August 2004. Michelle's Schweitzer story.

So here was my weekend, and since you know Carrie, I'll send this. Friday, Carrie and I drove to Spokane because we were staying at Sara's (one of the top ranked pro mountain biking women in the country) house. We rode Mt. Spokane that evening  with Sara and Paul - a fun long downhill single track all the way down with the exception of about a mile of a grueling climb. We got up early Saturday morning and went to Schweitzer when Sara's sister Laura arrived since Schweitzer is where they are having the NORBA nationals this weekend.  We went up for one run, and was planning to master the death section (yes, I have been able to ride it, but it's still very scary)  - Alter Boy (pics attached). I came into it perfect, and as soon as I hit the drop and G out section, I noticed Sara and Lara standing at the bottom.

"Oh crap, why are they there," I thought? I could see them standing off the side to help critique me, but why were they standing in the middle? As soon as I G'd out, I somehow had enough control to veer around them and come to a stop with Laura putting her arms out at me to protect me from running into a "balled up" Carrie. At the G out, she slammed the right side of her body into a pile of rocks at about 25 mph. She was hurt bad. Sara and Laura went to get help, and I stayed with her. Miraculously, they had her to the clinic at the mountain- rescued from "a really hard to get to area" within one hour. I rode down, picked her up from the clinic, and took her to the ER in Sandpoint. She has to get surgery on her wrist because she broke it in three places and crushed one bone. She also has a cut up face and two black and blue eyes (she was wearing goggles), a bruise the size of a football on her calf, a huge abrasion and bruise on her hip, a bruised abdomen, a bruised a sprained left hand, and a cut up left elbow.

She is so nice, and more than anything, is mentally upset and was sorry about ruining our day because there was no way that we would continue to ride. After being in ER for several hours, we took Carrie back to Spokane. We had an easy drive home  Sunday, but since she lives in Corvallis, she had to arrange for two people to come up and get her and her car. Poor thing , she just got over a broken shoulder and has only been back on her bike two months. It was cool to finally have a female who is really good to ride with. Btw, she is still not jumping. Took her and Jen up to Hood River, and she was blown away.  Btw, I'm rockin' that stuff (the jumps), now that I am finally injury free (knock on wood).

But that wasn't all. Even more shit went down for the poor girls. I got second email from Michelle a week later- Things apparently didn't get any better that weekend.

I am going to call myself a walking catastrophe, and since I have some time on my hands, I'll tell the unabridged version of my latest...Ever since last yearr racing at Schweitzer and medaling as an Expert, I have been anticipating racing there again this yearr.  It's the longest course on the circuit, not mention it just works you the entire way. I was also very nervous because I turned Pro this yr, and I'd be racing against the top riders in the country  who are on an entirely different level. However, I was feeling better about it because I went there with my friends the week prior to ride the course.

I did excellent and was feeling confident for this past weekend. On Thursday night, we headed to Spokane and stayed with a fellow racer (she is awesome and has been coaching me somewhat). We got up Friday morning, and us girls and Ryan headed to Schweitzer, which is a little over an hour from Sarah's house. Got there, geared up, and was ready to go. I was nervous about being in people's way, getting passed, etc. We started off the gate, I was able to keep up with the experienced racer girls  who I had been riding with, and I never got passed by the Rennie's and Streb's... . I started out again ready to do the rock drop onto the road that I mastered the weekend before. It's about 12 feet drop, and you drop onto a boulder/shale rock, then onto the road  (splits the drop in half). I went in to it confident, but I was looking to the left and landed to the left perfectly on a loose rock pile. I crashed my knee into the rocks (yes, I was wearing shin/knee guards, but the foam ones). Ouch, that hurt I thought and quickly got up and laughed. Sara and Lara asked if I was ok, and I said yeah, tried to get on my bike and realized that I really couldn't pedal. I figured that I had just bruised my knee, so I decided to coast my bike down.

That wasn't working too well when I noticed that I had broken my derailleur off and a few spokes. Some people helped me all the way down.  I was having a very difficult time walking, so Ryan had to assist me everywhere. I went in to my bike sponsor tent and got my bike overhauled - new spokes, chain guide fixed, derailleur fixed, new grips, biked cleaned and scratches buffed out. I then made my way over to another company and got my derailleur tuned and new cable housing put on, then I went to another sponsor and got new levers put on. I figured what else can I do while I am hurt? I left my bike with my one sponsor for the night, and met up with Ryan for a drink. .  We went for some food, and ran in to some friends from Portland who were also racing. I was in pain, so we went back to the room.

 The pain got worse throughout the night, and in the morning, the swelling had significantly increased. I headed up to the mountain thinking I could wrap it and practice.  Nope, I could barely walk. I went to see John to pick up my bike, and he gave the lecture that I needed to go to the hospital. I went and reported my accident so I could get covered under the NORBA event insurance (took forever), and I had Ryan take me to the hospital. I just figured that I needed to get my knee drained, and I'd be good- to-go for the race on Sunday. I got right in for x-rays, and what I found out is that broke my patella (knee cap) - no racing for me. I got a nice 3/4 length knee brace put on to immobilize me and some pain killers. I was so upset, so we just went to beach so I could relax (I looked cute in my bikini and leg brace).  I laid in the sun and Ryan played basketball. Later, I figured why not have a few drinks, so we got cleaned up and went for some food with these racers from Puerto Rico, then met up with one my sponsors for a drink. I was in pain, so I needed to rest - not much sleep for me that night (I felt like I kept everyone up). The next day, I had to let everyone know what happened, see myself on the list as DNF, be a spectator, and support my fellow racers. It was a lot fun to watch, but I had to hang out at the finish. I was worried about losing my sponsors due to injury, but they were all very supportive, and it goes with the sport, but they told (lectured) me that I better get new cupping shin guards (I probably wouldn't have broken it if I had those ones on). I look at it as that I did have fun regardless, got to spend time with my sponsors, Ryan got to visit his old stomping grounds, and I made some new friends. On the other hand, this was just the beginning of the national races this season for me, and I was feeling really good as a freerider and a racer. The ride home was rough, and we even had to pull in a truck stop and sleep for a while. 
I feel completely helpless having to be taken care of. I get to go see my orthopedic doctor tomorrow, but I think it will be a quick recovery, and I'll be ready for the finals at the end of September..

Quite a story. Now i remember why i'm not so into DH Racing anymore. If you're not on it, you can get messed up. She's stoked that her new sponsors fixed her bike.