I did have insurance at the time. I don’t have it anymore because i’m too tight to pay it.
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I was going for a 5 mile walk every morning within a couple of days. I didn’t do any more rigorous exercise for a month or 2 because my ribs hurt like a mofo if i tried to run or swim or cycle hard up hills. Don’t over think it, just be sensible.
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i got back on the bike again after a few weeks but only to ride slow on the flats. it was just for the sake of exercise not for any sense of training. My limiter was broken ribs. I have remained VERY twitchy about cars pulling out or coming up behind ever since. I invested in a Garmin radar (which is the best purchase ever!!) I am also very tuned in with when to ride, what direction most cars will be going at that time of day, whether the sun will be in their eyes etc etc. I mostly ride indoors, except for MTB and rare/occasional road rides. I’ve had so many near misses and people try to kill me that i prefer being alone in my garage. In summer i’ll trail run instead of riding outside in tourist season when the standard of driving plummets even further..
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I drove the work the next morning, because i had no choice.
I was back at my desk the next morning, with 2 broken ribs, plasters on my face and dried blood still in my hair. But i’m an IT contractor so i would have been out of pocket by 500quid per day if i just sat in the hotel feeling sorry for myself. The permy staff looked at me incredulously and told me that’d have taken a week off (on full pay!)
- no challenges. My fitness went to hell but it came back when i started riding properly again. I remained a bit twitchy for a long time, and very risk averse..
You’ll be ok - you’re young, you’ll heal, the fitness comes back. Don’t let it beat you up more than it needs to.
Good luck!!
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I’m currently recovering from 6 broken ribs and a fractured acromion after being hit by a car in August. This is the UK.
I spent 2 nights in hospital and once I was discharged the instructions were not to move the shoulder/arm but to do light exercise (walking/breathing exercises). After a week of walking I realised the sitting on the turbo (upright) would mean less movement for the upper body so once I could manage to get on it I did that, but at a very light effort level - walking effort.
I gradually increased effort to z2 and when the sling came off after 4 weeks I started holding the bars. Very slow gradual increase in effort levels from there.
The bones have healed well and I’m working with a physio. I started this about 10 days after the sling came off (private, nhs would have been a longer wait). At about 6 weeks I started to run and ride outside but slow and short. I’m not where I was pre accident but I can do something if I’m sensible and back off when needed. I’m unlikely to damage the bone unless I fall, it’s more about tolerating discomfort. My arm mobility isn’t too bad considering but I’ve lost a lot of strength so have started working with some light weights as well as working on range of motion.
I’m at 9 weeks now and I’ve managed to ride outside for up to 90 minutes (or a bit longer with a cafe stop,) and am gradually getting my bike confidence back.
I had 3 weeks off work and am still working from home because driving to the office is a bit too painful (manual car). If I had to go in I could, but there’s no point being uncomfortable when I’m set up to wfh 2 days per week anyway.
I’m taking legal action. The costs are covered by my British cycling membership so I will keep 100%. The bike was written off, but you didn’t need to be an expert to be able to see that!
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Man, totally get this. After I got rear ended at a stoplight, I felt okay at first, then two days later my neck locked up and I barely slept for a week.
I reached out to Ceja Law Firm just to figure out deadlines and paperwork while I was still dealing with the soreness. It helped me slow things down and not make decisions while my body and head were still messed up.
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Yeah, this is new territory for me.
Hopefully you sort those things out earlier than later and get thoroughly checked, the last thing you want to is to do more damage by thinking you’re fine.
Regarding sleep, for me, the first 3 weeks were terrible, I took minimal pain killers so I was frequently uncomfortable in this position or that position. And, as there was quite a bit of scar tissue and pelvic injury, I had about 3 weeks of frequent night time urination (my pee volume was quite high, not just my mind thinking I had to go).
I wrapped up PT, but am definitely not 100% on all levels (including my neck). PT indicated that I’m out of the acute phase and the long-term recovery is something like 18-24 months. I’m about 3 months in and am not sure yet where the bike fits in my future. I don’t really think about it anymore even though running is less enjoyable for me. It was a way of life for me prior. Eh, not to sound like an emotional weenie, but it has been more challenging mentally and emotionally than it was earlier on. Perhaps I was thinking that I would hit therapy hard for 2-3 months and then be ‘normal’ after that. Perhaps I am at the stage where I do something different altogether in the next stage of my life.
Hearing others’ experiences has been helpful.
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I def sat next to my bike and cried when trying to get myself going again. Going from a 300+ ftp to not even being able to get your feet over the top of a pedal stroke is mentally destructive.
Take it at your own pace, don’t be afraid to push yourself. I remember when my PT told me the next thing we were going to do was jump from an 8” tall foam block and do a 180 in the air. I thought she was crazy, I did not trust my knee to hold me, but it did.
PT will never end, you will find that after time you will get a niggle here and there and you need to go back to the basics and work it out.
Good luck and much love from someone that has been there.
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