The road goes ever on

Dad's cycling career is over. (I almost titled this "End of the road for Dad," but didn't want to give anyone a heart attack.)

He wiped out on some gravel doing 20+ mph on his bike. He landed on his left side and broke just about everything but ribs: hip, collarbone, fingers. (He is left handed so that is unfortunate.) He was able to call an ambulance and Mom afterwards.

This is his third (fourth?) bad accident in the last couple years. Mom has already extracted a promise that this will be the last: no more road cycling for him.

It's a real shame because I don't think anything gave him more joy than cycling.  Before the string of accidents started he was consistently doing fifteen, twenty thousand miles a year.  Impressive for a man half his age.

The hip is the worst injury. It was broken in several places, and needed a several hour surgery to put in a pin that reaches almost to his knee.

They want him starting rehab as quickly as possible, or maybe it is Dad who wants that more than the doctors. He made it from his bed to a chair today... in about twenty minutes, with the help of Mom and two nurses.

The plan is to move to an inpatient rehab center as soon as possible and stay there until he can get around with a walker. (Crutches are off the table because of the broken collarbone.)