On 21th September 2024 I was logged in to Iroman Italy. My training was going to plan and I was building up my fitness constantly. Then on the 1th August I had an accident. As usual I was riding my road race bike to work as suddenly I found myself lying on the street. Was has happened and why had I to postpone Ironman Italy 2024?

The Ride

My plan was to ride one hour with 10 x 1 minute intervalls. The weather was great, warm, dry and the sun was already up. I went on my normal loop, which I have done quite often. For reasons I no longer understand, I drove the lap in reverse. In the final 1 minute intervall, I went around a corner with quite some speed (> 35km/h). There she was sitting on the side of the road.

The Cat

Already at the beginning of the corner I saw the cat sitting right on the edge of the road on the gras. I hoped that she would stays there. Nope, on the contrary, he/she jumped off like he/she had been bitten by a tarantula. Before I could do anything, like brake or swerve, I was already on the ground. The cat probably ran into my front wheel and the wheel then slipped.

The Fall

I was down in the drop bars and leaning heavily, when the front wheel was ripped away. In a fraction of a second I hit the ground and slid several meters across the entire width of the street. The one good thing was that there were no cars driving in oncoming traffic.

First check

When I finally stopped slipping, I immediately stood up and checked myself for injuries. The whole right side was hurting. Especially the hip and the shoulder, but I couldn’t find any abrasions. Neither on the leg, nor on the arm, nor on the shoulder. The cycling clothes were also still completely intact. I then started picking up my things from the street. The bottle had fallen out of its holder. My smartphone was in the side pocket of the backpack and also on the ground, but unharmed. And there were also parts of my helmet that had broken off, which was strange because I hadn’t realized that my helmet had touched the ground when I fell. Then I checked my bike. It looked allright and I continued my ride to work, which was only a couple of kilometer away. By the way, the cat was long gone and never seen again. I think that he/she was fine.

The Pain

The pain in my shoulder got worse while cycling and maybe it wasn’t my shoulder that hurt. The backpack strap was directly over the painful area and I began to realize that maybe it was my collarbone that was causing trouble. At work I changed my clothes, which was very difficult, because I couldn’t lift my arm. I asked a colleague to take me to the hospital.

The Hospital Part I

In the emergency room I was immediately sent for an x-ray, but they thought it was the shoulder and took the wrong photos. After looking at the pictures, the doctor sent me back for an X-Ray to take pictures of the collarbone. Then it was clear that it was broken. The doctor said that it needed to be fixed with a plate and screws. The operation was scheduled for the next day and after some paperwork, I was sent home. Sorry what? Yes you can’t stay over night. Okay so I went home and had a terrible night, but at least in my bed.

The Hospital Part II

I was supposed to arrive at 6:30 am and then I would be scheduled for surgery. Which was then a 11:30 am. I was operated on under general anesthesia and a metal plate with eight screws now fixes my collarbone. The whole thing has to stay in there for at least 1 year. After the successful operation, I had to spend one night in the hospital to make sure everything was okay. The next day a doctor examined me briefly and I was able to go home.

Sick Note and Physiotherapy

From my doctor I got a 10 working days sick note. She recommended to take it easy and stay away from cycling at least a month. In addition she presciped me physiotherapy two times a week. After two weeks I finally got the 31 brackets pulled out, which where holding the wound together. Physiotherapy worked very well. The main reason was because the metal plate and screws held the bone together and therefore I could move my arm normally.

Running, Cycling, Swimming and Strength Training

Already in the first week after the operation I went out for walks. In the second week I added short run walks (1min running, 1min walking) and after the 10 days sick leaf, I went back to work on my wife’s Dutch bike. After fours weeks I got the permission from my doctor to go back into the water, for more than a shower and I started swimming with breaststrokes in the Lake of Constance. Which was very nice in late summer. The physiotherapist showed me several exercises to strengthen my shoulders and make them more flexible, which helped a lot in the recovery. At later I restarted my training for triathlon races.

Final Thoughts

Was the accident bad luck, fate, karma or even luck, because something worse might have happened, if it hadn’t happened? Who knows and at the end it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’m still able to do what I love, sports of all different kind. Sure I had to postpone Ironman Italy, but this year the race is still waiting for me. See you hopefully at the starting line.