Short one as I'm typing one handed.

30+ vet2 racers took off like a rocket for a mile of flat double track. I was 10-12 into the single track and just hanging on. After about 20 minutes I was starting to outpace those around me and slowly moving up. I had gotten around a couple guys when my race came to a fast end with a thud and a loud scream. It took two trees working in tandem to get me, but oh man did they succeed. I'm sure there is a dent in the trail where my shoulder slammed in with as hard of a hit as I've ever had. After sitting for several minutes and giving my chain away to another racer I started the long trek back. With the help of 3 very nice girls I got back to a road and hitched a ride back to the venue with another dnf'd racer. All I know so far is that there are no broken bones. The pain is still intense enough that I am yet to get any sleep. Will find out if there is any serious damage once the swelling subsides.

I got back just in time to see Tyler's start and he showed me how it should be done. He claimed 3rd out of 15 in the junior class and was 8 out of 88 overall. This was good enough to get him his first promotion points.

Once again this was a great course and was surprisingly dry. That is all I can take for now, time to go whimper in my recliner for awhile.
 
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Brian sorry to hear of your injury. If the shoulder injury is anything like mine was road biking is in your future more than mountain for the rest of the season. Congratulations to Tyler great showing on his first race of the season on that super cool Salsa.

Brian, same here - don't like hearing that kind of news. We all gotta stop that shoulder landing technique. The statics are mounting in its favor as the most common injury taking us out of action for a while. Hope it heals quickly!

Tyler, great job - sounds like that Salsa was a great find for you. Do you miss it, Dan?

Dana

I do miss it but I hurt my shoulder on it. It's a handful and takes a nimble fast rider like Tyler to make it behave.

4 months to heal before we launch of the cliffs into the colorado river...

Bum deal.....man. Sorry to hear it.

PJ

Heel up Brian. Any injury that keeps you from what you want to be doing sucks.

Ryan

and now, the rest of the story...........

So on the way home the shoulder pain is getting worse so I head direct to the ER. After reviewing x-rays the doc on call tells me there are no broken bones or dislocation, probably just bruised up pretty bad. I accept what he tells me but still feel there is more to it. My shoulder is literally locked into one position. So we head home for a long sleepless night. Monday afternoon the pain gets so intense that I finally cave and go back to the same ER praying for relief. They finally give me an injection of some good stuff. The doc on call tonight reviews the previous x-rays and forms the opinion that I have a torn labrum. So I promptly study up on labrum tears when we get home and quickly realize that this will end my biking season. Next step is making an appointment with orthopeadics at Dartmouth to get the repair process underway. Wednesday afternoon I meet with Dr. Karlson and explain what I have been told to date. She got a weird look on her face and said, "he determined a torn labrum from an x-ray???". During her evaluation she was a little baffled with how the shoulder joint was totally locked up. She left for a bit to consult with a shoulder specialist and returned with the news, "you have a dislocation and we are taking you to the ER right now". The folks in ER probably thought I was a little weird walking in with a big smile on my face, but my spirits had made a big leap in the last 10 minutes. So now my care is handed of to Wally. Now let me tell you, Wally is one big and strong man. I was a bit nervous that he was the one who would be yanking my arm back in place, it looked to me like he could very easily just rip the whole thing right off. More x-rays and a cat scan were needed prior to making the fix. One of the x-rays required me to put the arm in an impossible position. Problem is they would not accept me telling them it was impossible. Wally slowly moved the arm to the position and it hurt so bad I was screaming the whole time, never ever want to feel that kind of pain again. Once done they told me I could put my arm down. No, I can't put it back down! The shoulder does not work and I am stuck here. Wally pushed it back down then calmy infomed me, "that x-ray did not get what we needed, have to try something else". I'm not a violent man, but if he was not such a big man we may of had a situation in the x-ray room. Once they finally get all the pictures they need to make sure there is no other damage I get rolled back into my room and the IV gets installed. This is some good stuff, within 15 seconds I feel a little tingle and I am out. 15 minutes later I wake up and it is all over, shoulder fixed and instantly I have movement again. Should be back on the road in a week and the trails not too long after that. So a long story with a good ending. Will not be doing much racing now until Great Glen, but I can still enjoy riding my bike.
 
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What an awful story. Seems really odd that they did not see a dislocated shoulder on the original Xray. Since it will most likely happen again we'll have to read up on how to put shoulders back in, Team Pinnacle will be your only medical help on our out west adventure. I imagine PJ could hold you down while the rest of us pulled and twisted it back into position.

OMG, Brian! I?m so sorry to hear about your crash! I am glad however, that the docs finally determined what was wrong and put you back together. I can?t believe the torture you went through before they finally knocked you out and set it straight. In the big picture, you?re season is not kaput, and that?s a very good thing. I apologize in advance for the fact that Dan?s reference to the TP guys holding you down and putting you back together signaled an immediate ?photo opportunity? in my mind. I think I would opt for hurling myself against a tree as opposed to that, but that?s just me. Glad to hear the happy ending. Heal fast! Oh?and congratulations to Tyler! Way to go!

Julie.

It was well hidden Dan. The CAT scan is what finally made it clear. Unlike a full frontal dislocation that is very visable from the outside, this was twisted and parially out to the back. I looked perfectly normal from the outside. Chances of this happening again are much lower than the normal dislocation.
 
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Brian, what ER did you go to initially?

Glad things got sorted out and you have use of the arm again.

Let this be a lesson to all of us, if you know something is wrong, stick with it until the docs actually resolve the problem.

So now who in the Oct trip hasn't dislocated their shoulder? Am I the only one? Different dislocation perhaps, but shoulder dislocation seems to be a common problem among TP'ers.

Ryan

Your bridge crash trumps all our shoulder mishaps Ryan, and it indirectly led to Dana's dislocation.
 
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Fortunately for me Brian, I have the convenience of not remembering the worse part of that crash. It must have been a scary few minutes for my fellow riders.

Knowing the dangers of the sport we love, just goes to reinforce how important it is to ride with others, as anything can happen at anytime.

Ryan

you wusses won't be thinking about shoulders when we are hucking off 4 foot drops in Fruita....

PJ

I can't wait to see the day when Ryderjag actually hucks off a 4ft drop. :)

I nearly hucked off a 4 ft berm Wednesday, does that count? It's definately NOT big enough. Unfortunately that will not be fixed for the race.

At 15-20 mph and my weight I'm hitting the high point just past the tree where it starts to get smaller. That will pucker you up in the afternoon.

Ryan

I got to witness Ryderjag huck a 12 inch drop last year. Spent the next 30 minutes beating the front wheel back to something that sort off resembled a circle.
 
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