My Turn To Break Something

[Pure]

On the Sunday of the 25th I had a bad accident on the bike. The bike is fine, but I'm not so lucky.

I was cruising on a 2 lane road I was doing bout 30. When I came to the end of the road I needed to go left, On this road at that light the lane splits into 2 stops. One for going left and one for going right. The road ends at this intersection. Well going left means I have to cross a lane so I kept up my speed as to not annoy the cars behind me when I cut over in front of them. Well this day was very windy out, and this intersection also happens to be known for all the very large oak trees there. Well I had to stop pretty short/harder than I usually like. The street was covered in leaves. At first the bike was stopping like it should, then my front wheel locked up and started to slide. Very soon after, it slipped out from under me slamming me on my left on the blacktop. I slid about seven feat on my left side. When the motorist behind me jumped out to help me up, I noticed I had no strength in my left arm. Not in any real pain yet I rotated my left arm and heard nothing but snap crackle and pop from my shoulder. So a phone call for a ride, and I was off to the ER. There I learned the extent of the damage. I dislocated, and shattered my shoulder, also split my humorous in 2 running down from the ball to bout half way to my elbow. After 2 attempts by the ER doc to put my shoulder back in joint failed, it was decided that I had to have surgery. Being on dialysis complicated matters. Every Sunday is the longest I've gone without treatment, so my potassium was a little high, making surgery too risky. So they checked me in to the hospital to dialize me. Then the OR was booked all day Monday, so Tuesday it would be. Now this means I had to deal with the pain of a dislocated shoulder (much worse than any break I've ever had) for 3 days! Finally Tuesday came, the surgery took twice as long as planned. They ended up using a long plate for the humorous repare and over 30 screws for all the other broken tidbits. Then because of my dialysis and the length of the surgery, I lost a lot of blood, and required several transfusions. Needless to say, I didn't get out of the hospital until last Sat and am now just starting to feel well enough to type this.

I have an apt with my Ortho guy today to see how its doing and to discuss physical therapy.

The bike is actually ok, but it's going to be a long time before I can get on it let alone actually ride it. This is a problem. My bike is my sole means of transportation, So I'm now on the hunt for an adult tricycle. Oh and it's going to be powered by Lipo. Placing my first order today from HK. I'm thinking 20s 4P of 5Ah packs should be more than enough power than I should be on in my condition.

 

[StudEbiker]

Damn dude, I'm sorry to hear that. That sounds real serious. Good luck finding a trike you like at a good price. Glad to hear you are "getting back on the horse" so to speak. You could try putting a "Wanted" ad on Craigslist and see what comes up.

 

[Ypedal]

ouch..... glad to hear you are .. uhm.. uhhh... alive !!

20s on an adult, upright trike.. not recommended..

20s on a KMX cart... yes sir...

 

[Pure]

Damn dude, I'm sorry to hear that. That sounds real serious. Good luck finding a trike you like at a good price. Glad to hear you are "getting back on the horse" so to speak. You could try putting a "Wanted" ad on Craigslist and see what comes up.

Did the C-list thing already and am going to look at one this afternoon. My wanted ad wasn't up 15 minutes n already some guy called saying he has one. I have a spare 48V GM hub on a 26"rim plus a spare 18 fet infinion so as soon as the bats n charger get here I should be good to go

ouch..... glad to hear you are .. uhm.. uhhh... alive !!

20s on an adult, upright trike.. not recommended..

20s on a KMX cart... yes sir...

Yeah, this pack isn't meant for this bike. But I figure it best to use what I got. I'll just limit it's power with my CA. The voltage plus the amps should give me the acceleration my other bike was lacking. I really don't want to take and adult trike that's being steered and throttled with one hand more than 20-25 mph MAX.

I really would like a recumbent but all the ones i can see require 2 working arms to steer them. Do you know of one that can be controlled with just the one arm?

 

[kfong]

Ouch, glad you are ok. Concrete is just not a good thing to land on.

