Thursday, November 15, 2007

Knee Troubles


Back in September, I was riding my new Yamaha 250 dirtbike near Athens Georgia. I was having a great day of trail riding and exploring the 1200 acre Broad River ATV park, I was riding wide dirt roads to tight twisty singletrack. Having a blasty blast!
I stopped for lunch for around noon, my only real break during the day. I was parked near two motocross tracks, one very large for experinced riders, unlike myself. The other track was a youth track, 15 and under. I rode the track slowly to learn the jumps and just get a feel for how the bike handles on small jumps. I rode many laps over and over with no problems. There was one jump I avoided each time knowing it was not one I wanted to tackle. On my last lap of the day about to head to the truck, I decided to try the one jump that I had gone around all day. I approched with a fair amount of speed, but had to give it a little more to clear the the whole thing. When I came off the top, I was leaning a little to the left. When I came down to the ground I still had my left leg out a little, my leg caught the ground and pulled me off the side. I rolled several times while my bike did a ghost ride about 20 feet away before it stopped.
I was laying on the ground holding my left knee in my hands trying to determine what was injured and how bad. The only pain I felt was in my knee and my left big toe. After catching my breath I slowly stood up and very slowly put some pressure on my left side. With both hands holding the knee I leaned to the left.....POP!!!! goes my ACL I fell to the ground again due to the pain and brief shock. I rose again and hopped on my good leg over to where my bike was laying on the ground. I picked up the 250lb machine, remounted and rode about 100 feet to where my truck wass parked. I was able to change and get everything packed up, but not able to load my bike into the truck. I called the guys who own the land to come help do the heavy stuff. The guys showed up on their ATVs and helped out with everything. They even got me a big bag of ice to take home with me.

So long story a little bit shorter... I tore my left ACL, torn minuscus cartledge, and a broked big toe. Surgery has been done and rehab has started. I am now walking around fine and riding my bicycle with no problems. Bending is not a proble either. I should be in rehab for another four months or so untill I am able to jog and twist. But untill then I will need to move carefully and protect my knee for any more damage. The knee is still very weak and will be healing for a while.