Crash Report Tim Cronk 2013
Thought this might be helpful to the Team.
I had a big bike week planned for this week leading into IMMT. Tuesdays longer ride got cut short due to Heather getting double flats and 2 sliced tires. Yesterdays longer ride was cut short due to me crashing. We went to North Conway to ride with a friend and planned a 4 hr ride with travel a 6 hr day total. Turned into a 10 hour ordeal , while our 4 month old new puppy was left home (in a contained space with piddle pads, water, and his den) for way too long. He let us know by chewing drywall, baseboard, doorframe .... LOL just things.
What Happened? In a nutshell it was stupidity and poor choices that could have been prevented. Ride was going extremely well and was riding mostly at .70-75 but hit one 20min strava section hard over FTP. Then I was back into .70-.75 mode and actually riding below that still waiting to recover. I was on a narrow back road approaching a car in front of me , the car kept slowing down, I thought he saw me and was slowing for me to pass, this was on a little downhill with a short up hill right after that, I went by him in the hoods and when I hit the bottom of the small hill there was a compression that simply stripped me off the bike forward before I even knew what happend. I never saw it coming at all, but knew what happened immediately, and was aware that any traffic coming the other way would not see me, I was struggling to get up and off the road as fast as possible, the guy who I passed stopped and helped me. From the top speed in excess of 30mph on my garmin 500 and 910 just prior to the crash to the time I shut the computers off was 44 seconds.... so from 30mph to zero pretty quick... Then I got really dizzy and started to feel the pain in my shoulder... The motorist was willing to help me and take me to the hospital.. We waited a few minutes for Heather to catch up and let her know... She road back got the car, friend, returned for my bike and then met us at the hospital... Chris the motorist a ski patrol, first responder put me in a sling, in the car with his two big friendly dogs and took me to the hospital. I made sure to get his number (he is a rock climber and I plan on giving him a bunch of gear that I have to pay it forward)... In the hospital xrays on the knee, hip , pelvis, shoulder , chest , and elbow....Lots of good abrasions and a broken collarbone in 2 places..Actually got dizzy and passed out during xrays.. I maybe a candidate for surgery and wlll go see a orthopedic this week.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/344631874
What went wrong? Hands extremely sweaty from riding over 2 hours , bar tape extremely sweaty , glasses sweaty and fogged impairing vision, road mottled sunshine and shade impairing vision. Stupid decision to pass the car under any conditions unless he were actually waving me by , he told me he never saw me when I thought he was slowing for me... I never said I was smart.... If he wasnt there it still could have happened but we will never know (i also would have been in aero)Chris also said it looked like the front wheel went in a rut and yanked sideways???? I wanted to go back to the scene and take a look but was in a hurry to get home.... So the impaired vision (not seeing the compression) combined with slick hands and hoods simply stripped me off the front of the bike. Again none of this is a good reason for poor judgement on my part.
I'll be seeing a doc about surgery... Sitting out IMMT in 4 weeks but will be there as a sherpa to Heather and support for the rest of EN team racing... KONA and IMFL still plenty of time...
My original plan was to race IMMT hard , recover , train back up for KONA but use KONA as a RR for IMFL only 3 weeks later.... I want KONA to be a good experience and to enjoy the day , trying to save my race for IMFL... Will probably go with the same approach minus the IMMT.
Coach P we can talk about a plan when I get an idea as to the recovery of this surgery or not! Thanks for calling last night.
Any of the doc's care to give there opinion on surgery?
Coach P we can probably talk about my training
Comments
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Best of Luck.
John
I feel your pain.
Went to the ortho today. The break is offset by a little over 2cm with a small piece of bone perpendicular (3 pieces) doc was confident I would heal fine without surgery do to my risk category and fitness etc. Said it would just grow bone all around it and be fine but some complain later about strength and endurance.
