Anybody got more unridden bikes than me?

[shouldbworking]

In august I broke my shoulder quite nastily mountain biking.

The doc said 4-6 weeks to heal (what a joke that turned out to be), so I went and bought some bits and upgrades for my bike that I'd mangled slightly in the crash.

I'd been wanting a new road bike and the argos £400 full carbon jobs came up so I bought one of them

I still needed something to do whilst signed off so I bought and restored an old 531 road bike.

I then encountered new genesis grapil frames at a bargain price, so I bought one of them..

As yet I have not ridden any of these. Granted the grapil isn't built yet, but hey ho. On the plus side my physio gave me the all clear to start running and riding bikes again yesterday!

[gazza285]

I've got a Planet X Kaffenback that's not quite built yet, a NOS Vitus 979 that's nearly finished, and a rare Cornelo waiting for a ground up rebuild, so three in ridden by me yet, plus a Genesis Volant 20 that I've had nearly two years that I've ridden once.

Meanwhile my old nail '80s Raleigh had done thousands of miles, and is still the bike I go to first. It's currently on my turbo...

[yellowjack]

Ho hum.

4 to 6 weeks?

What they really mean is the bone will knit in 4 to 6 weeks. August to January? Five months. Sounds about right, going by my experience, to be getting back into sporting activities. I broke my shoulder blade on 3rd February last year, and wasn't back on a bike until June, which was a little over four months. I was knocked off my road bike by a van, so the driver's insurer was coughing up for a lot of my physiotherapy bill. Three courses of 6 sessions each in the end, with at least 5 sessions immediately on the NHS system referred from A&E/orthopedic surgeon.

The physio paid for by the 'other side' didn't want me back on a bike when I was seeing her, but when I switched to one I was referred to by my GP, he was a triathlete, and fully understood my desire to ride again.

Even now, though, and nearly a full year on, I'm still not 100% recovered. There are still a few small muscular niggles around my ribs and back, fallout from the accident, but not directly caused by it. For four/five months I was compensating for the injury, and, initially, holding the arm in a sling, so it's taking time to re-train the muscles to their pre-accident state. But it's not all doom and gloom, as things are getting a whole lot better, and the current issues are more 'niggles' than real 'pain'.

As for unridden bikes? My good road bike was knocked from under me and is officially 'KIA'. My second road bike was off the road with headset troubles at the time of the accident, and still is. I'm only riding a MTB at the moment. So effectively I have fewer bikes now than I did before the collision, as I couldn't face buying a replacement before now, and besides, I was waiting for a damages claim to be settled. Now that it is, I'm actively looking for a new bike, but I'm in no massive rush right now.

Chin up, though! By December this year I was fit enough to contemplate MTB racing, and I completed the three race Merida Brass Monkeys winter enduro series. A very lowly 'bottom third of the field' finish in all three rounds, but a huge leap forward from the immediate weeks after the bump, when I wasn't sure I'd even want to ride again.

[scherzkeks]

Heh. It can be just as bad even if you are fit. We've a small shop's worth of stuff in our basement at this point. Years worth of tools, wheelsets, spare tires, old and new campy groupsets, saddles, etc. My two built-up bikes get ridden daily. But there are a few vintage and modernish frames hanging out downstairs that really should go.

Can't part with any of it unfortunately, as I love bikes and their parts as much as riding.