Bill St. Clair, 23 August 2014
On Sunday, August 17, I decided to take my scooter on the 150 mile trip from Pittsfield, MA to Fall River, MA to see one of my favorite "must dance" bands, Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds. It's a 2.5 hour trip by car on the fast roads, but more like 4 hours by bike on the back roads (do a Google maps search from Pittsfield, MA to Fall River, MA, avoiding tolls in the "Route options", to see my route, largely on MA Route 9). I headed out around 11:30, took a long (Moroccan) lunch in Northampton, and got to Fall River at 5:15, 15 minutes before they started playing. I danced like a crazy man for their single hour-and-a-half long set. They were the lead-in for another band, Robert Randolph and the Family Band.
I left around 8pm for the long trip home. Stopped in beautiful (not!) downtown Worcester for gas around 9:45pm, and started west on MA Route 9, which would take me all but the last 10 miles home. Forty-five minutes after midnight and forty-five minutes from home, I hit a deer going 40-45 mph. Went down, rolled (like a log) 3 or 4 times, and came to a stop on my back. Noticed that my left shoulder blade hurt. And that I was still in the middle of the road. So I shimmied off on my butt. Crunch, crunch, came the feeling from inside. "Is that what broken ribs feel like?" thought I. I stood up, noticed that the bike had slid about 20 feet further than I rolled, and that the deer was nowhere in sight, and a car pulled up with two guys in it.
The two guys picked up my bike, noticed that it still rolled, though the luggage box on the back had come off. They pushed it across the road to a rest area, and parked it with a sign saying I'd be back for it, loaded my stuff in their car, and headed to Pittsfield, their intended destination, and the nearest hospital emergency room. I felt no pain, still high as a kite from the endorphins my body squirted from the shock of the crash. They dropped me at the emergency room, and the pain began...
Took a while to discover, emergency room efficiency being what it is, but I finally got X-Rays and a CT scan and was told that I had broken ribs 2 through 8 on the left side. Seven. Broken. Ribs. I also had a sprained right wrist. And that's it. I was wearing really good full-body armor, so no road rash. Praise the Lord!
I finally got to a hospital room around 9am on Monday, having been told that they needed to keep me drugged up, so that the broken rib pain would not prevent me from breathing fully, which would cause pneumonia. No operation, no body wrap, nothing but good drugs and round-the-clock nursing.
We found a by-mouth pill regimen that kills the pain well enough to breathe, and I got out on Wednesday afternoon. Have been home since (actually, at my son's apartment, since my wife and daughter have coughs and sneezes that I really really don't want to get with broken ribs).
My energy is beginning to return, my walks are getting longer, and my pain gets less with each passing day. The doctor said to expect 12 weeks for full recovery.
I am one very lucky man. I have cried many times to that tune.
Lesson: If you must ride a bike, ALWAYS wear your armor.
Richard, a friend of mine, took his trailer to the bike on Tuesday, and dropped it at my house. I looked at it on Thursday. It started up normally, but I didn't try to ride it. Looks like the front wheel went under the deer, and the plastic above that, where the headlights are, impacted. That plastic is pushed back, rotated on its broken attachment mechanism, but not itself broken. The luggage case lock also came out and sticks. My immediate estimate of repair cost was $500. Found out later that that exactly matches my insurance deductible. Expect to wait until I'm well in November to fix it, or maybe just leave it until spring. Might decide to jettison the risk at that point, or might embrace it and go back to riding.
I tweeted the whole trip, and the ER, and going home. Had a nice Twitter conversation with Sister Sparrow's drummer (and cousin), Bram Kincheloe, who runs the @SisterSparrowDB account. I've included the whole Twitter feed below.
If you want to comment on this story, you can do it at this blog post, or you can make a Twitter post mentioning @billstclair.@SisterSparrowDB I'm seriously considering hopping on the scooter in a couple hrs for a trip to Fall River. 3.75 hrs on scooter roads.
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 17, 2014@SisterSparrowDB My only misgiving is forecast showers for the 1st hour or so of the trip. Will tweet from first stop, if I go. Black kilt.
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 17, 2014@SisterSparrowDB leaving from Route 20 and MA/NY border.
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 17, 2014Topped off gas. $1
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 17, 2014@SisterSparrowDB Moroccan fare in Northampton. pic.twitter.com/flAHYaCXng
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 17, 2014@SisterSparrowDB Back on the road. Google says 2.5 hours to go.
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 17, 2014@SisterSparrowDB 0.72 gallons, east side of Ware. $2.50. 1hr 41 min to go
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 17, 2014@SisterSparrowDB just north of Providence. Another $2.50 gas. 28 minutes to go. May just make it.
