This might come as some surprise to you faithful blog enthusiasts but sometimes things go wrong for the Utah Transplants.
Last September, the team took a mountain bike trip to Moab in search of stiff dirt (Rock) and fun times. The goal was to ride the Whole Enchilada Saturday and see what Sunday brought us.
( Mapa de Enchilada Toda!)
Saturday was a blast. The team crushed it down, including Strava personal bests on many trail sections. Note: There is a new trail loop off the WE up in hazard county at the entrance to kokopelli. Its called Jimmy Kean. Don't take it. Its a disaster. It will take you through some seriously lousy Its marked in black. You ride back up some random dirt roads and you're back at the start of kokos.
The remainder of the down had me feeling fitter, stronger and at my peak of mountain biking prowess. I realized after finishing the entire trail that this ride was the first time I had ever ridden whole enchilada without falling. I was wiped out but happy.
Sadly the elation ended that evening when a storm rolled in, nearly blowing our tent away and ruining the chance to get some really good fall riding in. We decided the next morning to do a quick spin around the Klondike Bluffs before setting off for the inaugural fall fishing fest.
Klondike Bluffs is a fun trail. My mom likes it because it is so flat and hard packed and easy to ride really fast on. Too fast...
Disaster struck about 2 miles into the ride. Feeling strong and riding well, I was really putting the bike through some paces, leaning over into the hardpack when I caught my left handlebar on a boulder. My momentum pivoted me and the bike around the handlebar and I ended up hitting my right leg on a boulder which was on the right side of the trail. Instant pain. I wasn't sure but it felt like something was wrong. Cole helped get the bike off me. My right leg felt numb and twisted. I tried straightening it and felt a crack and grating and terrible hot electrical signals fire up from my knee.
I asked Matt, "Does it look bad?" or something dumb like that. Although he said it didnt look THAT bad, I thought at the time he might be lying. I tried to get up but that turned out to be a bad idea. I sent Cole off to get the car and drive it back as close as possible, while Matt and I were going to try to move me down to where we thought the car might be able to get to.
In 10 minutes, Matt and I moved an incredibly terrible 15 feet. It was the toughest 15 feet of my life. I had myself draped over Matt's shoulder, trying to use him unsuccessfully as a crutch. Anyone that has ever seen Matt and me side by side knows why it didn't work. I have about 4 inches and 50 lbs on the guy.
To keep the story short and less horrifying to the faithful reader, I'll just say that Cole came back and helped me back on the bike. He steadied and pushed me for about half of the distance across the flat to where the car was waiting. The other half I helped by pedaling with my good (left) leg. The figure below shows our approximate path of return - about a mile.
(Trail of Pain)
I estimated at the time that it took us 15 minutes to get the mile or so back in the car. Cole tells me it was more like 45. Oh well. Anyway, it turns out that 4 hours later we're back in SLC and I learn that I have a broken leg in serious fashion. Tibia Plateau Fracture. Very complex is what the Trama Ortho says. I hear the words, "you'll probably need a total knee replacement in 10 years." Lots of terrible thoughts entire my mind and I go to a very bad place mentally for some time.
(This is what a broken leg looks like before and after!).
After the surgery, Trama Ortho tells me, "It went as well as it could have for being so complicated. I had your leg in a tourniquet for almost 4 hours. You lost some cartelage, but I give you a 50-50 shot at getting full use out of it again." He really didn't mince words. In fact, I had to pull some teeth out to get that much.
Fast forward to November, when I started walking again! I have a month before my honeymoon in New Zealand and Kelsey wont let me back out (the airfare is not refundable!) so I hit the PT hard. Daily. 10x what the Dr says to do. And nature responds!!!
I want to give a shout out at this point to my friend Chris Klinga. Chris has been an inspiration to me in many ways in my life both personally and professionally. I suspect he probably knows this but not the depth to which I idolize him. I've thought a lot about him these past few months and taken not a little amount courage from him.
(I walk again).
After the surgery I was down almost 10lbs from my pre-surgery weight so I went on the bacon and ice-cream diet.
And before I know it - WHAMO - I'm in New Zealand doing a 20 mile hike. WTF?
(This is me on the Routeburn Trek)
Kelsey and I are in New Zealand for a month and I make some serious recovery. Unburdened by the requirement of going to work, I'm free to play and have fun all day every day. I concentrate on walking technique and gait and all that and be fore I know it, we're hiking quite a bit. I guess walking/hiking 3 - 10 miles per day can really be quite beneficial on a broken knee.
(Here we are doing the Hobbit thing. After all, its the land of Middle Earth!)
Fast forward to Kelsey and Me back in the good ole USA. I've just undergone my second surgery. You know, the one that Dr Artho said I needed back before I left for NZ? Maybe I didn't mention that. Anyway, I wasnt missing NZ so I just figured I would deal with it when I got back. Great idea!
(I've been seriously hitting the leg extensions).
Today I met with Dr Artho for my 1 week follow up. His name is Dr. Brian Fukushima.
Total badass. He makes complicated surgery look and seem like he has been doing it for 40 years. He may well have been. Its difficult to tell how old he is. Somewhere between 24 and 75. If you ever find yourself in need of Arthoscopic Surgery, go find this guy. He'll crush it UT-XPLANT STYLE.
I get super stoaked when he says the words, "Your knee looked really good. Its going to last you an entire lifetime of activity."
Booyeah, Grandma. Redemption.
UTXPLANTS out... *radio squelch*
