This past weekend at a collegiate race I was hit broadside by a minivan on what I thought was a closed course. To make a long, scary story short, I was flown to the hospital where they told me that the cut in my leg had ripped the muscle and it needed to be sewn back together. An hour later and a few layers of seutchers I was left contemplating my future for the season and not real optimistic. The doctors told me that they didn’t know for sure and I would have to see a different doctor but that I would have to wait till the seutchers were taken out in 2 weeks and then about 6 weeks of rehab before I could exercise on my leg.
Basically what am I asking is what am i going to do to keep from going crazy for 2 months without endorphins and exercise while I am laid up. I am already jumping out of my skin and it has been just over a day since the accident and I need to do something to get my heart pumping.
On a less intense note, with no training/racing I am going to have to eat waaaaay less or get fat which is not an option. This seems like a pretty awful proposition to me because I love to eat, any suggestions?
I asked some people about that and the general consensus so far is that I won’t be able to swim for a while because the chlorine is bad for the healing process. But that is definitely the first thing I will be doing when the stitches come out.
Obviouly go by your doctors orders, but there are alot of options to pass by him.
Water running, swimming, upper body weights etc etc. Maybe even that funky upper body aerobic thingy that you crank around with your arms that I’ve never used. Always something to do. Lotsa people stay very active without use of their legs.
this is terrible news! my heart goes out to you…I wish there was something I could do for you! thank God you’re still alive!!!
keep us posted. move as much as you can without damaging yourself. the swim is a good idea–maybe that will keep you in good spirits and shape while you recover. You will be up and going in no time though. 6-8 weeks isn’t that long in the grand scheme of things. also, you can do weights with your upper body. and one leg (non-weighted) squats with your other leg. all of this will help you maintain your muscle mass.
in terms of diet…try to eat higher protein so your muscles stay in good shape. and don’t forget to stretch. it’s easy to loose flexibility during recovery.
Well they won’t let you in teh pool with an “open wound” anyway…or I should say they shoudln’t. However if you wrap it up and seal it properly it shoudln’t get wet. If your doctor say’s you can swim then ask him the best way to keep it wrap and dry.
Find a non-chlorinated pool. A few salt water pools are starting to crop up here and there depending on where you live. (i.e. In Florida, the Chlorine gas companies banded together with the government and out-lawed salt water pools at commercial facilities because they felt it would threaten their industry.) But, other states or countries may not have this issue and salt water pools are great to swim in.
I raced Lasers on Cayuga as early as February and got soaked and capsized regularly. Wear a good wetsuit and booties. Use a pull buoy if necessary to protect your leg.
That sucks. You should be able to start swimming very soon. Last summer a few weeks before Vineman Half I was hit in the head with a winch handle that put a 4 inch long cut in my forehead all the way down to the scull. A buddy of my is a plastic surgeon sutured it up. I was complaining about not being able to train so when he was done he covered the cut with a product called dermabond and told me that I could swim the next morning. I never had any problem and after about 5 days the dermabond pealed off. 7 months later and you can’t even tell anything happened. Here is a link a link to dermabond.
I’m not one to be lawsuit happy, but this sounds like an incident that could be screaming out for one. Or at least a good insurance settlement. And that could take WAY more than 2 months.
shit dude, i saw that minivan afterwards - i was at the intersection just after you crashed - scary, scary site. i’m so glad you’re doing alright. it’s great that at least you’ll still be riding in the near future.
it’s too bad you missed the rest of the weekend - aside from the ttt, army put on a great set of races.
In terms of a lawsuit that is definitely not in the works right now, I am just trying to figure out insurance stuff to get my hospital bills taken care of and possibly replace my totaled bike. I already talked to Frank at Renn and he’s replacing my Madeira disc that I got to use a total of two times. So far everyone that i have been around in the cycling community has been so helpful that it has made this whole experience much easier but I have a lot of administrative stuff to take care of in the next few days so we’ll see how optimistic I am in the near future.
Yes, it could take WAY more than 2 months, something that I realize but does me no good to fret over until i get well into my rehab.
Darrell, the only glimpse i got of the van was right after the accident and i was a little out of it to say the least, but i heard they had to impound the van. also, do you know of anyone who got pictures of it, it would be really helpful for insurance purposes. Oh and apparently i knocked the hood ornament off and someone found it on the side of the road and gave it to my teammates at the criterium, I got a souvenir.
I am glad I did not suggest this first. Then again, I am an ambulance-chasing attorney when I am not playing a marginal semi-retired bike racer/triathlete on tv (I was on the IMMOO OLN coverage for .5 of a second).
Okay, this was collegiate, but was the USCF involved at all? I ask because they DO have some equipment replacement policies in place (or at least they did a few years ago when I was racing) that might help out. Just a thought.