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 17, 2014@SisterSparrowDB and here I am at 5:12! pic.twitter.com/chdgUbkKvc
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 17, 2014— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 17, 2014
@SisterSparrowDB Headed home. Here's the bridge I'll go over towards Providence. pic.twitter.com/fHclspVf34
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 18, 2014@SisterSparrowDB $1.50 topped off before leaving. $2.00 in Worcester. And I'm almost back on the slow road west.
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 18, 2014@SisterSparrowDB Coffee at Dunkin Donuts in West Brookfield. 2 hours to home.
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 18, 2014@SisterSparrowDB and a pic. pic.twitter.com/HwseBWV1Iz
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 18, 2014@SisterSparrowDB Some pics from the show. pic.twitter.com/h8OxSUSgd4
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 18, 2014@SisterSparrowDB and the rest of the guys. pic.twitter.com/zH8jiWeHXV
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 18, 2014@SisterSparrowDB Last $1.75 of gas before home in Hadley.
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 18, 2014@SisterSparrowDB Hit a deer in Cumington around 11pm. Went down and rolled. Armor worked. In Pittsfield ER with broken ribs. Expect to live.
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 18, 2014@billstclair ahhhhh shit man! That is too bad! You were almost home. Damn, well, we are all very happy that you are (mostly) ok. Ugh! #Love
— SisterSparrow&theDB (@SisterSparrowDB) August 18, 2014@SisterSparrowDB I am in a hospital room. Hurting, but up and about.
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 18, 2014@SisterSparrowDB My dancing will be slow and careful for a while, but I will keep dancing!
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 18, 2014.@billstclair ALL OF OUR LOVE AND THOUGHTS ARE WITH YOU!! Glad you are ok! The dancing will continue!!
— SisterSparrow&theDB (@SisterSparrowDB) August 18, 2014@OTR8_com @SisterSparrowDB I'll be sure to sue the deer's estate. He's probably dead.
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 18, 2014@OTR8_com @SisterSparrowDB Thought I was making an obvious joke. I do NOT want an ambulance chaser for an act of God.
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 18, 2014Step-tracker, Breeze, on my iPhone. I average 9,000 steps per day, 17,000 on Sunday (@SisterSparrowDB dance). 280 yesterday. #BrokenRibs
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 19, 2014@billstclair are you home yet or still in the hospital?
— SisterSparrow&theDB (@SisterSparrowDB) August 19, 2014@SisterSparrowDB Still in hospital. Probably going home tomorrow, if the pain pills work as well as intravenous tylenol.
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 19, 2014906 steps and I'm still standing. Last Tuesday: 9,320 steps. #BrokenRibs http://t.co/HOoiRW0KOB
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 20, 2014This Russian biker is the luckiest human you will see today. Nailed the landing… [Video] http://t.co/KD58obdDSf pic.twitter.com/9lsjCN3uBj
— Top Gear (@BBC_TopGear) August 20, 2014@coreload 12 weeks, said my doctor, but I go home today, goddess willing.
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 20, 2014@SisterSparrowDB Doctor just approved release from hospital. My son can come in 2 or 3 hours.
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 20, 2014.@billstclair yay! #GoingHome! #DancingGingerlyForTheForseeableFuture. Man, broken ribs hurt. Hope you recover quickly!!
— SisterSparrow&theDB (@SisterSparrowDB) August 20, 2014@SisterSparrowDB Thanks, Bram. #DancingGingerlyForTheForseeableFuture. #GoodPainMeds
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 20, 2014@SisterSparrowDB About to go home. View out my hospital room window: pic.twitter.com/FZexH6TTfK
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 20, 2014@SisterSparrowDB Been home for 2 days. Lots of sleep. Lots of pills. Walks getting longer. Pain slowly getting better. Gratitude!
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 23, 2014@SisterSparrowDB I wrote up my day of riding, dancing, crashing, and recovery at https://t.co/KSD3ereHrP, including my tweetlog.
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 23, 2014Our friend @billstclair rode his scooter to our show in Fall River and hit a deer on his way home. Luckily he is fine and recovering!! ...
— SisterSparrow&theDB (@SisterSparrowDB) August 23, 2014To read the story of @billstclair 's journey/accident/recovery, click here: https://t.co/y0DUVAQFUb #LongLiveTheKilt #Scoot #Scoot
— SisterSparrow&theDB (@SisterSparrowDB) August 23, 2014@SisterSparrowDB Thank you, Bram. #LongLiveTheKilt #Scoot #Scoot
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 23, 2014@SisterSparrowDB Here we see why I think the front wheel went under the deer, and the body plastic hit. pic.twitter.com/ty04rrrg7X
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 23, 2014@SisterSparrowDB The left side of the bike hit the ground & slid. My left side hit th ground, and I rolled. pic.twitter.com/feqwZ6q8ZS
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 23, 2014Haven't shaved since the accident. Think I'll work towards being a mountain man by the time the ribs are healed. pic.twitter.com/yAEftmL3ck
— Bill St. Clair (@billstclair) August 24, 2014