VELO STURTZ

I learned a new phrase – I think I have it right. Velo sturtz means cycling accident.

Brian called Saturday morning and said “come get me, I had an accident and I’m bleeding”. His pedal broke off as he was coming down a hill and he hit the road hard. Luckily he was at the end of his ride and so I could get to him in about fifteen minutes. He was scraped and bruised and bleeding so off to the emergency room we went. He ended up needing stitches in his elbow and he had to have surgery the next morning to fix a broken thumb.

All the doctors and nurses were very nice and they all seemed to say velo sturtz and shake their heads. He had to stay in the hospital overnight. For a while he couldn’t do much for himself since his left elbow was too painful to bend and his right hand had the broken thumb and the tips of his fingers were badly scraped. I kept thinking of professional bikers. They deal with these types of injuries all the time and they probably get right back on their bikes some of those times. Brian was just ouchy all over and still is. Bruised chin and thighs, scraped elbow, cut knees, scraped hip, fingertips with the skin removed, tender feet – uhg.

The doctor said no biking for six weeks – that is the worst part for Brian.