Well, on Tuesday afternoon, I was training and crashed hard going through a fast rocky downhill section. Braking for a left turn towards the bottom of a valley the rear tire slid out for awhile and as my right foot unclipped, the rear tire hit a rock solid in the ground and all lateral force of the speed and sliding went into the left fibula and SNAP!
After almost an hour by myself - which felt like forever (especially knowing it was getting later in the day and this IS mountain lion and rattlesnake country - the other side of the ridgeline is named Rattlesnake Gulch!), a few bikers and hikers passed by and left water and trail mix while they went to get help. After 2 1/2 hours, one person came by and stayed with me until help arrived. She told me her life stories in San Diego of surfing and swimming with sharks and manta rays to keep my mind off the accident which helped a lot...and was really cool! She couldn't believe I was so calm laying there with a broken leg in the middle of the forest...I couldn't believe she was so calm about swimming with sharks, but you know "they were only the 6 to 8 footers" she said...haha!
Anyway, unfortunately, at best, people were one hour and 30 minutes from any cell phone service to get help. I laid at the bottom of a rocky valley next to a rough mountain river for about 4 hours before finally hauled out. I was strapped into the caged stretcher that I've seen other people hauled out with on extreme sports TV shows by the Rocky Mountain Rescue team. I was initially treated by RM Fire Dept ambulance before being taken to the hospital. Xrays from ER revealed the broken left fibula.
The Rocky Mountain Rescue team is a super cool operation by the way. There were about 14 people involved in getting me out, not including the RM Fire dept medic's and Boulder County Sheriff. Huge thanks and appreciation to them for how they handled this. If I lived out here...no question I would train and at least be a volunteer for them.
The xray looks like an exact mirror image of the the one taken two years ago of my right leg. Again, I didn't get up and try to walk around on it to 'see' if it was really broken which helped keep things in line. Comparing notes to 2007, I was walking in the boot after about 4 weeks and back pedaling on the bike after about 7 weeks. I did race the MNSCS event in St. cloud that year on flat pedals. I'm hoping my prognosis from the ortho doc on Monday will be the same. And with proper training and guidance from TJ I should hopefully be back training and try some races maybe later this year.
I gained so much and had so much momentum going into the Nationals and a strong second half of the season, this is very hard to swallow. But it is what it is...I guess.
2 comments:
Incredible! Glad to hear you are (mostly) ok after all that. As far as the season goes, think Cyclocross.
Dave, that's an amazing story! I can’t believe you stayed out there by yourself for as long as you did. It really is a bummer that this happened only weeks before Nationals. Sorry about that - we’ll miss you out there.
Post a Comment