Author Topic: K2 Karnage! (Read 4300 times)

Matno · « **on:** July 29, 2005, 06:00:31 pm »

Well, good news and bad news. Good news is that I participated in my first mountain bike race on Wednesday! One of the sweetest technical singletrack trails I've ever ridden. It was at Schweitzer ski resort in northern Idaho where the NORBA national races were held two weeks ago.

Bad news is that I crashed on the first freakin' turn and broke my shoulder! Got some nasty skin-loss on my hip and elbow as well. Grrrrr... Endorphins are amazing things though, and I was able to ride the entire race, albeit considerably slower than I should have. Unfortunately, I was too lazy to swap the tires on the K2 5000 I borrowed (even though I went to the effort of swapping the fork and rear shock!) The race was advertised as easy to moderate terrain, so I though the semislick tires on the bike would work just fine. As it turns out, the trail was incredibly technical (as close to perfect as I can imagine, in fact). Not very good for semi-slicks though!

I pretty much rode the whole race with one hand. I was able to keep the other one on the bars, but every bump was excruciating. This is the 8th time I've broken bones, so I was not pleased with that "familiar" sensation. I knew something was very wrong when I tried to bunny hop a ditch and almost fell off the bike!

It certainly took my mind off the climbs though, and only one person passed me! (He was pretty old - closer to 60 than 50, but I figure since he had a custom Titus Racer-X that he was a serious rider...)

On a positive note, I think the damage to the shoulder is relatively minor. No rotator cuff or AC joint involvement as far as I can tell. Seems like I may have just chipped the top of my shoulder blade. I'll probably go get X-rays tomorrow... Most likely a few weeks of immobilization will do the trick. In the mean time, thank goodness for Vicodin. It hurts like hell!

Will post pics of the carnage next week when my wife gets back with the camera. And I'll post a review of the Swinger 3-way as soon as I get back on the bike!

Ionit · « **Reply #1 on:** July 30, 2005, 12:51:19 am »

That sounds serious Matno. So you actually finished the race. What place did you finish?
This brings all new meaning to the word "walk it off".
".

Dennis · « **Reply #2 on:** July 30, 2005, 01:26:10 am »

Matno,

sorry to hear about your injuries. I know what its like to ride several miles with broken ribs, so I have some empathy for you.

however, I am not sorry for you to hear that you were riding at Schweitzer. When I quit my former job to become a teacher almost 10 years ago now (how time flies), I had it in mind to move to Sandpoint. the lake, the mountain, it has it all. however, I keep looking for an opening in physics at their high school, and I haven't found anything yet. guess the only way I will get there is to go on vacation, but one never knows.

anyway, I hope you can get back to riding and back to normal as quickly as possible. it sucks being injured, but just remember that everything ends, and you will be back to normal almost before you know it.

[smiley=groucho.gif]

Simon · « **Reply #3 on:** July 30, 2005, 03:03:11 am »

Blimey mate thats a real bummer,
at least you made it and thats got to feel good considering the injuries,
yep had some broken bones in the past (not as many as 8 though),
finished second in an MX race only later to find out later I'd green stick fractured my arm in the previous race,then I won a race riding with a dislocated little finger knuckle,I'd hit a post a wee bit to hard,
maybe I should of raced injured more often,though the last time I broke my arm (again in a race) it was a bad one,out for 12 weeks,mind I was 17 at the time,hate to pick up those sort of injuries again now I'm alot older,
hope that injury doesn't put you off racing again.
Simon.

Matno · « **Reply #4 on:** July 30, 2005, 03:16:18 am »

Just checked the results. Surprisingly, I didn't finish dead last. 44th overall (out of 75 riders). Hard to imagine anyone going slower than I did on all of the downhills, but I guess climbing counts for something. Nice thing about the pain - I didn't even break a sweat or get out of breath the whole time. Not sure how that works!

My bro-in-law finished 4th. This was the kind of trail that he OWNS. Best technical rider I've ever seen. Probably could have won if we had pre-ridden the course. Next time I'll know better! Pre-riding likely would have saved me a crash too!

Dennis,
Sandpoint is indeed incredible (during the summer). My in-laws have a summer "cabin" on the river about 8 miles south of town. 23 acres of beautiful views with a private boat dock. Picked it up for a song many years ago. Now everything there is SUPER expensive. I guess it's starting to get trendy. My father-in-law actually worked in the ER in Bonner's Ferry (an hour north), so they lived up there for a couple of years. He actually covered Schweitzer one day a week as their resort doctor for two years. Bummer of a job - he "had" to stay on the slopes all day! Plus the whole family got season passes...

Simon,
This won't stop me from racing again, I'll just be more careful about my tire selection next time! (Wish I had brought my Ritchey Z-max with me - I was THIS close to doing so...)

jinder · « **Reply #5 on:** July 30, 2005, 04:36:21 am »

Oh no.... rest that shoulder ok!

Simon · « **Reply #6 on:** July 30, 2005, 06:53:22 am »

Quote

Simon,
This won't stop me from racing again, I'll just be more careful about my tire selection next time! (Wish I had brought my Ritchey Z-max with me - I was THIS close to doing so...)

Ahhh hind-sight but haven't we all at sometime done something similiar,its always if only,it won't be the last time but it happens to everyone,thats racing,
glad your gonna race again,
anyway how far was the race and what time did you complete it in,what was bro inlaws time,
I just like to know these things [smiley=nod.gif].
Simon.