 

[StudEbiker]

A Sun EZ-3 would be a good compromise. One handed operation and while not a speed machine, it will be much more stable than an upright adult trike.

 

[liveforphysics]

Glad to hear you're OK.

Having blood is way over-rated. Welcome to the joys of setting off metal detectors when you travel.

You're a good man for getting an e-trike setup for riding while you're healing.

 

[Ypedal]

http://ypedal.com/TriRider/index.htm

and

http://ypedal.com/MiamiSun/Index.htm

I've done a few of these, you dont want to be going very fast, seriously.... :lol:

 

[biohazardman]

Ouch, I just did that about a month ago 20-25mph landed on my left shoulder as you did but slid on my stomach across the 3-4 inches of snow for 15ft or so. Arm was kind of werqing a few hours later. It’s much better now but still lots of pain and no strength. Probly trashed my rotator cuff again. I feel bad about the extent of your injuries and hope you heal up well. Trikes are good lower is better I know what it’s like to try to build one of these when you only have one decent arm. Take your time and make it what you want. It took me a year to build my latest but I am happy with it and it was/is good theropy

 

[dogman dan]

Ouch, what a bummer.

My first ebike was a schwinn trike. Very hard to steer above 15 mph, so take it easy, especially during the next few weeks. Watch out for roads with lots of slope. The trike will pull hard towards the ditch if one wheel is lower than the other. So if you drop a wheel off into the shoulder the whole bike will want to follow. No biggie at 15 mph, but a big deal at 30 mph.

 

[Rassy]

Tough luck. Hope you heal up good.

I think all the trikes can be steered with one hand. The tadpoles have a tie rod between the front wheels so they turn together, even the ones with direct steering.

That Sun EZ3 is the same as the one I got for my brother after his stroke. He has no use of his left hand/arm so both brakes are run off the right side also. It is on the narrow side and might be tippy at high speeds, but my brother only runs his at 5 or 6 mph. We locked the front derailuer into the small cog by shortening the chain.

Good luck on finding a suitable trike. +1 on any recumbent.

 

[Pure]

Thanks for the well wishes. Also double thanks for the heads-up on the speed thing. I will def take your advice to heart..especially after what I saw today.

So I whent to the Ortho Doc and saw my X-ray for the first time. Holy crap, my shoulder is f*cked! lol

From the looks of it, I landed on my elbow shoving the humorous into the shoulder socket so hard that it basically destroyed the ball. The damn thing looks like it mushroomed, then the bone split from just below the ball, at an angle, almost to my elbow. Kinda like how you would expect a 2x4 to split. Doc said they really thought about just putting in a new shoulder, and that I'm not out of the woods yet. If any of the main screws fail, that is my next step. New shoulder. So yes, I will get back on a bike asap, but will be taking it very easy for the next few months. I'm talking 100% sidewalk riding easy. Also, when my shoulder did hit the blacktop the tips of the shoulder broke off.

Funny thing, I kinda wish I hadnt seen that X-ray. You see, now when I feel pain I can tell it's the weight of my arm pulling on the screws holding it together.

 

[RallySTX]

Sorry about the wreck, and glad it wasn't worse. I know what it's like to only have one arm available, it sucks! Please be careful with the trikes, as stated earlier, the upright ones steer poorly at speed. I'm glad you will eventually get the use of your arm back. Best wishes.
Brian L.

 

[Pure]

Yeah Brain, let me say I am more than thankful it wasn't worse.

Lucky I was wearing my thick nylon rideing coat. It saved me a crap load of skin. Only my elbow has any abrasions. But the nylon melted there, so what are you going to do. I slid a good seven feet.

 

[RallySTX]

I'm puttin together a leather outfit for riding, but even that isn't gonna stop the pain. Thick riding gloves, a helmet, and body armor for protection, but ya end up looking like an astronaut.
Brian L.

