my injuries

[mx547]

i went to the doctor this morning. he took xrays, then came back and told me that it was bad, very bad. it shattered my tibia (big bone in lower leg) right at the bottom where it connects to the ankle and foot. he said it drove the bone up through the tibia. i have to go back this week for a ct scan and then he'll decide what course of action to take. he said it would be either a cast, an external fixation (traction), or open it up and do major surgery (he said he hoped to avoid this as it often results in more problems). it's weird, it really doesn't hurt that bad. i thought it would be minor.----i didn't even crash! :(
he also said welcome to the arthritis club.

 

[justql]

You didn't crash because yoou're GOOOOOOD. A mere mortal would've ended up pulling a swift. Hopefully it's not the worse case senario. I know you probably don't care right now, but how long are you out for??

 

[mx547]

at best a minimum of eight weeks.

i broke my tibia once before and had the cast on for twenty weeks. :scream:

 

[mx547]

Originally posted by justql
You didn't crash because yoou're GOOOOOOD.

a good rider would have cleared the double. :confused:
i must have landed in just the wrong spot. i figure six inches further or six inches less and i would have been alright.

 

[01HondaCR]

I've been out of commission since June 1st. I tried a new double that I made in my back yard (I live in the country). I put too much kick in it and didnt give the bike enough gas on the face so the rear end just bucked me over the bars. I broke my left wrist in several place and had to have 4 pins put in. He took the pins out awhile ago and now i got cast on but he wont let me ride in it. I go back in about 2 weeks or so and maybe we'll be able to go riding again. Its killing me. Sorry to here about your injury MX547. I have been there before. Broke both tibia and fibia. Fun aint. It get annoying when my mom keeps asking me if im ready to give up riding. She should know the answer is alway no. And by the way I have had all of this and I just turned 15. Hope its not too bad and you'll come out of it ok. What exactly happened?

 

[mx547]

Originally posted by 01HondaCR
What exactly happened?

i came up short on a double. it wasn't a big air double, it was more of a speed/momentum double. the section had a small double followed by a small step-up, followed by a single jump. some riders were jumping off the step-up and doubling over the single jump. that's what i tried to do. i came up just a little short and bottomed hard. i didn't even crash, didn't even bobble. i knew immediately that it was broken. i pulled off the track, flagged down the emt, leaned my bike up against a tree then hopped over to the emt's golf cart. i said to him "i just broke my ankle". unfortunately for me, it was much worse. :whiner:

 

[justql]

So you were actually doing the "triple"??

 

[Smit-Dog]

I don't jump, so keep in mind that I can't really relate... but...

With that said, I can't believe the number of posts I read where the rider bottomed hard and did major damage to their ankles and lower leg bones. Based on some of the descriptions, the foot/ankle gets driven up into the lower leg bone and basically shatters the whole joint. Must be a tremendous impact. Seems like there is very little room for error on coming up short.

Does anyone have an opinion as to whether injuries like this, or in general, are getting worse as the bike technology/suspension gets better and allows the rider to jump farther and higher? Back in the 70's and 80's, did riders get hurt this bad or often, even with the marginal suspension of the day?

- Bill

 

[lightsts]

What the average guy at the track does today would have been a circus stunt in the 70's. We all have access to 60-100 ft jumps at the local track and guys jump them all day and everyday. Sooner or later most off the newbies will try them. You can't do it a hundred times if you don't do it the first time. We all get hurt...

 

[Jeff Gilbert]

Originally posted by justql
So you were actually doing the "triple"??

Jay was looking good from my vantage point, right up untill he coasted over and waived down the medic.

Originally posted by Smit-Dog
I don't jump, so keep in mind that I can't really relate... but...
With that said, I can't believe the number of posts I read where the rider bottomed hard and did major damage to their ankles and lower leg bones. Based on some of the descriptions, the foot/ankle gets driven up into the lower leg bone and basically shatters the whole joint. Must be a tremendous impact. Seems like there is very little room for error on coming up short.
- Bill

I can tell you from experience that the landing that took out both Jay and Gene is a tough one to come up short on. I'm not sure what I did different the last time I jumped it that night but my rear was rear way high and nose pointed right into the face of jump and knew it was gonna hurt. I got lucky, I had enough time to upshift a panic rev and yank the bars hard enough to pull up and it still like to have tossed me over the bars. The only thing that I hurt was a muscle under my arm but I was on the gas hard and I think that's the only thing that saved me. It was a damn hard landing!

 

[tx246]

ive already got contigincey plans for when i get back on the bike.

1. ankle braces
2. new boots
3. wide footpegs

ive had several ankle tweaks by hard landings and my balls of my feet on the pegs instead of my arch. i think we could avoid some injury by going wider on the pegs. there is nothing like using up 14 inches of travel and feeling your boots spank the ground. justin, i didnt crash either............does that mean im good :D oh yeah my dr. said boy you have quite a bit of arthritis in your ankle too.

smit dog......i would say most injuries are caused when a rider cases the jump. thats when the bike lands on the frame under the motor before the wheels hit the ground. suspension is connected to the wheels. therefore if you case, you might as well of jumped off your house feet first. most tracks do a good job of making landing areas that are safe. most of the time its the riders fault.

 

[thermal]

How many riders need to get hurt before they make all doubles and triples at amateur races table tops?

Just fill it in between the jumps!!!!!!!!!!!!

I ride woods only.......but it seems to me it would work.

 

[motox757]

Originally posted by mx547
i went to the doctor this morning. he took xrays, then came back and told me that it was bad, very bad. it shattered my tibia (big bone in lower leg) right at the bottom where it connects to the ankle and foot. he said it drove the bone up through the tibia. i have to go back this week for a ct scan and then he'll decide what course of action to take.

