So, It’s been almost 8 weeks since I took a spill off my bike on black ice and broke 4 ribs. I’d say I’m almost back to normal. Ribs take a long time to fully heal up, and I still have a tiny bit of discomfort on occasion (mainly in bed and getting up out of bed). All in all though, it’s not too bad, and it’s probably been a month since I took any kind of painkiller.
I first got back on a bike exactly 3 weeks after the accident, and the first couple of weeks on the bike were a mixed bag. On one hand, it was great to be riding again. On the other hand, riding was not always comfortable. My typical bike commute involves a roughly 1-hour ride to work in the morning, followed by a standard 8-hour work day, and then a ½-hour ride home. During those first couple of weeks, there was a distinct pattern: I’d be fine on my morning ride, but on the ride home, I would have pain when I tried to breathe in deeply. The pain was worse on my road bike, which has drop bars. I have to climb a steep hill at the end of my commute home, and on my second day of riding, I couldn’t make it up the hill without stopping a few times, because it hurt too much to breathe in and I couldn’t get enough Oxygen. While still uncomfortable, the pain was a lot more manageable on my mountain bike, which is set up for a more relaxed, upright riding position. After that revelation, I rode the mountain bike pretty much exclusively over the next few weeks.
Thankfully, I’ve healed up now to the point where riding is no longer uncomfortable. I can ride my road bike again with only minor discomfort in the “dropped” position, and no breathing issues. Now I just need to avoid falling down again. At least the weather is getting warmer now, so I shouldn’ t have to worry about ice for awhile.