Hey folks. Bad news...Met an angry jack russell head-on saturday morning....I got the worst of it.

Over the bars and onto the tarmac of course. Left collarbone snapped. Nice little emergency room trip. Ortho seems to think that no surgery is necessary and recommends wearing the "8" brace and a sling for the arm. I'm not currently wearing the sling, at work today, but I do wear it quite a bit. Just not comfortable for me. Of course, neither is the "8", but it's serving a purpose. anyway, I want to get this thing healed completely, so is the arm sling a MUST, or can i ditch it at some point?

Also, I have the homeowner's insurance information on the dog, as they were standing in the yard when it happened, and my co-riders assisted. Nice people, and I'm sure they are sorry. Looks like the bike will need new forks and some cosmetic repairs, but wheels stayed in shape, with a bit of truing. I imagine my health insurance is going to cover me pretty well, but should I approach the homeowners about my out-of-pocket costs related to the bike and co-pays? Everyone in my circle of riding folks seems to think so...

Input appreciated...

I was told that the braces and slings are for comfort. they do not speed healing. I understand that if the ligaments and tendons are holding things well enough to avoid surgery, that's that, and, if not, that's that, too.
I think that, if the homeowners were allowing the dog to run around loose on the street, they are negligent, and the claim is appropriate. I am not, however, famous for being a dog lover, and in some circles I think that allowing loose dogs is not considered negligent. They also likely will contend that you contributed to the event through your negligence, thereby reducing (or, in some instances eliminating) their responsibility, although, what were you supposed to do?

as for getting on the trainer -- I did that . . . bad thing you did . . . just about a year ago. I got on the trainer within probably a week.
I made the mistake of keeping my arm too confined, and things got pretty stiff. I am not positive what difference it would have made to keep things looser, having little point of reference, but I have to say that the whole experience sucked rather badly. In the past year, I've broken a pelvis (two non-displaced fx's), a sacrum (hairline), wrist (small avulsion), and a clavicle (left distal, comminuted), and the clavicle sucked the hardest.

I would say their homeowner's claim should cover your bike too.

I would recommend that you get on the trainer immediately. If you can't support yourself with one arm, then ride sitting up and work on your core strength until you can support yourself one-handed. One of the most important factors in speeding healing is keeping the blood flow up. Riding a trainer (or walking) are good ways to do this. It will really help the bone heal faster. This is experience talking!

Sorry to hear that, I feel your pain. After I broke mine I was told I could get on the trainer but put no pressure on that arm as soon as I felt up to it (took me about a week to recover from all the bumps, bruises, soreness, etc.). Three different specialists told me the same thing. It was about 6 weeks before I was allowed to put pressure on that arm. If you have an upright stationary it's much easier to deal with as riding the trainer gets rough on the one good arm.

. . . it's true that I always felt better after getting on the trainer, with an improvement in stiffness and soreness, but I still would say give it a week. your body got rocked -- give it a chance to recover. or at least start out really really light, with blood flow being your only goal, for a week or two. You may be tempted to go harder after warming up, but, you know, give it a little time.

Thanks for the input folks. I feel like a slug not being able to run, bike, do anything I enjoy. It's really hard for a cardio freak like me to not really be able to do his thing. I guess it's in my best interest at least for now to just take it easy and not overdo the exercise bit. I want to get better.

Good thing is that my road rash is basically non-existent. Three small scrapes, each the size of a quarter or less, on my shoulder, elbow and side of my knee. Treating them all with antibacterial and a band-aid. That's the saving grace in this I suppose. Well, and the fact that I was wearing my helmet (which I 100% of the the time do anyway). The helmet cracked in two from the impact, and I had no ill effects from that whack at all. I believe in helmets, and my 7 year old at home believes in them too. I plan on sending my helmet back to Bell with a check for $35.00 as directed in their owner's manual, to cover a new helmet. I will also enclose a brief letter describing my accident.

I'm getting a new fork out of the deal for my bike as well. I ordered a Ritchey WCS Carbon Pro as the factory FELT carbon fork can't be ordered easily. That will go on the bill as well. I've got a bit of discomfort right now, mainly while sleeping, but I'm going to survive.

I will admit I'm going to have some trepidation about getting back out on the roads soon though.

Broke my left clavical (for the 2nd time) last summer at Texas World Speedway when I a lowsided my bike at about 95mph. Wore the sling for about 2 days then just didnt use it for a week or so. 2 weeks after the crash i was bake at the track. I just drank alot of water and ate alot of protien. My shoulder was a little sore but after 2 weeks i was back to using my left arm as much as i could and everything healed up fine.