Jesus Phil, you don't do things by halfs, that is a good one... i was in your spot about 18mths ago just getting back into it, funny because i look back now and was throwing high fives with my brother when we made it down to the local roundabout and back... woohoo we did 10k's!!!! Now i wouldn't even bother to kit up for anything less than 30. Took about 3mths to get up to a reasonable level of fitness that i could do my current loop happily.
I started on a Scott S40 which is an alloy frame/carbon fork which was smooth, but didn't take long to get back into it and ended up with a Cervello Soloist and then building up my current ride which is a full carbon LOOK 585, one word inspiring! Makes you just want to push even harder...
Unluckily, 3 weeks ago while out my brother was hit by a car. The driver was overtaking another car in a 50km/h zone doing approx 90-100km/h while approaching a traffic calming area, we couldn't all fit there at once so upon locking them up and skidding for 13metres he eventually got my brother who ended up over the bonnet, then went through the air to land on a traffic island. Was pretty scary when they where taking him away in the meat wagon but he didn't end up to bad, just some road rash, fractured ribs and massive bruising, a very lucky boy.
Back to your accident, did they not keep you O/night when you told them you blanked out? That is the first thing the Ambo's asked my brother, and that is while one of the Fire Rescue fellas inspected his helmets, very focused on anything head related.
Anyway, like my brother i hope you are on the road soon, as for your bike it will get you going and give you time to look around at what everyone else is into. For Peddles i use LOOK but Shimano SPD are very easy to get in and out of, as others have said MTB peddles are good as the cleat is recessed into the shoe so easy to walk in but are smaller so offer less surface area to get the power down. The best purchase i made was some cycling under shorts, didn't really want to wear nicks at the start (had to loose some weight first) so found on ebay some cycling under shorts, have padding like nicks but you through your shorts over the top....ahhhhhh, much better for down there :-)
 
Found my local bike shops are excellent and support them but sometimes you can find an unbeatable bargain here...
http://www.torpedo7.com.au/
 
Cheers, Mick
 
 

Hi Mick,
 
Sounds like one very scary adventure for your brother, hopefully he is good to go again soon. The hospital kept me overnight due to the memory loss...I thought it was about a minute or two at the time!! More like 24mins after I downloaded the Garmin data when I was released from hospital. If they had of known how long I was unconcious for and how long I had lost my memory for I think it might have been a longer stay!! Anyway...a titanium plate and 9 screws later I'm nearly ready to get back on, much to my wife, family, workmates dismay!! They dont get how it can be so enjoyable!!
 
On another note, the hospital are going to give me digital copies of the xrays when I go back for the next check up in a fortnight, they are pretty cool to look at if your into that sort of thing!!
 
Cheers,
Phil.

Ouch!
I went for a ride on the M7 with Kevin yesterday. He pushes pretty hard so will be quick in no time at all. You had better hurry and get back into it!
We did 38kms

Phil

Looks like its in good condition:)

Hopefully next week I'll be back on the bike again...the wrist has about 30% movement back, almost rotate's far enough to hold the bars properly again!!

Since I've been out of action, the old girl has had a full freshen up so keen as to get back on.

Good to see nothing has changed!! Just like the old days but on 2 wheels with pedals instead of 4 with a turbo!!
 
Has he registered on Strava yet?!

No not yet he is resisting signing up for some reason

Might not want to be owned just yet!!

I got the official ok from the Orthopaedic Specialist today to get back on the bike!! That was right after he finished telling me it would be a very bad idea to break the wrist again in the future...
 
 I also picked up the xray images...ouch!!
 

decent phil... what do the scars look like... hope it doesnt make it too hard too ride on the beast
 
i got a few from my mtb, but never anything from the roadie.. touching alot of wood right now...
heres a fav of mine, left humorous ...just like you i never realised what i was caring till i went back a few months later too see how it was going



 
by the way add me on strava...
glenn grant
 

Ouch Glenn!! That would be one of my worst fears...breaking a bone mid span, especially if there's an exit wound!! My cousin just broke his left forearm...both bones departed, plenty of blood etc.
 
My main issue now is limited movement, the doc said go for broke as far as using it, the bone has mostly healed, just need to get everything moving. I must have read his mind, managed to do 50km's over the weekend!!
 
Added on Strava:)

Just had my first read of this thread - bloody hell Phil!!!
Do you do everything to extremes?
Maybe you need to stick to sitting inside fast moving objects instead of ontop
Anyway I just purchased a 2006 Avanti Aggressor MTB (almost new and cheap!) for a bit of fun as we all went for a ride the other day and I felt my 20yr old Giant MTB was a little lacking. Managed to pick-up a set of slicks as the majority of my riding is on pavement so we'll see what diff it makes to the ride.
Was considering a roadie but I think the MTB will be a little more versatile to take away with the caravan etc and go riding with the lad etc.
It may be a lot more resticted than Strava but I loaded a sports tracker app onto my iphone and it does the job for me.