Rebuild after breaking bones

Hi all

I had some big plans this year to train up for the L’Etape du Tour in July. My base training went well over winter and I was gently building up my workload. Then back in mid-March I was on a cycling holiday for a week in Calp, Spain, and unfortunately came off my bike round a bend and fell heavily on my hip. Although it wasn’t diagnosed immediately an eventual CT scan showed three breaks in my pelvis so I was told to keep all weight off my right leg for 6 weeks. I have been on crutches until yesterday, when I had a follow-up scan and the doctor gave me the all clear to discard the crutches and get back on my bike. Now obviously I plan to ease back into this gently, so I had a quick Zwift session last night which seemed to go OK and I’m not feeling any major issues this morning.

Soooo… my question is, would I be really dumb to think I could build back up enough fitness after my six weeks off to finish the L’Etape before the broom-wagon? It’s a challenging 138km/4600m, and although I’ve done rides like this before I’ve normally had much smoother trainer period.

If I were to go for it, What would be my best approach to regaining fitness in the 8 weeks available?

I’m interested to hear from anyone with similar experience!

Ride on!
Neil

First, BUMMER @Neil_Maitland! I hear your pain. I suffered a pilon fx of the right ankle in 2013. Two separate surgeons told me that my impact sports days were over. Thankfully, I got the one who did the surgery onboard with believing in excellence. Since then I’ve done 18 Ironmans and two Ultramans.

Second, believing in possibility is HUGE. Kudos to you for your stoke.

Third, IT TAKES TIME. Here’s the good and bad news. Pelvic fx’s are tricky, and each pelvic fx is different from the next. It depends where they are and if there was displacement. Also, the pelvis is a central point of load and there’s a lot that goes on in that area. In short, this is nothing to take lightly. Ok, so that’s the bad news. The good news is that it’s not an extremity that has to deal with stresses on it’s own. What I find interesting is that you were only told to keep weight off your right leg. Supposedly you landed on your right side. This tells me that your body has already started to compensate. (It literally starts happening within 48 hours.) This takes me to point 4.

Four, the body is amazing in how well it compensates. However, it’s frustrating that the body does compensate so well. What I mean is that we can compensate so well that we don’t even know we’re doing it. It’s absolutely essential that you work with a professional to a) remove the trauma of this injury from your body; b) ensure that you don’t carry compensations into the future. Everything that happens in the body leaves a trace, whether that be structural lesions or emotional/neurological scaring. If this energy isn’t taken care of it’ll cause problems down the road. Seeing a (really frigging good, wholistic) physio for a short period time only covers the physical aspect of proper movements (ROM and strength). You also have to work through the emotions and thoughts.

Five, how long will it take? To a large extent, this is dependant upon the type and severity of the fracture and any soft tissue damage. To only be on crutches for six weeks implies a pretty tame pelvic fx. Still, bone rematrixes for 18 months after a fracture. How well your pelvis mends is one limiter. Other limiters include range of motion and strength. As long as you don’t have any neurological impingements from any of this, the soft tissue side of things may be your biggest limiters.

Six, I HIGHLY recommend cross-training, both weight bearing and non-weight bearing. This will help keep the body moving and help you maintain fitness, which accelerates training.

Seven, with all the normal waivers of who and what I am not, take it slow and let pain be your guide. Your ride has quite a bit of elevation for the given distance. That’s going to need strength which is going to stress your pelvis, as well as everything upstream and downstream. Be sure you have appropriate gearing so that you can spin. That’s how I’d tackle it. Spinning works the heart more than the legs, spin your ass up those hills. Of course, if you were doing 100-120 rpm the whole way that would cause your hips and pelvis to creak and groan, so use judgement.

Lastly, what’s your age? The younger you are the more I’d suggest not fooling around and making things worse in the long run. The older you are the more I’d suggest not fooling around and potentially limiting the rest of your days to kick some butt. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Wow. Thanks for such a comprehensive response! It certainly gives me a lot to think about, particularly cross-training and physio. As I live in Switzerland my winter is usually taken up with skiing, but (fortunately?) that season is now done. Maybe I stick to walking and some weights in addition to slowly rebuilding the cycling fitness.

Thanks again, I’ll reread and think on it.

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Exactly! Miss the :skier:. Happy for the rest. Can’t wait to :skier: again.

Absolutely, focus on correct movement patterns. Use mirrors—in front, to the sides and on the ceiling—to help you see those compensations. Get pro help. Correct mechanics is worth a LOT. Maybe walk some hills? Be careful on the descents, tho. That eccentric loading can be tough on the pelvis.

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For anyone interested, despite the reduced training, I managed to complete L’Etape du Tour in Nice on Saturday. Not as fast as I’d originally planned, but a finish medal is more important!

Here’s a link: Follow Neil on Strava to see this activity. Join for free.

Thanks @Howie for the generous advice!

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Absolutely fantastic! Thanks so much for reconnecting. You’re welcome. I hear a sense of accomplishment and happiness. Stoked for you!

I’m curious, if you don’t mind sharing more.
(Feel free to DM me if that’s a safer space than this forum.)

-What were some of the things (physical, mental, emotional, other) that you experienced in your training, in life, in the race these past couple of months?
-Is there anything that has changed in how you see the yourself, your training and/or the world?
-If someone else posted something similar to your original post and question, what might you want to offer that person?

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Here are some thoughts on your questions, @Howie.

What were some of the things (physical, mental, emotional, other) that you experienced in your training, in life, in the race these past couple of months?

Lots of things have been going on in my head and my life that (mostly!) helped me complete the event. Some points:

  • I found it a big decision to actually go all-in rather than just cancel the event and try again in a couple of years. That was a turning point that took a while to get to.
  • I needed to strongly reset my personal expectations of having great fitness for the event and achieving a good finish time (for my 54 year-old self at least), to just getting to the end and beating the broom wagon. For some of my friends also entering, this had always been their goal!
  • I asked my wife if she’d support me, which she did 100%, which really helped. I also told lots of friends and work colleagues to make it harder for me to back out.
  • Everyone, including work, gave great support, allowing extra time to train
  • The generally poor weather in Switzerland this year has been frustrating so I had to do more Zwift training than I wanted.
  • At the end of May I had a week in Jakarta for work which I’d carefully planned as a recovery week. Unfortunately I came back with a stomach bug that kept me off the bike for an extra week. That was really frustrating and again I found myself questioning if I could complete the ride.
  • A few weeks before L’Etape I rode a 200km/2200m hilly fondo (Santis Radlathon) which was a great confidence and fitness boost
  • Since my original injury I have focussed harder than usual on eating well, getting lots of sleep and cutting back drinking. This has made me feel better in general, not just on the bike - I will try to keep it up.

Is there anything that has changed in how you see the yourself, your training and/or the world?

I now realise how high my base fitness is, even with low training load. That’s a real boost.

If someone else posted something similar to your original post and question, what might you want to offer that person?

It’s not all about getting the best time possible - being part of the event itself has it’s own value, especially with friends.

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@Neil_Maitland, thanks for sharing all that. Your process clearly shows why you were able to complete L’Etape du Tour. :muscle:

100%!

Love that!

Thanks for the pics. Stoked for you!

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Breaking bones is tough, but the process of recovery and rebuilding yourself afterward is even tougher. It’s all about pushing through, staying determined, and giving your body the time it needs to heal. Every rep, every step forward counts, no matter how small the progress may seem. If you’ve gone through a similar experience, you know how important it is to stay positive and keep working toward your recovery goals.

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