Recovering from injury

I slammed on my brakes, gripped my handlebars as tight as I could, and closed my eyes. The next thing I remember is hitting the asphalt with my body, followed by my head which bounced once before coming to a rest. I was still on my bike.

A car traveling in the opposite direction had made a left hand turn directly in front of me. I had almost no time to react. The police officer and EMT told me I had hit the front quarter panel, shattered the windshield, and left scratches across the roof of the car where my bike and I flew over it before landing in the street.

That was six weeks ago. A broken knee (tibia plateau fractures) and a broken collarbone has kept me close to home, very close to home. I didn’t go outside for 3 weeks at one point. Because both injuries were on my left side, I could not use crutches (or even a wheel chair) until I had surgery on my collarbone and spent 3 weeks recovering. Not that I wanted to go anywhere; my knee has been in a precarious state. My orthopedic surgeon decided it was best to let the fractures heal without surgery, as long as the bones didn’t move. So I was stuck babying my leg, worried I would injure it further.

Being stuck at home, unable to be active, and unsure when my life will return to “normal” has been the worst part of this whole ordeal. When will I be able to ride my bike to work again? When can I start climbing at the rock gym? I’ve written off this snowboarding season altogether, hopefully next season. But above all else, I’m working towards recovering for Colorado’s river surfing season.

I have four months before we usually start surfing. I just started physical therapy on Tuesday. My shoulder is doing well, but my knee is in bad shape. I’m focused on healing up before the season starts. This will be the first time I’ll need to train in order to surf. So expect to see some training blog posts coming up. I have big plans for this coming season and I’ll have to make plenty of New Years resolutions to see those plans to fruition. There’s no way I’m going to spend river surfing season watching from the bank.

Surfing Glenwood last season. PC: Nicole Emerson