4/09/2012

Hogan report: Broken Clavicle

"Hogan's Heroes"
In my 7 years of cycling, this has been my only major setback. Last weekend in the Marian criterium, I was involved in a bad crash. The field was going pretty hard along the right side of the road, and suddenly there was an attack on the left. I started to jump onto the attacking rider's wheel, and what I believe happened was that another rider, behind me and to the left side, was jumping on his wheel at the same time. We knocked into each other and I was on the ground immediately with no time to react. I hit the ground on my left shoulder, rolled over and skidded along on my back. My instinct was to tuck into the fetal position with my hands on my neck, and that may have saved me from even more serious injuries. I felt a couple more riders hit me, one of them riding over my helmet, before I came to a stop and rolled over onto my right side. At first I just laid there and tried to catch my breath, thinking I might be okay. After I walked to the side of the road, I began assessing the damage, feeling my right collar bone first. Then my left. It was clearly broken, though I didn't know how bad. The trainers wrapped up my arm in a sling and I was off to the hospital. Luckily, the x-rays showed a clean break with no fragments. I was told this type of break would heal on it's own, and as of now I am just in a sling. Hopefully, it'll be 4-6 weeks until I can race again. I am going to see a doctor soon to get a definitive answer, and discuss the option of surgery and if it's a good idea or not. We'll see how things go!
Sent with Reeder



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