When I found out that I had fractured my foot hiking on Memorial Day, I was relieved when the orthopedist told me that cycling should be okay. I upped my indoor cycling schedule to two days a week, and found that it didn’t bother my foot as long as I didn’t spend too much time doing “standing runs.” Riding on the bike path didn’t bother my foot at all, and I was amazed at how fresh my legs felt since they weren’t tired from running.
Well, this weekend I found out that cycling might not be that good for my recovery as the doctor thought, and maybe this summer’s gonna hurt more than I expected!
We were doing an out-and-back from Roosevelt Island to Mt. Vernon–basically the length of the Mt. Vernon Trail. As we approached Mt. Vernon, we noticed how visibly humid it was–it looked foggy in the woods and the pavement looked wet. (^foreshadowing)
My first epic fall came near the Ft. Hunt Park hill. If you run or ride on this part of the Mt. Vernon Trail, you know which one I’m talking about. Heading north, there’s a steep, twisty downhill followed by a flat footbridge, followed by a steep uphill. I came slowly down the hill and was picking up speed on the bridge when my bike slid out from under me! I landed on my side, conked my head (yay for helmets!), and got some road rash on my hip. As I lay on the bridge, I noticed that it was slick with a layer of moisture from the humidity. I guess my bike just lost traction on the slick surface. Once I recovered from the shock of what happened, I figured out that I was OK to keep riding back, and so we did.
My second epic fall came right at the end of our ride, at the Roosevelt Island parking lot. There’s a place where the trail makes a right turn and then ends at the road. As I approached the road, I saw an oncoming bike to my left and an oncoming car to my right, so I stopped suddenly, but I didn’t unclip, so I fell over and landed on my other side. This time I knew that I was going to fall before it happened, but I was too tired to care! Between my first fall, riding 36 miles, and the heat and humidity, I just didn’t care enough to try to unclip at the last second.
Although my second fall was less scary, it was the most frustrating because I let it happen, and because it aggravated my injured foot. My foot had been feeling better, but it was throbbing again. Now I’m back to icing, resting, and wondering how many days this fall set my recovery back.
I really like this Maroon 5 song, but I don’t want to make it my theme song!
[Tweet “Cycling #fail on the Mt. Vernon Trail”]
What’s your favorite summertime song?
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Oh no! Sorry to hear about your falls. Hope this is a minor setback and back on track for a speedy recovery.
Boo to the wipe outs and the broken foot! I’ve spent the good part of 2 summers in a boot, but I cycled through my recovery too. Hopefully you just aggravated your foot. The healing should still be happening. Hang in there!
Thanks. Good point about the healing continuing! I sure hope so!
Oh Coco, so sorry about the falls. Bike accidents are no joke. I’m still quite paranoid after a pretty bad one years ago. I hope it hasn’t set your foot recovery back. Hugs!
Eeeeek, sorry! Not sure if you know, but if you know the roads will be wet, a good tip is to not fill your tires as high, generally 90 psi instead of 100 psi. It helps to get more traction on the wet road. I had to do that at my triathlon on Sunday because it rained that morning.
Keep up the icing, maybe find a pool too! 🙂
You and you’re swimming. 🙂 I try not to ride when the roads were wet – this was just from humidity!
oh no you fell twice?! You know I’ve been there and totally feel you. It will heal quickly if you let it. Want to come join me for a swim sometime? You might like it!
This is exactly why I don’t bike or do tris!
Here’s hoping Wendy’s right & this isn’t a setback.
I fell/flew spectacularly twice on a long run this past fall. Aside from the road rash & bruises, I was fine & definitely lucky.
They do say bad luck comes in 3s so hopefully your luck is about to turn!
Oh gosh, I hope you’re ok too!
Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry you got hurt! I would be incredibly frustrated about that second fall as well. I hope you didn’t have too much of a setback!
Yes, the second fall was inexcusable! Next time I’ll find the energy to unclip!
Oh no! I hope that you’re OK. That’s one reason I don’t like biking so much! I’m terrified of falling – and not unclipping! I hope that your foot is feeling ok too.
Oh, it’s really not THAT bad. It’s a good reminder to be careful though.
NO! THIS IS TERRIBLE NEWS! Biking scares the crap out of me! I had a TERRIBLE experience with a bike about 10 years ago, and since then, SCARRED FOR LIFE! I say you take it easy this summer, it’s better to take it easy for a summer and not continue to hurt yourself further, than to risk it and in fact become permanently injured!
Hah! That’s a good point. I do need to take it easy to recover.
Oh no. I hope your cycling injuries heal quickly. Sorry about the spills.
Ouch! Glad I checked here for the full story. I hope the achy foot is better already and I hope your headache went away. See you next week in Denver!! But, I guess this means no running there, huh?
Oh, never say never! I might be up for a short run by next week. 🙂
oh man.
we have matching knees (although mine is FAR LESS SEXY A STORY!).
see you soon.
walk with you soon?
Oh no, that looks painful 🙁 I hope the icing helped and that you’re back on the track to recovery.
Awww…I hate that you fell and aggravated your foot. Here’s hoping your recovery goes quickly.
Thanks. It’s feeling back to as “better” as it was before the falls already. Now to just get it better before I do anything else. 😉
Oh no!!! I hope you are ok!! Clip-ins on a road bike scare me, I’m not sure I could handle them. I would ended up falling constantly I’m sure. REST up that foot! We need you in tip top shape for Ragnar!
Honestly, I wouldn’t give up the clip-ins — I feel so much stronger when I’m clipped in.
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So sorry about the falls. Indoor cycling would be safer while healing up.
Five weeks in boot when my tibial had the stress fracture, it is a pain, but worth it to rest. My legs felt so wonderful when I returned to running, it is a wonderful refreshed feeling after a period of rest.
Take care
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