bicycling
15. August, 00:49 Uhr
Images here [https://imgur.com/a/Q1MTB33](https://imgur.com/a/Q1MTB33)
Background. I've been riding bicycles being a kid, and got my first serious road bike in 2016 - Trek Emonda ALR 5 with all Shimano 105s. Lately, I've been doing cycling more frequently with the WFH situation. Because of spending more time on the road, I'd been getting more and more incidents. Several flat tires, chain falling off, chain breaking (not knowing to replace the break pin). Now I always carry a hex set, spare tube, tire pump, patches, and tire change tools. One time shifting front and back at the same time and rear deraileur jammed in the back wheel. But never had a serious fall, and so I considered myself a decent rider.
Anyways, about the accident... I was biking in SF with a friend and we were near the Sunset District. We passed by Stern Grove Dog Park and I wanted to check it out, around 5:40 pm now. There was a large downhill road which was curvy. I thought this would be fun to let it rip, and go down fast. See 37.735949, -122.483084 [https://goo.gl/maps/UySBVFPzSZF49LDG7](https://goo.gl/maps/UySBVFPzSZF49LDG7).
The hill is quite steep. As I was half way down, \~ 25-30 mph, a speed bump rapidly approached. I didn't see this ahead of time enough, as I didn't notice any speed bump signs, and the bump was only on the right side of the road, hidden behind a curve. My bike was thrown up, causing me to swaying left and right to try and catch my balance. I squeezed both my brakes hard, but as and combined with the swaying motion I lost control and fell on my left shoulder. Must have tumbled several times and landed in a sitting position. I wanted to stand up, but immediately the pain hit me and it was just so painful. Hadn't realized I broke my collar bone yet, just saw all the road rash on my fingers - to the point where the skin was white underneath. I couldn't lift my arm, and felt my shoulder painful. I thought I might have dislocated my arm, and felt bumps in my collar bone. I knew I had broken some bones when feeling my shoulder was jagged. My friend made me get up saying there was a car waiting to go pass and I was in the middle of the road.
I stood up to move over to the side and immediately got blurry vision, vertigo, and right and left eye could not keep focus. Feels like my head was spinning, kind of like that feeling when you spin around too much and suddenly stand still.
Laid down, was about to pass out from pain, and my friend called ambulance. They arrived relatively quick, 10 minutes or so. I was shivering uncontrollably, may be caused by adrenaline or cold from being on the ground. They put me in a stretcher, taped my head down, and got in the vehicle. I figure it's about 6pm now.
The most painful thing I remember was being in the ambulance, and trying not to move my shoulders because of the most terrible pain I've ever felt. Every road bump and turn was torture. I could feel my bones grinding whenever I moved. Feels like holding on dear life. The EMT responder said it was a good thing I wore my helmet because it saved me from a concussion and also probably saved my life. It took about 30 minutes to get to Kaiser Permanente San Francisco. It felt forever. Might be around 6:30pm now.
I was put in triage, they took my heart rate and temperature. Probably determined I wasn't that urgent, because it was about 45 minutes of painful waiting and still tied to a hard stretcher and placed on a hospital bed. No field dressing on my hands, no pain medication. About 7:15pm a doctor came by and diagnosed me, asking if I lost consciousness, checking if I had any spinal pains and could feel/wiggle my toes. Then said I probably just have a clavicle fracture (same meaning as broken collarbone) and scheduled me to X-rays. Injected me a pain reliever, which kicked in about 5 min. Put lidocaine jelly on my road rashes to numb the pain.
About 7:30 pm I went to get X-rays to my shoulder. And about 8pm the doctor came back and said your clavicle is fractured in 2 places, so you have 3 pieces of bone. Said it would heal naturally without surgery! And the road rashes will heal fine too.
Prescribed me bunch of gauze pads and Xeroform soaked pads, change once or twice a day after washing wound with soap and water. And an arm brace to keep my arm and shoulder fixed so the bones can find each other. It would be 4 - 6 weeks for the bones to heal, and 30 days for road rashes. Also said it was good to be wearing a helmet, because it was cracked and fairly damaged. Had a nurse clean and dress my wounds, and I checked out of the hospital around 8:50 pm.
As I got home and checked my bike, the frame was bent and beat shifters were beat up pretty bad. I'm glad my head is alright. Looking to get back into cycling again once I heal.
Reminder to always wear your helmet! Ideally full gloves and clothing to protect arms and knees from road rashes. When you fall, try to find a nice soft area, and tumble to lose your speed. Also don't be stupid and go fast on a new route you've never done before. Stay safe out there!