Jay, do you think you will be able to get around this coming weekend? You asked about hitchin' a ride with Mason and I to Ascot...

Let me know...

 

[justql]

Originally posted by lightsts
Sooner or later most off the newbies will try them. You can't do it a hundred times if you don't do it the first time. We all get hurt...

Sad thing is MX547 is a long time mxer. Longer than most that ride MX have lived. tx246 Is pretty good as well. This is evidenced by the fact he didn't even crash. ;) (How's that Gene)

 

[Smit-Dog]

Originally posted by justql
Sad thing is MX547 is a long time mxer. Longer than most that ride MX have lived.

That's the part that really freaks me out. I could understand if it was newbie's getting hurt like this learning how to jump. But when you have expert-level riders, guys that have jumped doubles/triples hundreds of times, get hurt this serious, I'm glad I ride woods. I know everyone here loves the sport and riding, but it is a very high price to pay for a slight margin of error.

- Bill

 

[scotts250]

I did something similar as you Jeff. This is a short (30 ft. or so) double. I've had it dialed in from the inside of the previous turn for some time now.
They added some sand to the track which makes it even harder from the inside and I had been getting into the brakes and rolling it all day. Finally went for it, felt like I had the speed, I was way back on the bike, and just before the face the bike hooked up good and I wheelied up the face. You've got to seat hop it from the inside and my front end dove after takeoff. I pinned it and pulled back as much as possible but caught my front tire on the landing face. Broke both wrists and bruised some ribs but didn't crash. Steered it out with my chest. It felt like my back tire downsided. I swear I could have looked under my front fender at one point but somehow still didn't go over the bars.
2 more weeks and I should get at least one of these casts off.
Cased a 60-70 ft step up once drove my heal into the ground and broke tibia, calcaneous, and achilles tendon. Didn't crash then either.

Good Luck!
Scott

 

[scotts250]

I'm 37, and other than those first few days after a bad injury, I don't even consider quitting. Even my wife doesn't complain that I should quit anymore. She just expects a reward afterwards for having to take care of me. For this last one, she wants a refurb on the breasts. I guess she wants me to pay for a new TOP END so to speak.
My problem is I'm still learning to go faster. I find myself still doing mental laps some times when I'm just kicking back with injuries.
I'm hooked and not ready to just trail ride yet (which is fun as well).

 

[tx246]

smit-dog
to be honest with you i feel a whole lot safer at speed on an mx track than in the woods. the fast line in the woods is 3inches while the line on an mx track can be 30ft :p . plus the emts are right there when you do screw up :) . when i go into the trees with the woods racers i fear for my life. i think every tree is out to get me. either way i try to ride within my comfort zone and live with the consequences. think of the jump we goofed on as a tree next to a real root infested woods loop. sooner or later that rear is gonna slide and you are gonna eat bark.

 

[tx246]

scotts250- this is the first time that i have been hurt badly and ive always wondered how my wife would react. she has been an angel. she took great care of myself and mx547 during and after the er. she was whooped but stayed up till 3am making us something to eat. she hasnt been anything but positive. AND NOW I KNOW WHY! man, you are killing us by handing over "rewards". how we gonna pay for new bikes and stuff :) i hope she never meets your wife. im gonna call the AMA and have you banned from motorcycles. :p

 

[scotts250]

No don't do it. I promise to deny all correlation between these alleged "rewards" and the sport of MX. I'll swear it is payola for some turrid affair I had in the past or something. If I'm banned from motorcycles, I would be left with no choice but switching to a 4 wheeler and tearing up the good lines at a track near you. YIKES!
Actually, mine is usually very helpful, concerned, caring, etc until I really start healing up. Buying new bikes is another story all together, I bought myself some bargining room when we bought some waverunners. That way her and my daughter have toys as well. I want a CRF450 but now is probably not a good time.

She's been making noise about the new top end for a few years regardless. The wrist injuries are just the reason du jour for bringing it up.
She works too so I guess I can't complain.

On another note, my first surgery came from riding in the woods. Too close to a tree in a turn and snapped a couple of fingers between the clutch lever and bars.
Good Luck and heal quick

 

[skyman]

I have always been a big jumper, I am slow on the ground, but everytime I see people that break ankles and leg bones from bottoming, they are riding on their tip toes or something. It is usually something to do with the style they are using. I have shorted some big jumps, and one of them brke my back in six places in Jan, but did not hurt my legs one bit.

 

[scotts250]

My bad ankle injury came from exactly what your saying. I put myself in a situation where my feet got kicked up off the pegs and when I cased the jump, only my toes caught the peg and my ankle folded and drove my heal into the ground. This was a mental error because I tried to force clearing a jump by seat hoping and whipping the bike some because I blew a shift and lost momentum.
I usually try to keep the pegs centered in my foot while jumping. I usually only ride on my toes if I'm banging across the tops of some whoops.

 

[skyman]

Yea, that is what I have mostly seen. Hope you get better soon, my riding buddy broke his leg riding in the Arkansas Ozarks last Nov. and had the rod taken out of his leg last week, a year early due to a Staff infection caused from the rod, and he is having a tough time. His foot actually went around in a circle when he hit the tree, and spiral broke both bones by the knee, and again by the ankle. Those injuries are very painful by nature, and are hard to heal from.

 

[scotts250]

I overjumped a 100+ ft. table top and flat spotted both rims before with only minor soreness the next day. Mostly whiplash. Grabbed a hand full of throttle and rode it out. Saw stars for a few minutes.
I think the spiral fractures etc would be a career ender for me. Thats too much time to recover and gain confidence again.
My ankle took 10 months of healing and therapy before I started riding again. That was way too long to be gimped up a year plus would be agony.

 

[skyman]

I have been out most of this year, and now I am having problems working my confidence back up as well. I guess it just takes time.