well I broke my leg, as I'm sure you know by now. Having surgery to put my ankle back together tomorrow morning...joy! Now both my legs will be held together by screws!
Huge thanks to the following peeps:
*first dude who helped me sit up after I ate shit (can't remember your name, sorry),
*Mark Horn who helped carry my broken ass off the course,
*TJ (I think) the Trainer (Trek jacket),
*Jeremy Haynes and Joe Fox for the bitchin course! and support (good to know event promoters got your back),
*Sherri Hahn, USA Cycling official,
*Micah Gordon, Adam Keck and the rest of Team Colavita/Parisi Coffee powered by Volker Bikes (good racing boys!), and finally
*Racer X-Aubree Dock for being my personal ambulance/sitting for hours with me at KU Med waiting on slow ass doctors.
Thank you all for the initial help of getting me off the race course (since juniors and women were starting in about 90 seconds) and to the hospital. It was by far the most physical pain I've ever been in, and I've had a compound fracture, major joint dislocations, complete knee reconstruction, etc, etc.
now for the gory details!
Hadn't even put my kit on yet and was warming up in shorts and a hoodie. Bunny hopped the "barrier" then did the 180 on gravel, hucked the next "barrier" and was flying going in behind the large BMX berm. Well I soon found out that behind that berm was super super dry, loose and off camber. What comes next is a freak accident. Mistake #1, I was going way too fast for a "pre-lap" (I hadn;t seen or ridden the whole course yet), then I feel my front wheel start to wash and feathered my brakes, mistake #2 (should have just let her rip). My entire bike starts to slide out from under me towards the non-drive side/downhill side of the off-camber turn. Now here's where the freak shit comes in and stuff starts happening in slow motion. I feel me going down, ok no biggie, we've all had wheels slide out on us right? (especially cross), well I happened to be on an up-stroke pedal on my drive side leg (right and also uphill side). Somehow the angle that my bike fell was perfect to catch the tip of my foot right in the front triangle of my 29er. The bike continued to slide out downhill while my leg was caught...then basically I felt my leg snap in half. I'd never been so consciously aware of an major injury I was sustaining like at that moment, but as I said, it's like everything was in slow motion. First I felt my fibia snap. Straight up like a twig. Nastiest feeling I've ever experienced. Then I felt all the ligaments tear in half, almost like I was holding a piece of paper tearing it in my hands, but this was happening inside of my leg. By then I was skidding along the ground and remember telling myself as I felt the adrenaline shot hit me "fuck, this is going to hurt really bad in 5 seconds". Laid there, unclipped from the left side of my bike and got rolled off that then the pain hit and I started screaming. Screaming like a little bitch, but ya know, my foot had tried to tear off from my leg, no biggie.
Dudes came and said something about how it might just be a sprain cause sometimes they are worse, I said "ya I know, I've sprained ankles and you usually don't feel your bones or muscles tearing in half." That I think was enough they knew it was serious and they got the idea real quick that I was serious about getting off the course as to not delay any racing. Mark Horn's tall ass basically dragged me off the course over to the trailer where for some reason the best thing to put under my hanging broken leg was cones. Needless to say, I did not enjoy those cones. One of those things you probably had to be there for, but yes, I did not like them one bit.
Laid on the ground for awhile in stupid pain and decided fuck this, I need morphine, stat. Got a ride worked out and Aubree stepped up HUGE! btw-she had also just got 3rd place in the women's open race. total bad-a.
so, surgery manana for screws and a plate, then crutches for the next 6-8 weeks, fully healed in 12-14 (February). Thank god it's winter...I really wasn't looking forward to another season of bike commuting in KC winter. Now I don't have a choice...which sucks.
I also got a real boy job this week! Working for the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) on water quality issues and green infrastructure implementation. 20 hours a week when I have class, 40 when I don't. Good way to get around paying me benefits, but at least I'll have a steady income for this grad school thing I'm getting ready to start...
So, still looking forward to watching cross and drinking beer. I was always best at those anyway :D
peace and riding!!!
Oh man, thanks for the props! It was no biggie...and besides I figured since I've spent countless days/evenings in emergency rooms, I was a good person for the job! :) On another note, it's kind of funny how on our way to the hospital I was semi-prepping you/trying to make conversation to distract you from the pain and I mentioned the possibility of surgery, screws, etc...and you said I was 'freaking you out'...I'm now thinking it was a good conversation to have, I suppose I somewhat prepared you for all of this! :( Don't be shy in letting us know what we can do to help! Been down similiar roads and helpful friends are a God-send!
ReplyDeleteby the time you read this, you've had your surgery. Heal quick. I was in the same position 8 months ago when I broke my leg. You'll bounce back fine. Stay positive and it always works out in the end.
ReplyDeleteright on...thank you both!
ReplyDelete