Crashes

Over here at the Penick blog, you may have noticed that we like to post photos of our various bike crashes. Bruises & injuries are always fun to show off & perhaps they serve as reminders to us--now whether those reminders do any good is debatable.
It all started with the documentation of my encounter with a tree in early 2005 when I first started mountain biking.
I don't know that this one even warrants mentioning, but there was the small road mishap I had on the Fremont Bridge in May 2007 while commuting home from work.
Then Levi took his first tumble on his new Truth, on Tiger in July 2007.
And this May he went ass over handlebars at St. Ed's. With the nature of his pain & injuries we're guessing he also had a disruption in his AC joint, probably a class 1 or 2.
To continue the tradition, here are photos taken earlier this week from my crash.
Can you tell which shoulder it is?
My bike landed on my left leg.
I have no idea when this happened.
A few scrapes to go along with the bruises.
The good news is that I saw the orthopedic surgeon on Thursday & I don't need surgery! I've got a 95% chance that everything will heal up fine in the next 6-8 weeks with full range of motion & no residual pain.
A full week after the crash, bruises on my shoulder are showing up.

Bend

We took off for Bend, Oregon last Thursday morning & returned late last night.
Our only agenda: ride bikes, drink beer.
Accompanied by our friends, Mike, Joy, their two kids, & Chris, we had an awesome time. We all agreed that it was some of the best mountain biking any of us have experienced.
Here's our campground, with the entire Phil's Trailhead right in our backyard & a peek-a-boo view of Mt. Bachelor.

Levi with Alina & Cameron.

Riley trying to nab the bacon that we hung to attract the bees away from our campsite.

Nice rocks in our campsite--perfect for climbing, warming in the sun, & star watching.

Alina Bina had a fun afternoon in the dirt. The desert dirt was so fine & got everywhere!

Deschuttes--one of three brewery stops.

Whoops Trail--the beginning of a seven mile descent.

Hands down the funnest (yes, that's a word now) trail I've ever ridden.

Chris riding a berm on Whoops.

Me riding Whoops.

The trip would have been just about perfect, except I crashed on Saturday's last ride. It was on the Whoops trail, which I had already rode once just fine that day. The second time around I was a bit over-confident & pushed my limits, gathering too much speed as I hit a 5 foot tall double-peaked table (or Whoop-de-Woo). Coming off the top, my back tire caught a lot of air & I didn't bring my front up enough, so I went over the top, landing mainly on my right shoulder. I walked off the trail just fine, but the evening of Levi's 29th birthday was spent in the Bend ER. The image below shows the AC joint--where your clavile meets your shoulder blade & there are four ligaments.AC injuries are fairly common among athletes--it's actually nicknamed the Quarterback Injury. I have a class 3 distruption of that joint, meaning I blew all four ligaments. I see an orthopedic surgeon on Thursday, but from the information I have learned from my knowledgeable Uncle Casey & the internet, hopefully surgery will not be necessary. I'm praying that with some rest & physical therapy, it will heal well & I'll be back to full range of motion by our trip to Hawaii in December.
Next summer, I'll definitely be ready to head out on another mountain biking adventure for Levi's & Mike's birthdays--we're thinking Whistler. :)

Favorite Photos of Late...

Calvin, biker kitty.

Liz, Jen & me at our 10 year reunion.

Gowey pool party at Boo's.

Late 10 on 10

Yesterday was 10 on 10 & I missed it! Our blog is definitely facing some neglect between a busy summer & my attempts to not spend so much of my free time on the computer. As I head off to work from Little Rock for the week, I leave you with 10 of my favorite photos from the last 10 days. Have a wonderful week!