Matno · « **Reply #7 on:** July 30, 2005, 10:30:23 am »

It was a short race. About 7 miles of ski resort single track. All up and down (they told us it was "mostly up" but started and ended at the same point). Seriously beautiful although there was one section that was technical enough that I probably would have walked it even if I weren't injured. It was about a 12 foot plunge (not quite a drop) down a granite "chute" with rough stuff at the bottom.

My time was 35:14. Jeremy did it in 23:51. Fastest time was 22:27. It was mostly local riders, so we were definitely at a disadvantage as far as knowing the trails goes.

Here's a pic of Jeremy at a race two weeks ago. He regularly places in the top 5 in Sport class. (This is his first year of regular racing). Most courses are not too technically oriented, which is his real forte. If he raced downhill, I'll bet he'd be on the podium every time. He enjoys the climbing too much though, even if he has room for improvement.

I covet his bike. Check out those CrossMax SL wheels and XTR cranks! 27 lbs. Not too shabby.

Carbon_Angus · « **Reply #8 on:** July 30, 2005, 12:36:21 pm »

Matt, I am guessing your shoulder is okay. Have you had it x~rayed or an MRI

You are to young to ingnore this crapola.

I was under the knife after my distal fracture and i wish I'd had an MRi on my other shoulder after a crash....

How is it?
[smiley=beer.gif]

Matno · « **Reply #9 on:** July 30, 2005, 06:06:44 pm »

No fracture on X-ray. Darn. On further examination, it appears I may indeed have a rotator cuff tear. Partial to be sure (I can still get full range of motion), but extremely painful. Feels like the supraspinatus may be torn or strained. I'm hoping for a really bad strain which will heal up completely. I already have a bad shoulder on the other side from a rotator cuff tear that I ignored about 8 years ago! It has been a limiting factor ever since, although it's usually not a problem as long as I warm up correctly. This time, I'll be seeing a very good sports medicine doc that I know. He'll probably order an MRI to fully diagnose the problem. We'll see. It's a really weird sensation to have an arm that looks normal and feels relatively normal when relaxed, but I can't move it the way I want to due to pain. I'm thinking this shouldn't be too much of a problem on the road bike at least...

But for now, I'm taking it easy.

Frankd3000 · « **Reply #10 on:** July 31, 2005, 02:52:36 am »

Holy crap, Matt!!!! I'm very sorry to hear about your woes. It makes my banged-up knee from yesterday's ride seem trivial in comparison (but thanks all the same).

Very impressive about your finishing 44th (Congrats!!!) overall. That is certainly something to be proud of, especially given your condition.

Get better soon!!!! Maybe one of those nice/naughty nurse outfits for the missus will help. [smiley=nod.gif]

Carbonman1 · « **Reply #11 on:** August 01, 2005, 03:56:20 am »

Dang Dude, 44th with a broken shoulder? You ARE my hero, I would have walked off the course looking cow eyed

Semi slicks roll fast but can certainly abandon you wthout warning depending on the center "tread" pattern. Well, take it easy with lots of Ibuprofen and some rest. You'll be back up on it before long.

Matno · « **Reply #12 on:** August 01, 2005, 05:51:55 am »

Well, the race wasn't divided into categories (except that kids were separate). The important thing is that there were more men slower than I was than there were women faster than I was... There were a couple of TOUGH looking women in the race. I was blown away when I saw how fast one of them crossed the finish line (which was uphill). She made top 15... Still, it's painful to know that 5 women beat me. I honestly think I could have placed in the top ten had I not been hurt. Heck, I dropped at least 5 spots just by taking so long to get my chain back on after the crash (I was kind of dazed)!

jimbo · « **Reply #13 on:** August 01, 2005, 08:18:25 am »

Hmmm, racing hurt must going around nowadays. Did my first DH race yesterday and I did it with bruise ribs. I have raced mountain bike triathlons before.

2 weeks before the race I crashed really hard in a fast DH section. I had the wind knocked out of me. I had some road rash on my shoulder and hip and my ribs hurt. I hadn't signed up for the race yet so I decided to see how I felt before the sign up date.

The day before the deadline I did some shuttle runs with my riding buddy. The ribs didn't bother me so I sent my fees in. 2 days before the race I sneezed really hard. I must have pulled something in the rib area because it hurt like hell and now it was hurting ever time breath. Dammm!!!!!!!

I raced anyway. I ended up close to last amoung my buddies. My riding buddy ending up placing. He should have after what happened on his first practice run. He launched a dirt jump which had a sharp left turn right after it. Being his first run he didn't know about turn. He overshot the turn and crashed into a pile of fresh horseshit. He really smelled bad.

Although my result was dissappointing. I really learned a lot. Hopefully my next race will have more positive results. Here's a link of some pictures of the race. These pictures were taken by a guy who did the XC race. They just happened to take my picture. I'm #23 in the dark forest section.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=119032

will · « **Reply #14 on:** August 01, 2005, 10:10:19 am »

Matt,

Don't know how old you are, but right now I'm thinking about how much it's going to hurt when I get from my desk in a few minutes... Who would've thought twenty years ago that not setting a broken tibia would create such "interest" all these years later?

Or that lovely young novice at Taos who cut me off in a mogul field five years ago...

Long fall with a shoulder landing. Lots of Tylenol. Today, throwing anything overhand is out of the question. Doing pull-ups brings a whole new level of "awareness!"

My take away... there's no warranty on this machine and repairs are sketchy.

News:

Menu

Picture Bit

Author Topic: K2 Karnage! (Read 4300 times)

jimbo

will