Fit for the trip
 

The worst possible thing happened to me while riding my daughter's scooter to get in and out of town, a pedestrian took his chances and crossed the road while he had a red light. I could not dodge him and hit the pavement quite hard on my right shoulder and when I got up (too quick!) I felt my collarbone going in all directions.....damn...its broken! After being picked up by the paramedics and being interviewed by the police (including a breathalizer-test) it was off to the hospital Broken indeed.... The thing is I have a trip planned to Turkey in four weeks and all is arranged and planned and it normally takes between four and six weeks for such a break to heal. I managed to persuade the surgeon to speed things up and secure the bone with a small plate and some screws. After this I have another three weeks to heal and hopefully I will be able to ride my bike again. I guess I will be carrying some painkillers on the way and might have to shorten my daily rides as not to force my shoulder too much. I think it is an advantage I ride a cruiser, sitting upright without to much pressure on my arms but it is all wait and see if I can cope.
I wonder if there is someone out there who rode their bikes with a similar injury and might have some tips for me....Cheers, Rob.

What rotten luck. Your shoulder could be a bit stiff for quite awhile. Many months even, especially first thing in the morning. I had the same issue five years ago; still feels stiff from time-to-time, even to this day.

Another potential problem, maybe: if your doctor is not prepared to sign you off as ‘fully recovered’, then how is that going to affect your ability to get travel insurance cover? - that is, always assuming you would ordinarily want to travel with full cover. Just a thought .. :confused1:


.

my experience...
 

In 2009, I broke my clavicle in a bicycling crash, and for a year or more, I had a hard time riding my XR1200 Harley. The problem was the position my shoulder joint was in, on a bike with a slightly leaning forward riding position. My KLR 650 was much more comfortable with the bars closer, which didn't require my shoulder to rotate up as much. My road bicycle was no problem at all, where you reach down. Everyone's injury is different, but for me riding position was all the difference. If it bothers you at first, experiment with the seat to handlebar realationship.