X-Ray from fall in Rotorua

Fracture mid shaft Right Clavicle.

Photos from Black Stump 2009

Photos of my right leg, after falling down a bank during the 2009 Black Stump race. The top hole is from the clip-less pedal, the bottom gouge is from the big chainring!

After a couple of days, both wounds became infected.

Rotorua Ride ... and a Hospital Visit

It was my birthday on the 4th of September, and had been looking forward to going to Rotorua, and riding with the Raglan MTB Club for the day. I arrived at the car park early and had an hour or so riding the lower tracks before the rest of the group were due at 11am.


We set off and rode Tahi, which then turned into The Dipper, I decided to go down the harder part, FAST!

So we decided to get back onto the road and head up to A-Trail, then Tickler, and then decide what the group would do, either go to the top, or carry on with the lower tracks ...


A-Trail was sweet! Nice and fast in parts and technical in the Hard sections. We regrouped just before Tickler started, and I went ahead first. The area arond Tickler has recently been felled, and the big drop has been taken out, you now go around a straighter Easy section.


I think this Easy Section is a lot faster and technical, as I overshot the corner.  Grabbing the brakes to halt my momentum, my weight shifted forward onto the front wheel and over I went. Next thing I knew, I was balancing on the edge of a 3 meter high bank, I was looking straight down over the edge!

I remember trying to unclip from my clipless pedals, and I was still holding onto the handle bars. I thought, if I could unclip, I could do a superman move and land on my feet or something ... I just went straight over the handle bars, straight down this bank, landing on my shoulder and back. My shoulder wasn't painfull, but definitely did not feel right. I might have broken my collar bone.


With the help of Dirk, Coralie and Merren from the Raglan MTB Club, we made it out of the forest. Dirk used Merren's long sleeve polyprop thermal to make a sling for my arm, and we walked out.

Lucky I was with a group this time, as I usually go to Rotorua on my own, Merren drove me to the Emergency Department at Rotorua Hospital. After a 4 hour wait the X-Ray confirmed my collar bone was broken!


I arived home bruised and battered, but still in one piece with a story to tell!