Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!

[DCXCV]

If doctors are so smart, how come they have to go to college for seven years? 

Anyways, think about it this way, no riding for a few weeks/months -or- years of pain/issues or a more complicated surgery from a jacked up foot?  I can (almost) guarantee you'll have your foot longer than you'll have your bike.  Then again, seems like the original home broken toe remedy worked out great so you probably know best.  The doc's just trying to turn you into a wimp. 

[metallimonster]

I say where flip flops so you can easily shift without using your big toe   

Seriously though, I would get a pair of steel toe boots or the Icon Chukka Boots.  They have a shift patch and you won't put any pressure on your toe.

You might have to adjust your shifter a bit though. Once I got use to them I really love em.

[Doctor Woodrow]

You can try shifting clutch less and use your left hand to pull up on the shift lever .

Just pull a little before you cut the throttle just a hair and the transmission should shift w, no problem.

Granted you will be in a race tuck position when you shift ...but hey...it's one way you can ride.

Dolph     

I had to dot his in Montana when my shift linkage broke and everything had to be shipped in, oh and they sent to wrong part three times in a row!!! I had places to get to and only one way to get there, on the bike. Of course at that time I was riding a tiny 1985 Honda Rebel 250 out on gravel roads at about 60mph with crosswinds from hell and wildfires everywhere.

The Doc

PS: No I am not going to make any medical related comments in this thread, I think that got covered already.

[el_loco]

I vote amputate

Seriously though, have you tried taping it?  I train in Jiu Jitsu and work on my feet all day at my job.  I often have messed up feet/toes.  In fact the joint at my left big toe and foot is almost always sore and I tape it up when I wrestle.  You can expiriment with tape configurations (around toe, around ball of foot, around toe, two/three toes taped together, etc...) but this would help by giving the jacked up bone more rigid support and add a few layers of padding.  Do this AND wear steel toe'd boots and you ought to be fine.  Also, SUCK IT UP, IT"S JUST PAIN!  TAKE TWO ADVIL AND DON'T THINK ABOUT IT!    I'm joking, of course.  Significant pain is no fun, but we all deal with it at some point.  At least you know the source of your pain and that it's not a life threatening thing.  Good luck

[Popeye the Sailor]

I'm still trying to sort out winning some, but losing none.



Must get a low of ties.

[Stinky Wizzleteats]

I broke mine nearly 2 years ago and the nail still hasn't grown back to it's original size. I dropped a steel tri-post on it while wearing japanese safety boots. 


You should really have seen a doctor straight away but you can't really do much with the toe except to bandage it tightly, stay off it and let it heal.

Be patient, let it heal properly. You can't ride with a broken left toe, I tried. 

[KnightofNi]

i actually just cocked my foot at an odd angle and shifted with the outside edge of it or got the shifter as far up the instep as possible.



i'm not here to tell anyone not to ride while they are injured, but if you are uncomfortable and feel that you can't do it in time or safely, then don't ride.

[Popeye the Sailor]

You guys aren't getting this.


He only has like, fifty years of his riding life left! We dasn't waste two weeks healing properly!




BTW-those injuries WILL catch up to you. Seriously-take it easy.

[KnightofNi]

You guys aren't getting this.


He only has like, fifty years of his riding life left! We dasn't waste two weeks healing properly!




BTW-those injuries WILL catch up to you. Seriously-take it easy.

now now back injury man...
you can't make someone realize soemthing they dont' want to.

let him try it and see how difficult it is. if he winds up in a wheelchair in 30 years then i'll race him in mine.

[mstevens]

If doctors are so smart, how come they have to go to college for seven years?  

It's been a loooooong time since anyone could do it in 7 years. It took a minimum of 9 to get a license when I graduated in 1992 (except, of course, in Louisiana, where it was only 8 years).

To get back on-topic... I had an anesthesiologist roll a gurney with a large patient on in it over my foot while in school. I decided to buddy-tape the toe and live with the discomfort.

Now, 20 years later, I've got a pseudarthrosis in that toe, a bone cyst that intrudes on a joint space, and pain that lets me predict the weather. The only decent treatment would be to saw the joint out and replace it with Silastic. There actually are good reasons for getting proper treatment at the time of an injury.

[DoubleEagle]

You can also get a pair of boots that have a bit of a sole that sticks out and shift with that part of the sole.

I do it in fact more than I try to w, my racing boots which have very little sole protruding on the inward side.

All you have to do is just catch enough of the tip of the shifter w, the sole of the boot and it will shift.

Dolph     

[Veloce-Fino]

Nearly every reply in this thread had me laughing my ass off. Truly some great stuff. The sarcasm and hilarious suggestions were top notch. I am going into surgery on the 15th, 18 days from now so I will take it easy until then.

I'm thinking the cheapest and most effective way to solve this problem for the next 18 days will be by using tape. If I tape the toe to others and around the ball of the foot with some gauze/padding underneath, the pressure should be spread out over the entire surface of the foot.

Again, thank you for the suggestions and sweetastic comments. I just worked a 12 hour shift and my foot is a big as a balloon so no riding tonight.

I'll let that doctor know that some guys told me I certainly know more than he does and that anatomy has significantly changed over the past 20 years. I mean who knows where organs have been jumping around to over the years?

[ian48th]

That's the spirit.  Good luck with the surgery!

[Veloce-Fino]

now now back injury man...
you can't make someone realize soemthing they dont' want to.

let him try it and see how difficult it is. if he winds up in a wheelchair in 30 years then i'll race him in mine.

It's on, wait 'til I mod my wheelchair. You won't stand a chance.

[KnightofNi]

It's on, wait 'til I mod my wheelchair. You won't stand a chance.

i'll have more time in the chair than you. prob about 10 years. i'll be a wily veteran by then