Can anyone recommend a solicitor

[pete75]

That's quite ok. Old is merely an accurate description. Fact: I reach my three score and ten in September. Two coast to coast runs to celebrate.

Ah - well - I've got over five years on you - tha's nobbut a yungun' then!

So you could be oldjohnwsenior.

Or , in Lincolnshire dialect, owdjohnw

[Oldjohnw]

Ah - well - I've got over five years on you - tha's nobbut a yungun' then!

So you could be oldjohnwsenior.

Or , in Lincolnshire dialect, owdjohnw

Or in my native dialect: auldjohnw.

[magri21]

thanks to all for the advice, I am looking into it.

It did happen in England and I was injured (broken collar bone and fingers)

Sadly I have quit cycling as the fear now is too much to ride a bike

[mjr]

Sadly I have quit cycling as the fear now is too much to ride a bike

Would you consider contacting the local council or a Bikeability trainer or maybe even a local social cycling group to see if they have any bike buddies who might help you get back on the bike? I know the fear is really understandable after such an awful experience, but not cycling reduces your life expectancy much more than cycling so it's worth overcoming it and being able to enjoy cycling again.

[JohnW]

.............Sadly I have quit cycling as the fear now is too much to ride a bike

I'm really sorry to hear that magri - I hope that you can overcome this fear and continue with a lifetime of wonderful pleasure. The longer you leave it, the harder it will be. I've had a few enforced lay-offs while bones healed, but all the time the one thing I had in mind was getting back on my bike. On one occasion I came back the day after the doctors said it was OK to cycle again, and the last 30 or 40 miles back home were difficult. I had inter alia a broken collarbone and getting out of the saddle and pulling up on the bars was impossible for me at the time.

Do persevere though - can you find a local group, even an erstwhile CTC group, to ride with?

Best of luck, and be encouraged.

[gbnz]

I've had a few enforced lay-offs while bones healed.... broken collarbone and getting out of the saddle and pulling up on the bars was impossible for me at the time

Apologies for reopening a thread, but how long did your recovery from a broken collarbone take? I.e. as in being able to ride to a certain extent and/or having a full blown, hard pushed ride?

[JohnW]

I've had a few enforced lay-offs while bones healed.... broken collarbone and getting out of the saddle and pulling up on the bars was impossible for me at the time

Apologies for reopening a thread, but how long did your recovery from a broken collarbone take? I.e. as in being able to ride to a certain extent and/or having a full blown, hard pushed ride?

Oh gosh, that's a hard one to answer.
I was initially being cautious and gentle with myself.
I never started riding out of the saddle again - I'd developed a position and technique that didn't require it and I was back on 150ish mile rides within a few months.
If I'd been a racing man I'd have forced the issue.
Remember, however, that I was 61 when the prang happened.
I was passed for riding again by the doctors sometime in August 2005,I would say that I was otherwise back to normal riding FOR ME before Christmas 2005.
Does any of that help at all?
"Full blown, hard pushed riding"????...............I'd stopped time-trialling before the prang.
But honestly, within the a year I'm sure that there were no ill effects except dull aches, and except from the breakages of my skull.
It's a long tome ago - I've had another prang since then! (only my leg was broken though, in that one).

[JohnW]

.....................
....................Sadly I have quit cycling as the fear now is too much to ride a bike

I was determined that wouldn't happen.
Part of it is frame of mind.

[gbnz]

I've had a few enforced lay-offs while bones healed.... broken collarbone and getting out of the saddle and pulling up on the bars was impossible for me at the time

Apologies for reopening a thread, but how long did your recovery from a broken collarbone take? I.e. as in being able to ride to a certain extent and/or having a full blown, hard pushed ride?

n I'd developed a position and technique that didn't require it and I was back on 150ish mile rides within a few months.
If I'd been a racing man I'd have forced the issue.
Remember, however, that I was 61 when the prang happened.
I was passed for riding again by the doctors sometime in August 2005,I would say that I was otherwise back to normal riding FOR ME before Christmas 2005.
Does any of that help at all?

Thanks, sounds pretty promising! Can't see myself doing any 150 mile rides over the winter, so looks like I'll have loads of time for recovery (Though swimming, serious gymming and running may be blocked for a bit)

[JohnW]

Apologies for reopening a thread, but how long did your recovery from a broken collarbone take? I.e. as in being able to ride to a certain extent and/or having a full blown, hard pushed ride?

n I'd developed a position and technique that didn't require it and I was back on 150ish mile rides within a few months.
If I'd been a racing man I'd have forced the issue.
Remember, however, that I was 61 when the prang happened.
I was passed for riding again by the doctors sometime in August 2005,I would say that I was otherwise back to normal riding FOR ME before Christmas 2005.
Does any of that help at all?

Thanks, sounds pretty promising! Can't see myself doing any 150 mile rides over the winter, so looks like I'll have loads of time for recovery (Though swimming, serious gymming and running may be blocked for a bit)

I hope all goes well for you.

You've re-kindled my memory with this. I've consulted my diary. The prang I've referred to was actually early June 2006 (not 2005 as previously stated), which means that I was 62 at the time. I find that I have some other 'facts' to correct.

My first ride after being 'released' by the doctors was to watch a local 130 mile (200k) Audax finish on 20th August - I'd have been riding it but for the prang.

It was on a longish, and intermittently quite steep, climb a couple of weeks later that really troubled me (for anyone who knows the area, it was the climb up from Cliviger to the Long Causeway). The pain/discomfort and sense of weakness were a revelation, I can tell you.

My first subsequent 100miler was on October 14th. My first 142 miler was recorded in April the following year (i.e. into summer time).

With collar bone/shoulder bone injuries I don't think I'd have been swimming as quickly as cycling.

What I didn't say was that the prang happened in early June and it took longer for all my other injuries (as distinct from collar bone) to recover enough for the medics to give me the all clear to start again. The collar bone was not the worst of the injuries. A drop in general fitness following three months inactivity was a bigger issue.

I hope this does help - don't be despondent, but do as the doctors tell you and don't force it - I'm sure you'll be fine.
I was just longing to get out again on the bike.

I really cannot say ANYTHING BUT GOOD about the medics who sorted me out.