Maybe it's time to tell people...

A few weeks ago I was and idiot and went skiing in jeans, a flannel shirt, sunglasses, and without a helmet. First run of the day, I hit a 50ish foot jump. Of course I didn't check it out ahead of time to realized that it was re-groomed and you didn't need nearly as much speed to hit it anymore. I ended up hitting it with way too much speed, got kicked back, and completely overshot the landing. I was sure that it was a dream and that I was gonna wake up soon. I also thought it was summer...

It turns out that I landed on the flat below the jump on my back, got the wind knocked out of me really bad, and walked down to ski patrol where I ended up passing out. Once I understood that this actually happened and it was really winter, I figured out that I was in a neck brace attached to a stretcher, and being loaded into an ambulance while my parents watched. At that time I couldn't imagine what they were going through.

As you could imagine, my parents were pretty upset about this. Five hours, one cat-scan, and one x-ray later, I left the hospital knowing that I had collapsed a lung and broke a rib. I also knew that I'd be able to walk, which was a major relief. I'm sure I had a concussion too but the hospital report didn't say anything about that, so.....

My dad kept telling me that my face was pretty messed up and that I must've been bleeding a lot, but I didn't realize the extent of what had happened until I looked in the mirror. Well a nice spring break full of riding was over, and I didn't know when I'd be able to ride a bike again. It's been three weeks, and my lung has healed. I've ridden outside on fire roads twice, and have been on the rollers countless times. Next week I'm supposed to go to a neurologist to decide when I'm able to get back to normal riding and racing. It could be fine and I could be out riding next week, but I still wouldn't be racing until May. Or it could be the exact opposite and I might not be able to ride any trails for a full calendar year. I'm trying to stay optimistic about things but I'm mainly just happy that I had the chance to learn from that mistake. Everyone out there, have a good season. I'll be at the races regardless so I'll see you all soon. And now I feel bad writing a post entirely about me...oh well, have a good season everybody.