{"id":1982,"date":"2010-07-26T08:45:15","date_gmt":"2010-07-26T06:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conradstoltz.com\/?p=1982"},"modified":"2013-12-01T20:29:31","modified_gmt":"2013-12-01T18:29:31","slug":"a-funny-broken-arm-story-from-way-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conradstoltz.com\/index.php\/a-funny-broken-arm-story-from-way-back\/","title":{"rendered":"A funny broken arm story from way back"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"arm.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Heavily modified Caveman cast<\/p>\n

My 2005 off season reading was Brian Lopes\u2019 book on mountain biking skills. As a fairly competent mountain biker, I was amazed at how much there is still to learn about the art of making an off road bicycle go fast.<\/p>\n

My favorite quote from the book was: \u201cif you are not pedaling, you should be pumping*\u201d<\/p>\n

I was practicing my pumping through a particularly technical section near Stellenbosch. Specialized had their Team Camp here in January. (www.iamspecialized.com<\/a> ) I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in the camp and the main reason for the camp: Tire testing.<\/p>\n

On the very first group ride with the Team I pumped and pedaled all I was worth. Pushing the limits through a long technical section, going faster and faster. I pumped through a rock garden and the next thing I knew I was on the ground, tangled with my bike. I never saw the fall coming, and instinctively I must have put my hand out to protect my face. (In hindsight, it wasn\u2019t worth it)<\/p>\n

I bled like a pig, but didn\u2019t hurt too badly and carried on with the ride. However, about an hour later, holding the bar on the downhills became quite painful.<\/p>\n

To make a long story short, I broke the scaphoid in my hand and tore some cartilage in the wrist. Fortunately no metal hardware was required, but doc slapped a white as snow cast on my arm and said \u201csee you In six weeks, don\u2019t move\u201d\u00a0 So I launched into cross examination: Can I still run? \u201cNO\u201d\u00a0 Can I swim? \u201cYour skin will rot.\u201d Ride the rollers? \u201cNO\u201d When will the bone be attached enough to start run, swim, riding the rollers? \u201cYoung man, I don\u2019t like the questions you are asking\u201d \u201cthe scaphoid is not a break to be toyed with, if you mess it up, think screws and bone transplants.\u201d<\/p>\n

So I went forth and was a good boy. Only water-skied once and bush dove once…
\n\"ski.jpg\"<\/p>\n

What the doctor did NOT order.<\/p>\n

After 3 weeks the half way through X rays were good and Doc said, running on a treadmill and riding the home trainer is ok. So I ran on the beach and rugby fields, and rode my Specialized Epic on the road.<\/p>\n

A modification was the needed to camouflage the cast, as I was getting tired of the \u201dWhat happened to your arm?\u201d questions. Feeling rather creative, I decided to mix my own colours for the job. I wanted brown, green and khaki cammo. “Roger” brown and “Roger” green, but the khaki proved a real enigma and I ended up with pink, some blue-ish colour and some shade of purple. Very effective though. I could hide in my garden for hours without anyone noticing me, if it wasn\u2019t for the smell\u2026<\/p>\n

The training, combined with the scorching temperatures and the water skiing caused that cast to PONG.<\/p>\n

So one stinking hot afternoon, (pun intended) I gathered all my gardening tools that has some kind of edge to it and Henk Markgraaff and I started hacking at the offending arm.
\n\"henk1.jpg\"<\/p>\n

In the end we just took the angle grinder and cut the thing open. Hair raising stuff.
\n\"henk2.jpg\"
\nNote protective Oakley eye wear<\/p>\n

First soap and water. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Then some sun shine. Ahhhh. Doc\u2019s skin rot theory seems plausible… Then I tore the offending cotton wool out and replaced it with a Gore-Tex T-shirt. Next I drilled about 80 ventilation holes in the cast, and zip tied the thing back on.<\/p>\n

Now I can train and sweat as much as I like, when the business gets wet and nasty, I just change its nappy (diaper) and zip tie it back on. Patent pending.<\/p>\n

But when the doc saw the cast after 6 weeks he yelled: “YOU TOOK IT OFF!!”\u00a0 Fortunately I didnt do anything irresponsible, so it healed well.<\/p>\n

The story should have a happy ending March 1.(it did)<\/p>\n

*Pumping means using the terrain and then weigh or un weigh the bike accordingly to create speed. (go read the book, they explain it better)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Heavily modified Caveman cast My 2005 off season reading was Brian Lopes\u2019 book on mountain biking skills. As a fairly competent mountain biker, I was amazed at how much there is still to learn about the art of making an off road bicycle go fast. My favorite quote from the book was: \u201cif you are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[29,82,113],"tags":[301,1749,1754,1806],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n