 

[biohazardman]

Yup I took the hide off of my elbow right at the funny bone without even tearing my coat. Probly why the arm did not werq for a couple hours. It hurts just thinking about yours but at least they can put you back together somewhat. It's nice to have arms that at least look good. ;^) Amazing what they can do these days. They put some titanium in my Larynx so I could still speak on my last run to the hospital. Some very good surgeons out there and we are blessed to live in a place where they are near. Hope you heal quickly.

 

[sflorlando]

Terrible to hear that man. Get well and on that bike/trike.

I did judo and Juijitsu for years. Theres an art to falling. Not saying it would have saved you, but falling on your elbow/shoulder is the worst fall you can take.

 

[dannyboyohyeah]

Pure~~~ geeze...visualizing this makes me cringe. I am amazed you would consider even getting back onto a bike, before your shoulder starts to get pretty solid again. Can you imagine, falling with a broken shoulder?? Now, that's really what makes me cringe. Been through something quite similar, but it was my leg/knee.
Considering the time it's going to take for your body to heal...and the real possibility that you've got a surgery or two yet to go to make things right...think slow and torquey. I mean slow.
How far do you have to travel? Is there no other option for you....just for a few months? I mean....even to move in with a friend for awhile, somewhere that bus service can take you to where you need to be. I would be thinking that extreme, is still less extreme than risking a crash, operating with one hand...which is less than half the control you are used to. I admire your determination and courage...but this is the only body you GOT. support it's task of healing itself, please.

 

[amberwolf]

I wish you well and fast healing. Back in late 2005, I was very lucky when the stem broke and handlebars came off my bike. I ended up being flipped over the bars and landed mostly on the point of my right shoulder, and the side of my head (fortunately covered in a helmet, which though typical cheap bike type still did it's job and saved me from a cracked skull).

I did not apparently actually break anything, but it hurt a lot, and I couldn't really use the arm much for a while; bruised all thru the shoulder area and even the upper ribs.

 

[Pure]

Here's a thought. What if I welded a support rod between the hand grips. Might give a more positive response to forces coming from the right. Something tells me this may be a wile like this.

Danny, I have some good answers to your ?s but today was treatment day, my arm hurts, and the oxi is kicking in, so I'll get back to you man.

 

[Harold in CR]

Damn Pure. Sorry to hear about your wreck.

Down here, besides the leaves that cover certain areas of the road, we also have these big gaudy orange color blossoms that drop from trees. Even being run over by cars and buses, they are still slippery as snot.

I am trying to work a 2 wheel front leaning style into a Bike design. It won't stop the skid, but, might add that out from under you effect of a single wheel.

As a kid, I had those wrecks, and, don't want any, now.

Heal well.

 

[e-biker]

WOW! Pure thats a bad break I know cuz I did the same kind of injury back in the early eighties and it still hurts, be sure to follow up on rehab. its painful but you will need the movement of your arm later on. I quit rehab and ended up with only 60% use of my left arm. anyway I am glad you are not hurt any worse, maybe some es member in your area can lend you a hand building your new ride, good luck bro and best wishes with your healing.

 

[Pure]

Thought I would give you all an update. I start PT this week. The Docs are all amazed at how well I'm doing. Newest X-rays show lots of new bone growth. At this time the only pain I have is from the lack of muscle in that arm, and of course where they cut through the muscle to get at the bone. It's amazing how much muscle mass I've lost in that arm. My bicep is now nothing more than jelly.

Pain med withdrawals were not fun! 3 days of cold sweats and eiritability. It is nice however, to be able to poop without a massive doses of laxative.

The best news is, they are now saying that if it continues like it is, more surgeries may not be necessary.

I'm back at riding my bike, all be it very carefully. My plans for a trike are not squashed, but life has a way of f*cking things up. I lost the house I was renting (landlord sold it) so I'm having to move. This of course cost $ that I am in short supply of. So for now, I'm going to have to just be really really careful on the 2 wheeler.