Given a total load of about 200 pounds and a road bike with tires inflated to a pressure of about 100 psi, approximately 2 square inches of rubber are in contact with the road. Riding a mountain bike with tires pumped to about 50 psi, a 200 pound load would result in about 4 square inches of rubber on the road.

In winter, with more rubber on the ground and knobby mountain bike tires, one gives up a bit of speed while expecting that more rubber on the road will soften the ride and also increase traction. Ice, however, can quickly and dramatically dispel the illusion of increased traction.

The day before Thanksgiving, I was riding to work on my mountain bike. Instead of going straight down our road to Seminole Highway, which was totally clear of snow, I went down a back way and soon noticed that I was on snow with ice underneath. With very little warning the bike slipped and I made a two point landing on my left hip and shoulder. I was a little sore from the fall, but not too bad. Having only fallen once in the last few years, prior to this slip, somehow I got the idea that I’d be OK if I was just extra careful – so I got back on the bike, instead of walking the 200 yards or so to a clear road. As I got close to Seminole, there was one of those patches of well polished ice – the kind you find near intersections where some drivers stand on their gas pedals and spin their wheels.  In a split second the bike went out from under me and I hit the road again. My hands were still on the handlebars as I went down and must’ve turned the wheel in a last second attempt to steer out of the fall, so I hit the road while executing a one point landing on my right thumb

One might call the experience RRFUG for two reasons.

• Radically Reduced Friction and Undiminished Gravity – put me on the ground with remarkable speed and finality.  Yet another reminder from Mother Nature, “Gravity – it’s the law!”


• The sounds that came out of my mouth shortly after hitting the ground had some phonetic similarity to RRFUG… starting with “Aaarrrrrrrrrrrgh!”

There was no doubt that this fall was a “game over” end of riding for a while – the right thumb was completely non-functional. I walked back home, called my doctor and drove to the clinic. X-rays showed an obvious fracture of the right thumb, just above the wrist. My doctor called a hand specialist and I was directed to immediately come in and get fitted for a temporary splint and see a surgeon on Monday.

Our team was again entered in the Berbee Derby on Thanksgiving. Since I'm one of the charter members and stastician for Team ARGH (last year we were the ARGHonuts), I couldn’t miss our annual run. I went to the race and completed the 5K with a combination of jogging and walking. My neighbor John, who plans to build a new garage next to his house (while his neighbor Don thinks it’s going to be an apartment complex, some of us suspect a taco stand), was the announcer for the race. He recognized me with fully amplified comments like, “here comes Jim – hey, Jim, why are you walking?”

At dinner, I could neither carve the turkey nor help with the dishes – all I could do was eat and drink. I played John McCain to Sandy’s Sarah Palin – she cut the meat for me.

On Monday more X-rays showed that the broken pieces were not exactly lined up at the base of the thumb...

so a surgeon pinned the pieces into their correct places on Tuesday morning.

The bandages came off the next week, they took a new X-ray and I got a new splint to protect the pins.

As you can see, the thumb was basically cross-nailed – one pin to hold the thumb pieces in place and another to immobilize it.

While not a big fan of most Christmas songs, I found a few jingles running thru my head in December.

All I want for Christmas
is a good right thumb,
a good right thumb,
not a pie with a plumb,
a good right thumb,
a ruppa bum bum
ruppa bum bum
me and my thumb.

For the next 4 weeks I cleaned the pins and their entry points with peroxide to reduce the chances of infection.  Almost 5 weeks after surgery, the pins came out. Removal with pliers was not bad – I’m just glad he didn’t use a claw hammer. I kept the pins as mementos. The short one that joined the two thumb pieces is about 1.7” long. The one that went across to the next finger is 2.7” long and thinner – I managed to bend that one before it came out, probably when I slipped while walking and a reflex attempted to close my hand. The short one is in my office bulletin board – maybe I’ll use the longer one to nail the splints to the garage wall, near my bike.

After the pins were out we began therapy – working on mobility and eventually strength. It’s not a quick process, but I’m still working on the thumb and wrist.  The left shoulder is also still a bit cranky. In my current location on the age graph, quicker to injure and slower to heal are the consequences of increasing maturity. Clearer thinking and wiser decisions are not automatic side effects.

In March I hope to get back on the road bike and, given clear roads, ride some hills with my buds, getting ready for another season of fun biking. Some days it can be cool zipping down the hills – but since I haven’t been on a bike since before Thanksgiving there is some extra insulation to keep me warm.

February 26, 2009