Broken !

During a training ride last Sunday (11th of August) I managed to break my ankle. I don't have a cool story behind it. Just put my foot down on a root (not even a crash) and it rolled inward and up. I felt a pop and snap. Then as I tried to move, the bones in my foot felt as if they were crunching together.

This was then followed by a struggle out of the bush alone. I had to hop on my good leg, down to the four wheel drive track with my bike. Then I rode for about 1km out to the van. A short drive home with my left leg followed which was interesting!

Here is my week full of hospital visits and increasingly bad news.

Hospital Visit #1: I didn't think it was broken and the X-rays showed it not broken too. I was told that my ankle had some torn soft tissue and that I should wear a moon boot for at least a week then I should be able to do some light training or get on the wind trainer the following week. I was alright with that as one week off isn't too much in the long run.
Healing Time: 1 week.


Hospital Visit #2: This visit was with a sports doctor who had seen a lot of ankle problems before. She told me she wasn't happy with the original X-rays as there could be something else wrong. I got X-rays that day and was waiting for the call with the results. She also told me I have a grade 2 sprain of the deltoid ligament.
Healing Time: 2 weeks.


Hospital Visit #3: We got the call that I had fractured my talus (weight bearing ankle bone). I had a cast put on and was told 4 weeks minimum until its off.
Healing Time: 4 weeks.


Hospital Visit #4/5: I had a CT scan on Monday then had the results explained to me on Tuesday. I have now been told I need an operation. They will screw the bone fragment back on to my talus and I will need 6 weeks in a cast + 6 weeks recovery time.
Healing Time: 6-12 weeks.


Here I am, just over a week after the injury and it has changed from being 1 week to 6 weeks healing time. I am disappointed with all the different stories I have heard about it. Hopefully this is the final mark and I can get fixed and onto recovery before the upcoming national series.

I can't wait to get back out smashing it on both the road and mountain bike. Lets hope I have a better year leading into the 2015 season. I cant thank everyone enough for the support and concern. iRide Wellington has been great and super supportive too!

Lets hope it only gets better from here on!

Road Racing and Trail Building

The weather hasn't been great lately but I've still been out racing, training and digging.

I managed to do some road racing last weekend in Te Horo as a part of B-grade. A 60km flat race doesn't suit me that much but I put in the effort and most of all, had fun! I managed to make a break with two others in the last 15 minutes. We quickly dropped one of the riders in the break which made it tougher but we stuck it out to the end. After gapping the main group even more towards the finish I had a solid 2nd place.

The Pines is still having the most made of it before getting logged. Eden and I recently made a new cross country descent. Several drops, rocks and berms all make the track technical and fun. Remember to get up to the pines soon if you're local as it's getting logged in about 2 months!

Small sections of new XC descent.

Small sections of new XC descent.

Cheers all for the continuous support!