Bob is Blogging!

Message flagged Monday, June 4, 2012 8:01 PM Yo Cap’n! I thought I’d check in from the sidelines. It’s now been 7 weeks since my injurious bike crash. For those who don’t know, here’s the story. I was on my morning training ride, going south through the beach trail/parking lot at beautiful Doheny State Beach. This is a gorgeous spot and as such there is a ton of activity every day; walkers, joggers, dog walkers, strollers, inline skaters, etc. Basically it’s a busy busy place where you should be paying a lot of attention, and following the rules of the road. The other cyclist who plowed into me coming from the opposite direction wasn’t doing either of these. As I rounded the corner where a wide parking lot road cul-de-sacs and the much skinnier bike trail starts, this moron was riding two abreast and way too fast. I barely had time to react, swerving to my right into the sand off the trail. He, of course, was so out of control and stupid that not only did he not hit the brakes, but he swerved in the same direction, smashing straight into me. I took the entire impact of his body weight to my left shoulder. While I writhed in pain on the ground and someone called 9-1-1, this sad excuse for a human being decided to pick up his bike, jump back on it and flee the scene. Wonderful. Luckily the bike was ok. Probably due to the fact that I landed in sand and that my body took the entire impact. I didn’t come out so lucky, though, but all things considered it could have been worse. I have a Grade III acromioclavicular separation of my left shoulder, which is the clavicle (colar bone) separating from the scapula (shoulder blade) with 3 being the worst grade below actually tearing the tendons to pieces. Yay. So, I’m off the mountain bike for probably 6 months. Doctor prognosis is that I will get full range of motion and strength back, but they can’t put the clavicle back where it was so I’ll have a bump in my shoulder for the rest of my life. Not a hump as bad as this guy… …but nonetheless a nice forever reminder of some Jerk-off’s riding idiocy. Not being able to use my left arm has obviously been a pain in the ass, especially because I’m left-handed, but luckily I use my right hand to use the mouse, so I was able to go back to work somewhat easily with just an adjustment for not being able to type shortcuts with that hand. Well last week I finally got to take my sling off and started my Physical Therapy. I was fortunate to find a superb PT place that is taking great care of me. If you’re ever in the need (though I sincerely hope you aren’t!) definitely look up South Orange County Physical Therapy Specialists www.socpts.com. The head has a positive outlook, a great sense of humor, and is actually a huge cycling enthusiast, so I feel right at home. And I’m already got me lifting a 1 lb weight with that shoulder, so I should be back on the trail in no time haha! It was great to hear that the other ‘Boners did well at Sagebrush, that’s definitely a favorite course of mine. It’s got a great combination of beauty and difficulty, and there’s always a chance that the course will beat you instead of the other way around. I think moving it from the start of the season to the middle looks like it might have been a great move as far as weather is concerned, since before it was always a flip of the coin to whether race day would be freezing cold or baking hot. But the people who actually raced will have to weigh in on that one. Till next time, safe rolling out there. Vegas “Stuck at the Blackjack table” Bob