So, here’s the picture. I was 4 weeks into SSB2 everything going well. Went out for a ride last Friday and had a brilliant ride. Took my prescribed workout outside and smashed it. Once I got back home, I decided to cool down for a bit so went for a few recovery miles around town.
On my way home, going downhill at 25+mph a car pulls out of a junction, she looks at me and freezes, stopping dead. I smash into the side of the car and everything goes black.
I woke up with a police woman holding my neck still, telling me not to move and the emergency services all over the place. To cut a long story short I was then taken to hospital and luckily (or not) my shoulder had taken most of the impact but smashed the window. I had a ct scan in hospital and my helmet did it’s job fantastically!!!
Luckily I was discharged with a concussion but no broken bones. Bike is a bit broken but visually it looks ok…this will be inspected shortly.
Annnnyway. My real question is about picking things back up in a few weeks. Should I start SSB2 at the beginning or perhaps just do some easy workouts to get back into things and then resume where I left off?
Not anticipating to be back on the bike for another week or two so hopefully I don’t lose too much fitness etc but it’s so frustrating not being able to train!!!
The consensus with head injuries seems to be to wait, then wait some more. I thought I was fine 2 weeks after my crash but in the end it took me 6 weeks before I felt ready to train (although I did do a few ‘soul’ rides before that). Every head injury is different, but everyone I’ve spoken to who has suffered one has been surprised by how long the recovery can take so please do be patient.
#1: Glad you survived and escaped with only a concussion.
#2: Listen to your doctor and do exactly as they say. I had a friend have a similar accident and it took him a full year before he was able to do sweet spot work without a headache. On the positive side, after he fully recovered, he kicked my ass on a regular basis for the entire next season.
Glad you’re alive. I’m a surgeon but not a neurologist so don’t take my word as gospel.
Don’t dismiss the severity of a concussion. You will have some lingering effects for a few weeks or months. Be very cautious. You’re not a pro and your livelihood doesn’t depend on your sport so don’t do what NFL players do and just take a week or 2 off. Think of a concussion as a brain sprain and it takes weeks to heal from that. Many studies show months. What you don’t want to do is aggravate or impede healing. SSB2 has a lot of VO2 and threshold work which will elevate your BP and hence intracranial pressure. If I were you, I would do easy stuff and traditional base may be best here. Don’t be afraid to cut the long rides short, especially the first 4-6 weeks.
I’m thinking broken bones would have been more lucky.
A concussion is not something to treat lightly; the unfortunate part is that it’s very individual as to healing and return to play.
I also got hit by a car & suffered a concussion. I was out for 2 months before being cleared by my doc — about a month longer than what I thought I required.
Forget about bike riding and focus on healing your head, no matter how long it takes.
I’ve had multiple friends go back to training/sports soon after getting concussions, and it was a huge mistake - delayed their recovery, lasting neurological symptoms, headaches, the whole deal. Really scary. As much as it sucks to say it, I wouldn’t go near the bike for a while. Once you do start you should probably only do very easy rides for a bit to gauge how you feel. I imagine jumping right back into SSB might cause problems. Of course this depends a lot on the nature of your injury and you should listen to your doctor. Glad you’re okay!
I couldn’t ride right now even if I wanted to as I think I’ve damaged my shoulder worse than originally though!! Plus my bike is a wreck and I don’t have another. Perhaps this will stop me from jumping back in to early.
First, the good news! You are ok and appear to not have suffered any permanent physical injuries, this is the most important thing.
The second piece of good news is that you should be covered by the driver’s auto insurance for both your medical bills and your bike damage. Obviously this will vary by location, but in the US it is fairly common to get full replacement value for any components damaged in a crash with an automobile. While you’re busy recuperating you should also be starting to figure out what it will cost to buy new replacements for everything damaged in the crash (helmet, wheels, frame, groupset). It will be a hassle to deal with auto insurance for bike value on high end bikes, but usually a quote from your local bike shop carries a lot of weight around the total replacement cost.
Now for the bad news - you shouldn’t do much (if any) physical activity until concussion symptoms are gone. If they come back when you start training - shut it down again and wait. It is frustrating and time consuming but it is your mental health - it is better to wait and be sure. For my last concussion I was able to do long easy rides, but nothing hard (not even sweet spot) - so I transitioned to traditional base and then introduced sweet spot as I gained confidence in my recovery. When in doubt on this - wait, talk to your doctor, then wait some more