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!

Starting to ramp up the training ...

Got the all clear from the physio to ramp up the training to an hour long ride, for 2 rides this week.

So starting tomorrow (Saturday) or Sunday, weather dependant because I don't have to go out, I'll go for an hour. Maybe 30 ks. And repeat Wednesday or Thursday.

Has been 6 1/2 weeks with injury, and 5 weeks till the Day Night Thriller 12 hour solo!!

Riding again ... slowly ...

I rode  to town on Saturday night for the Winter Series Prize giving, and back home, and went for another ride this afternoon. Knee feels much better, a little tingly, but definitely not sore!!!

It's been 5 ½ weeks since my big ride to Auckland, has been a while since I've had a good ride on the bike. I want to get out and do a nice big ride, but I should take it easy and work up to it again. Have physio again on Friday, so might go for another ride on Thursday afternoon.

The Knee bone's conected to the, Sore bone!

So I went for a ride a few weeks ago, just over the other side of town (Pukete to Glenview), just over 10km. I was thinking I'll see how my knee is and Ill go and see my brother at the same time.

10km into the ride, nearly at my halfway point of my out and back ride, and I can feel the same pain in my knee as the day I rode to Auckland and back ...

I decided not to call into my brothers, but to limp home on my sore knee instead. By the time I arrived home, I could hardly walk up the back stairs again. I was starting to think maybe my bike riding days were behind me. The next day at work was a day of kneeling and squatting ... this was not good for my knee at all. It locked out at one point, and felt like a tendon had moved, and would not move back into place. I rang a different physio, this time a son of a work colleague, who was also a physio for a cycling team.

Apparently I have torn/strained the meniscus on the inside of the knee. This is the cartilage type stuff that joins the muscle to the bone. It's a minor injury, but it is going to take a bit longer to heal.

I rode to physio again on Friday, and had my bike set-up looked at, and it's pretty much spot on, maybe move my seat forward 5mm. Rode home again, and felt like the tendon had popped out again. It went away after I jumped off the bike and feels really good now, still uncomfortable though.

So, I will only be doing short rides for a while, making sure I let this knee rest, and hopefully I can be ready for the Day Night Thriller, and the Lake Taupo Challenge!!!

Shaved Legs ...

Physio again this evening, just a massage and a bit of taping. Sounds like there is a ligament that is catching around the knee cap when I bend the knee, so massaging it out can help it.

But I have had to shave my thigh, as I'm getting some more strapping on. Man that stuff is painfull to get off when it pulls on your leg hair!

I'm not sure if I'll shave the rest of my legs though ...