“Criminal Minds” star Shemar Moore may have just turned 40, but he’s not about to coast — even after a terrifying bike accident.

Two years ago this August on a Saturday afternoon, “Criminal Minds” star Shemar Moore was soaring along — in life, in work, and on his trusty bike in the cycle lane on a busy Los Angeles road — when a car slammed into him from behind.

“There was no warning of, Here comes the car, get out of the way, something’s wrong,” Moore, cycling with his then-girlfriend, recalls. “It was, Do da do, it’s a beautiful day — BANG!” The telegenic actor was training for a 100-mile bike ride to benefit multiple sclerosis, an annual challenge he undertakes in honor of his mother, Marilyn, who was diagnosed with MS in 1998. Miraculously, he made the ride two months later — after breaking his left leg, cracking a rib and his collarbone and suffering “pretty severe” internal bruising.

The lifelong athlete emerged from the horrific accident shaken, shell-shocked and more than a little scared. “I was a baseball player, and there was a time I thought I’d be a professional baseball player before ever getting into Hollywood,” he says. “And now all of a sudden my right arm was banged up and I was really scared I’d never be able to throw a ball again. I could throw a baseball at 94 mph; I could throw a football 65 yards; and now I couldn’t throw a tennis ball 10 feet across the room without severe pain. You start thinking of the things you haven’t done yet: I’m not married; I don’t have kids; am I going to be able to play catch with my kid?”

But he also emerged grateful and determined not to take his well-being for granted — especially as he inched toward turning 40 last year. “It could have been worse. A lot worse.”

More here:

http://www.muscleandbodymag.com/article.php?ArticleID=5882