# Fractured my clavicle on the American River Bike Trail.



## davidinsac (Nov 2, 2009)

Six days ago I crashed on the trail (dang leaves). Luckily had my helmet on (4 large cracks in that), but not so lucky I ended up being transported to the ER in an ambulance.
I count myself blessed, as all I ended up with was a clean fracture of the clavicle and some icky road rash. And a pretty catchy limp, that will diminish as the sore muscles go away. 
*Wonder if I didn't wear bike shoes (just normal shoes) if I could prevent.*
Bike is still in the shop with a broken rear derailer....for a few days I said "that's it", but now I'm looking to get back on the trail (albeit it'll be a few more weeks).... .


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

That's awful. Hope you get better soon.

I suppose there's a chance that you could have caught yourself if you weren't clipped in, but most likely you would have gone down either way. I've been taking great care on the trails because of the leaves. If I did this more often I would take the mountain bike instead with wide tires and lower pressures. Mostly I'm going to avoid trails altogether on my road bike. I've come off the road bike twice in total. Once was because of a metal expansion joint between a trail and a bicycle bridge, and I fell right on top of the sign that said "slippery when wet".


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## JoelS (Aug 25, 2008)

Wow, there's been a rash of those recently. A fellow I was riding with about 2 weeks ago did the same.


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## bikenerd (Jan 22, 2004)

JoelS said:


> Wow, there's been a rash of those recently. A fellow I was riding with about 2 weeks ago did the same.


You ain't kidding, Joel. TWO of my teammates (both named Jim, both over 65 years old) have crashed solo and broken their collarbones in the last 2 weeks - one on the ARBT also.


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## davidinsac (Nov 2, 2009)

Wow, sorry to hear about those other crashes. I think I will take the advice of ukbloke above, and stick to my 80's Peugot mountain bike during the winter. Not as fun as my roadbike, but likely safer for me.


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## tjjm36m3 (Mar 4, 2008)

davidinsac said:


> *Wonder if I didn't wear bike shoes (just normal shoes) if I could prevent.*


Don't know how fast you were going, but I think if you are going faster than 10mph I doubt with clipless pedals/bike shoes or normal shoes would have made any difference. If you hit sand, oil, leaves, or anything that cause a wheel to slide, you are down before you know what happened. If your rear wheel was the one that slipped, you might save yourself from falling if you have good handling skills. But generally if it's the front wheel that had slipped, you are down with maybe your hand breaking the fall. Hopefully there is no permanent damage.


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## davidinsac (Nov 2, 2009)

I was going closer to 25mph....so I count myself lucky. Possibly the clip shoes helped prevent further injuries; if my legs were flying out could've broken one.


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## shibaman (May 2, 2008)

What part of the trail did you crash on? I was out there last night and at 4pm there was ice on parts of it in the shade. The leaves make the corners very slippery. Get enough and you can't see the trail or side of the road at night.


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## davidinsac (Nov 2, 2009)

Was around mile 22.5, between Sunrise and Hazel.


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## jdmposer (Nov 3, 2009)

speed limit on the trail is 15 mph. thankfully your ignorance didn't hurt anyone else.


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## davidinsac (Nov 2, 2009)

Good point....usually I don't manage that speed (it was downhill & 25 was an approximation). 99% of the time people are passing me as I go along around 15mph. Also, there was nobody else around at the time.


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## shibaman (May 2, 2008)

jdmposer said:


> speed limit on the trail is 15 mph. thankfully your ignorance didn't hurt anyone else.


That is big can of worms to open! Very few people actually go 15 mph. or less. If there are not young kids, or crowds the trail is safe at 20-25. When I am on my single speed I try to maintain 20-22 to get the right spin. 15mph would be too hard on a 42x16 gear set. Geared bike 20-28.


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## jdmposer (Nov 3, 2009)

cyclists are not the only ones on the trail. runners, joggers, hikers, birdwatchers, etc all use the trail.

so what is your point? if everyone was jumping off a cliff would you do it too?

speeding (to me) shows blatant disregard for everyone else on the trail. the trail belongs to everyone, so think of the big picture.


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## JoelS (Aug 25, 2008)

jdmposer said:


> cyclists are not the only ones on the trail. runners, joggers, hikers, birdwatchers, etc all use the trail.
> 
> so what is your point? if everyone was jumping off a cliff would you do it too?
> 
> speeding (to me) shows blatant disregard for everyone else on the trail. the trail belongs to everyone, so think of the big picture.


And if there's no one else on the trail? Moderate your speed appropriately to the traffic level, and your own ability.


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## shibaman (May 2, 2008)

jdmposer said:


> cyclists are not the only ones on the trail. runners, joggers, hikers, birdwatchers, etc all use the trail.
> 
> so what is your point? if everyone was jumping off a cliff would you do it too?
> 
> speeding (to me) shows blatant disregard for everyone else on the trail. the trail belongs to everyone, so think of the big picture.


No, We are not all Lemmings. The trail is safe at speed as long as you watch out for other people. You need to use common sense on the trail, just as you would driving a car on the highway. I have done thousands of miles on the trail during the day, and now in the dark. If you pay attention to people and critters, you are not a hazard going more than 15mph.
This discussion about speed/safety is done. Not going to waste any more time on you.


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## davidinsac (Nov 2, 2009)

Thank you all for your input/advice, at the end of the day, accidents do happen, which was the point of my thread. I had an accident. Just be aware of your surroundings and watch out for wet leaves...  Have a nice weekend all.


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## SwiftSolo (Jun 7, 2008)

jdmposer said:


> cyclists are not the only ones on the trail. runners, joggers, hikers, birdwatchers, etc all use the trail.
> 
> so what is your point? if everyone was jumping off a cliff would you do it too?
> 
> speeding (to me) shows blatant disregard for everyone else on the trail. the trail belongs to everyone, so think of the big picture.


Your post shows a blatant disregard for the conditions / traffic at the time of the accident. It seems to me that you are eager to leap to a lot of conclusions without a clue of the situation. 

Please accept my apology in advance if you were a witness to the event and could see that other users were in danger.


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