Then he said I would heal quicker, with less pain, and more likely to regain strength and endurance with the surgery. I ELECTED SURGERY next week sometime it will be scheduled.... Followed up with PT , normally doesnt like to see patients raise there hands above their heads for 8 weeks.... So if I need to go the full 8 weeks that would still give me 3 weeks swimming pre-KONA..... works for me
Ugg, this sucks!! I honestly don't think I can name a local cycling friend, male or female, who has NOT broken their clavicle. Be sure to have a conversation about limitations, timelines, what you can and can't do, etc. In my experience, the comeback to running can be surprisingly long, as docs don't want your arm swinging.
Standing by for bike, Broken Tim, X-ray and post-surgery loopy pics!
Try and get on the trainer ASAP just to spin the pedals. I actually wore my sling and just sat up and pedaled. It hurt too much to lean over to grab the bar. It did wonders for me mentally and kept the fitness slide to a minimum....
Best of luck.
Great write-up, and yes, it's instructive to all of us to remember to prioritize safety when not racing
I hope everything heals up quickly and that you're back in the game soon
Way to piece together a plan for the rest of the season - wouldn't expect any less, but it's still inspiring
Out on the canada course today. Tough course. Had a high speed shimmy incident. Somehow kept upright. Scary. So, for now, intact clavicle.
Glad things pretty much ok otherwise with you.
Tim,
Again sorry to hear about the crash but it just highlights how fast this can happen.
Well the good news is it seems you will have some swim time before Kona. Also we know what you can do on the trainer. I assume you will have some time on that as you get back to biking. Probably not what you wanted to hear given how much trainer work you did already this season but better than nothing.
Gordon
Tim,
So sad to hear about your accident.
I believe you're making the right decision about getting a plate.
I broke my clavicle twice - the first break was much like yours- complex- two places with some displacement.I had surgery and came back to our sport pretty quick. I eventually had the plate removed but crashed a second time 3 months before IM Wisconsin and had another plate reinserted and again came back fairly quickly with minimal pain.After 3 years I still have the plate
.
I'm not an orthopedic surgeon but I am a physician (vascular surgeon). Here's the deal: if the clavicle fracture is "simple" and you've got time and plenty of patience it will heal on it's own (in the 70's when I was in medical school the adage was that clavicle fractures will heal if both ends are in the same room). However if you have a more complex fracture and a pressing athletic "agenda" (your situation) it's my opinion (first hand experience) that you'll do better with surgery. Be certain your surgeon is experienced - you'll want locking screws (I didn't have that with my first plate and when I did Lake Placid I had one screw just about popping out my skin).
Best of luck.
Why were you wearing your Wingspan on a training ride? I only use my aero helmet for races...something about The Rules and being a Fred.
Sorry to hear about your crash. Your right up does emphasize the importance of staying focus on your surroundings while training. Hope you heal quickly and I'll see you at IMFL.
Reference the Rudy Wingspan while training.... I ride in it all the time for of all things vision... In the aero bars normal helmets block my vision too much... I also leave my aero wheels on year round (now it because my FELT's brakes would have to be re-adjusted everytime i changed wheels) before it was because I am too lazy to change them... Heck I even leave my disc cover on most of the time even though I know your not supposed to....I am considering 2 new back FLO wheels , a disc and a 90 , so that I could set the brakes , swap wheels at will. FWIW , never been one much for rules and I dont give a flying f@#k what anyone thinks when they see me training with an aero helmet, disc wheel, and a longsleeve shirt!
@All again thanks for the continued good wishes and MOJO!
Tim, holy crap! So sorry about the crash. Hope you heal fast, and can be patient to let it heal! I had a similar one last year, 30+mph to zero in yards. But I was lucky enough not to break my clavicle, just shattered my helmet, destroyed my carbon frame, and peeled of a bunch of skin. My lesson learned: Use LOTS of neosporin on road rash, it really works to heal fast and solid, spots I negelected took 2-3 times longer to heal up. Hang in there!