Forker down

Very sorry to hear about your accident and injury. I hope your recovery is speedy. I'm looking at the thermometer here, where it is a few degrees below freezing. I will take your advice and wait until afternoon.


Brian

Thanks for the sympathy, Brian. I guess we always think that accidents like this only happen to other people. Fortunately, the medics here are pretty good: Harrogate is ranked in the top units 10 nationwide for hip replacement surgery. It's probably a combination of a large number or retired residents and a large population of active cyclists. A Venn diagram would show the overlap between these two groups to be moderately small, but enough for me to be predicted to have a significantly more rapid rehabilitation than the average septuagenarian!

Dracco - - that was painful just to read about it, and I can see that happening in my minds eye. So sorry to hear about it, that was a very nasty one! Glad someone was nearby and could help, I imagine there are parts of your regular rides where help might have been longer in arriving?

I wish you a speedy recovery and you have certainly given me a wake up for riding at this time of the year - we have had a broken water main on our road for 2 weeks and even before the snow the other week, the road had a continual slushy kind of frost laying across it.

Best wishes

Hi Dracco,

I too was out on my bike, also in Yorkshire, on Wednesday last week. It was very cold but my commute was only about four miles and I managed to keep to gritted main roads in the valley bottoms.

I fully understand the satisfaction of riding amongst our wonderful landscape on a cold, crisp morning - there is nothing quite like it.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
David

Hi Dracco,
I'll join in and wish you a fast uneventful recovery. I'm sure your cycling fitness will be an aid to speedier healing so you'll be ready for the spring time rides. It's amazing how quickly things can go wrong on a ride. Let the angels be with all of us out on the road.

Cheers,
Michael

Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts. I'm progressing (albeit slowly: my new hip suffered a dislocation a week ago - which felt worse than the original fracture!!). However after it was realigned (mercifully under anaesthetic) most of the pain disappeared and I've been religiously following my rehab exercises. - A lifetime of sports injuries has hammered home the importance of this.

There's no doubt that the surgical team was impressed by my general level of fitness, for my age (they're more accustomed to normally carrying out hip replacements on rather more frail septuagenarians than myself: 70 is the new 50 in my view). Anyway, I now realise that an untoward movement in the wrong direction could easily trigger another dislocation, and that's something that experience has told me to avoid. The joint still feels slightly unstable, while the surrounding muscles and ligaments repair themselves, so I'm being rather more circumspect in my movements, while still following my rehab programme.

I'm due for a CT scan tomorrow, and a review meeting with my surgeon in January, so I'll see how those go. My first goal will be to see when I can get back on a bike again (albeit one hooked up to an indoor trainer): at the moment I don't think it would be a good idea to try and swing my leg over the top tube!

I wish you all a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year

Andy

In 1977 I was thrown from a horse which collapsed my left lung, broke three ribs, bruised my heart and dislocated both my left hip and left shoulder; thankfully my joints popped back into place on their own. In my old age, I suffer nerve pain in my left shoulder and hip (sciatica). I can't help but wonder if my current nerve pain is related to my old injuries. Also twisting motion causes pain in my knees which precludes using modern clipless pedals. Aches and pains aside, my cardiologists often praise me for my condition and encourage my cycling (within limits). In my opinion, cycling in ones old age is very helpful to sustaining ones health and happiness. As for horses --

All the Best
Jim

Hi Jem,
Progress has been steady and uneventful (whew): the rehab exercises are going well and I'm now off crutches most of the time. My review meeting with the surgeon was a week ago. He's pretty pleased but is still advising caution. When I asked him how soon I could get back on a bike (on the indoor trainer, rather than on the road) he recommended me not to try it for another 6-8 weeks. My next review is in mid-March, so I'm hoping he'll give me the go-ahead to get back in the saddle then.

My longer term goal is to be able to lead the "retro ride" at the York Cycle Rally in July.

Update: I have now been given the go-ahead to get on my bike again, so long as I take care not to move in such a way as to risk a dislocation (still a possibility, and somethihg that I'm determined to avoid).

So, I'm currently limiting myself to nearly daily sessions on the turbo trainer most days (5 days out of 6, so far). This in any case is necessary to try and recover the cardiovascular fitness that I've lost during the past 3 sedentary months (and to harden-off the contact zone between buttock and saddle).

I don't intend to venture out on the roads until about mid-April - by which time I hope that the weather will have improved.

Thanks for update Draco. Hope all goes well.

Good to read of your progression. It looks like you are on schedule for your planned July event. Stay the course, and continue in good health!

Dracco, I'm sorry to hear of your injury, but pleased to know that you are now recovering and looking forward to being able to ride out in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside. Best wishes for your continued good progress.