Day 41: A Minor Mishap With Major Consequences: Mission Terminated!

After enjoying a restful night in Tribune, I awoke today ready to bike the 47 miles to Scott City, KS.  There was more motor traffic, including large trucks, along the route so I hugged the median.

At about mile 30, just outside Marienthal, KS, I lost control of the bike when I went off the edge of the median, which had about a 2 inch drop into the adjacent dirt and grass (which is sloped down).  The median for this portion of SR 96 is as narrow as 6 inches wide.  I tried in vain to self-correct and ended up tumbling onto the pavement while traveling at about 15 mph.

In anticipation of the crash, I instinctively rolled onto my right side. I hit the pavement with my right hand, shoulder, hip, and leg.  My helmet protected my head and it sustained very minor scrapes on the right side.

Both the bike and I ended up parallel to the road within the confines of the median and the adjacent grass, with me in front of the bike. One of the front panniers had slid onto the road surface. I had successfully avoided my fear of becoming sprawled out on the highway after a crash!

Right after the crash, I immediately sprang to my feet and did what many cyclists do after a fall:  I checked out the bike first! The two front panniers had been ejected from the bike but sustained no damage.  The bike sustained no damage; I only noted that the two brake levers had rotated inward (and I easily slid them back into position).

By this time, a passing motorist, a young farmer named Cody, stopped to render assistance.  He had observed my crash from the opposite direction. He helped me lift the bike and rotate the tires to ensure that they were not warped.  He also helped me retrieve and reattach the panniers.

Cody was more vigilant about my status than I was.  He noted that I was bleeding from the tip of my pinky finger on my right hand.  He assisted me in performing a head to toe check, where I noted very minor road rash on my right leg, hip, and upper arm.  At this time, I realized that my right shoulder was hurting pretty badly and I surmised that I had re-injured an old rotator cuff tear.

During our initial assessment, I kept hearing an alarm going off.  It dawned on me that it was my Garmin 820 bike computer, which has an accelerometer that triggers an alarm in the event of a crash. I hit the cancel button with 10 seconds to spare.  My wife ended up getting a satellite-generated text indicating that an incident had happened but that I was ok.

Cody offered to take me to where I needed to be.  He said that he was enroute to purchase food for his new calf but was ready to flex his plans to support me. Aside from my shoulder, I felt fine and the bike was fine.  This was the slowest crash I’ve had in my biking experience and I was ready to shake it off and proceed.  

I thanked Cody for his kind assistance and got back on the road.

I completed the 17 remaining miles to Scott City without concern.  I did clip the edge of the narrow median again but this time chose to ride it out into the adjacent grass (I should have done that the first time!).  My right armed stiffened a bit but, having previously raced with a torn rotator cuff, I could deal with it.

When I arrived at Scott City, I went to the Athletic Club, which puts cyclists up in their gymnasium for the night.  I was greeted by Deb.  It’s a very nice facility with a pool, hot tub, exercise equipment, showers, and WiFi. I secured my gear, performed a deeper inspection on the bike (which was amazingly fine), and got cleaned up.  After performing another head to toe check, I only needed a bandage on my pinky finger.

I enjoyed lunch at Tates Restaurant. When I returned to the Athletic Club, Jayden and a group of Westbound TransAmr’s were there. When I described my mishap, one of the new cyclists, named Ben (we both grew up in the same area), noticed a lump on my right shoulder.  He said that I should get it checked out because it looked like a broken clavicle. He showed me the permanent lump on his shoulder from a past injury he had sustained.

At Ben’s suggestion, I did some Internet research and concluded that he was probably right.  Based on my symptoms, I also concluded that I had probably retorn my rotator cuff as well.  I decided to go to the emergency room, but wait until after dinner when the heat of the day had subsided (it was over 100 degrees outside). And it was about 1-1/2 miles to the Scott County Hospital and my only option was to walk (no Uber or taxis; and biking was now out of the question).

Jayden and I went to dinner at Tates Restaurant and walked to the hospital.  The care and compassion shown by the hospital team was first-rate!  The examination and X-ray confirmed Ben’s original diagnosis.  I had fractured (broken) my clavicle.  

I immediately knew that this was a mission terminating diagnosis. Elite cyclists sometimes proceed with a broken clavicle, the most common injury in cycling.  I am not an elite cyclist!  Proceeding with the adventure would exacerbate the injury and complicate the healing process and, likely, threaten my overall health.  And the risk of another fall was too great!

I thought about the TransAm racer from Canada who inspired me with his graciousness in accepting the fate of his achilles injury. I immediately accepted my fate for what it was.  

I called my wife the next morning and said that I was coming home.  I know that she was relieved that I wasn’t more seriously injured. I was too!

As Jayden departed the next morning to continue his adventure, I gave him the American flag off my bike as a sign of our new friendship. I hope to be in Yorktown to greet him as he concludes his challenge to raise awareness about food addition.

Thanks to the superb assistance of Pastor Kyle Evans and his support team at First Baptist Church in Scott City, KS, I was able to fly home the next day from Garden City, KS.  

I met Pastor Kyle when he and his son drove to the hospital to transport me and Jayden back to the Athletic Club. The next afternoon, I was escorted to the airport by Pastor Kyle’s 88-year old father, Mr. George, who is an Army veteran of the Korean War and an amazing and witty farmer.  Pastor Kyle and his team also agreed to pack and ship my bike to me using ShipBikes.com. I am indebted to their selfless support.

I have six to eight weeks of recovery, likely followed by physical therapy.  Treatment consists of an arm sling to mobilize the shoulder, ice packs, and Motrin. I am learning to do things with my left hand, which is a challenge. 

I appreciate everyone’s interest and concern.  In the coming weeks, I will post a summary of this year’s adventure and a review of some of the equipment I used.

As I go through recovery, I will consider options to resume my TransAm adventure next year from Scott City. I also desire to pursue a future trip from Boston to Key West. Please let me know if you want to join in these adventures!

I enjoyed this adventure immensely but it’s good to be home! And I continue to Live the Dream!