren’t cool then, when I hit an unpainted speed bump at around 20 mph. I had my hands resting on the top of the bar, without my thumbs hooked below. Before I even knew what was happening, I was smacking the pavement with my skull and my bike was somersaulting away. I ended up with most of the skin gone from the right front part of my fore cranium and a goose egg that covered same. I was pretty appalling looking for about a week. I look back on that and I think, “dumbass”…
First one’s a doozy. I recommend the ice bath. 10 minutes. As cold as you can stand it. Repeat 2-3 times per day, if you can. Give yourself at least an hour between sessions. Best way to speed recovery… I crashed hard during a race. Did the ice bath several times a day afterwards, and, combined with rest, was back at full strength in under a week. If the ribs keep hurtin’, think about an x-ray. If you crash again on a fractured rib, you could puncture something, and that would be really bad.
Hey glad you’re OK man. The advice given above is good. You were lucky and you have a good attitude about it. And the best part is no concussion, and you aren’t laid up in bed
Now for the important stuff…HOW’S THE BIKE??? Just scratched isn’t good enough, we wanna know the dirty details.
The first time I crashed, I had fairly respectable road rash. I walked into the LBS to buy something, wearing shorts, and all the guys looked at me, and one of them said “Dude. That’s nice 'rash”. Another said, “Gotta learn to roll, dude.” It was beautiful. Like an alcoholic at the frist AA meeting, I finally found brothers who understood.
Watch that rib. Injured ribs are nothing to sneeze at. I bruised a rib in high school years ago, and it still hurts at times. And yes, it does seem as though everything is commected to your ribs. Wait’ll you try to run.
