[DH Dad]

Back from my first ever trip to Whistler and it certainly wasn't anything I ever dreamed about.

Day 1 was a mudfest which meant I felt like I was riding at home in New England conditions.

Day 2, run 2. Finally dry and at the top of Whistler Downhill the freakest accident happened to me. For some reason, on the open slope ledge my bike decides to instantaneously skid out as though I had completely locked the rear brake but all I did was feather them. Anyways, rear passed the front instantly into a slide-out and instinct made me dab my right foot. It happened so fast that I didn't get my right foot down soon enough to help but enough so the wonderful 5.10 Sticky Rubber shoe caught the flat rock surface and it stuck like a suction cup while the rest of me and the bike continued sliding. Physics won and both my Tibia and Fibula snapped and dislocated my foot bone as well. Got transferred to N. Vancouver hospital and had 2 plates put in the next day and spent the remained of my first ever Whistler trip in the recovery room.uch: Nice image of my ankle attached.

The accident was the freakest thing and I still can't figure out how it happened although I had been having problems with the rear Hayes brake this year. Won't know if that was it until the bike get's back here though.

Maybe the shoes weren't responsible but I can't imagine my old 661 shoes grabbing and holding like that. Not sure I want to wear those 5.10 shoes again, at least not for DH. Traction on the pedals is amazing but I guess that's not everything.

 

[schwaaa31]

I think you can still ride a snowmobile with those plates

Heal up quick man.

 

[Red Bull]

Someone posted something on bustedspoke.com about this. Sorry bro

Feel better.

 

[in the trees]

Ouch! Heal up FAST!!!

toby

 

[brungeman]

That sucks! I hope the healing process is quick and your out on the bike again soon!

 

[narlus]

damn, that's hardware you don't want.

heal up fast, kev.

 

[motomike]

Get well soon man.

 

[greenhood]

Get well soon! Whistler has a funny way of wrecking people.

 

[Supa8]

Kev that is the second freak leg injury this year out of the local riding crew. Heal it up and hope to see you out there before the snow flies.

I saw more people banged up last week at Whistler then I could have imagined.

 

[Bullitboyz]

nice.

it cracks me up how it looks like they used every different screw from the junk drawer to piece you back together!

 

[ÆX]

wow, sorry man.

i think it was those shoes.
i tried them once and didn't like
that they were so sticky.
i couldn't move my foot around
of i was off on my placement.
footdrags would throw my foot
into my rear wheel.


sorry again, alex

 

[ÆX]

lol, i thought this was about all the crankworx STICKY thread at first.

 

[seismic]

Hope you will heal soon !

 

[SuperKat]

Get well soon. I'm hearing 'best trip ever" stories or "worst experience of my life" stories. No happy medium it seems...

 

[Ciaran]

Dude! Your x-ray looks almost EXACTLY like mine....

I hope you heal up fast. Listen to your docs and do as much physical therapy as you can as soon as you can. You'll be back on the bike in no time!

 

[BIGHIT8989]

arn't the sole's on the shoes made out of the same **** rock climbing shoes are made out of ?? 5-10 also makes rockclimbing shoes ... so that could be a reason for the shoes sticking to the rock like suction cups

 

[Mattoid]

Dude! Your x-ray looks almost EXACTLY like mine....

I hope you heal up fast. Listen to your docs and do as much physical therapy as you can as soon as you can. You'll be back on the bike in no time!

looks like the doc missed the hole in the left plate! woops.

 

[mandown]

arn't the sole's on the shoes made out of the same **** rock climbing shoes are made out of ?? 5-10 also makes rockclimbing shoes ... so that could be a reason for the shoes sticking to the rock like suction cups

dude, they are the same thing. that is the point of this story.
:teacher:

 

[MDJ]

lol, i thought this was about all the crankworx STICKY thread at first.

so did I

 

[TimeBomb]

Ouch! Heal Well & Heal Fast. Bromont... openning day... 2007... right . Do you get to keep all that fancy Canadian hardware or does it come out at some point?

 

[DH Dad]

I get to decide in one year whether I want the hardware removed and another 4 weeks downtime or if I want to keep it as most men do. Woman typically have it removed since they have skinny ankles to begin with but most males leave it in. I won't know until I'm doing stuff again as to whether it bothers me. I'm curious how all those bolts and steel plates will feel in a ski boot though.

 

[vibiker]

...hardware removed and another 4 weeks downtime

Is it really 4 weeks on the removal? I had similarly invasive hardware removed about 20 yrs ago, and I was back on crutches for about 2 days and back on a dirtbike within a week. Granted, I had MX boots on, not DH shoes.

At least you have a good story with your breaks, mine came from of all things, playing tennis.

 

[Sandwich]

hmm...should I be glad that cactusbike didn't have 5.10s in my size?

 

[DH Dad]

The 5.10s are about as close as you can come to feeling clipped in with a platform shoe and pedals, they do make it difficult to adjust your foot position though once your riding without taking your foot completely off the pedals. I think I'll go back to my Dually's for DH but maybe use the 5.10s for trail riding where the upstroke is important on climbs. Who knows though, I may be too freaked out about them.

Is it really 4 weeks on the removal? I had similarly invasive hardware removed about 20 yrs ago, and I was back on crutches for about 2 days and back on a dirtbike within a week. Granted, I had MX boots on, not DH shoes.

Depends on who you ask and how many bolt holes you have in your bones. I have 15 screws in there. All those holes will need to fill in if the hardware gets removed and that means my Tibia and Fibula will be like swiss cheese for 4-6 weeks. I'm sure I won't need crutches and I'll likely be able to walk fairly quickly but I think they'll keep me off activity for 4-6 weeks if I have them removed.

 

[coma13]

so you're gonna sue 5.10 right?


(kidding!!!! don't kill me!!!)

 

[Jeremy R]

Anytime you can take nasty metal parts out of your body, it is a good thing. Those holes heal up quick, and then you will not have to worry about having that metal in your body for your whole life.

As far as the 5.10s, its impossible to know if they had anything to do with it or not. That break is common in DHing with any shoe.
I would even be willing to bet that those shoes have kept more people from getting injured than injuring them.
My nutz are extremely stoked that they exist.
Good luck and I hope you heal up soon.

 

[partsbara]

hmm...should I be glad that cactusbike didn't have 5.10s in my size?

no... zappos.com

heal up mate, you ll be on it in no time...

 

[Ciaran]

My hardware is still in there. I only feel it if I smack my leg on something and it hits the edge of one of the plates. Other than that I never feel it. Personally I will not have my body cut open unless it's absolutely necessary.

 

[dG video]

It could have been the shoes, but I bet the same turnout would have happened with a pair of Vans. I wouldn't necessarily blame it on the shoes rubber.

Either way, I am sorry to hear your trip was ended shortly. And heal well man!

 

[oiswego]

that sucks bro---i had a compound fracture of the same bones last year....not much fun. the good news though is that since you have all that hardware, recovery should be pretty quick (i was on that stupid boot thing in just short of 4 weeks). muscle recovery, however......
one thing i recommend is going to the local college or something and see the sports trainer there, maybe throw him a 6 pack or something to save some $$. they can really help you out with movement, and give you some good excercises to develop the muscles again.

about the hardware----it really all depends. i've had mine about a year now and i cannot wait to finally have it removed (i guess it's now "safe" to remove according to doc. whatever). here's the reason---running, jumping and especially jumping on bikes puts a lot of stress on your bones. when you have metal plates that are screwed into your bones guess what happens? they don't bend with stress like they're supposed to. the result is a lot of pain (manageable, but really annoying).

i actually had to tone down my riding (less jumps), can't run as much as i'd like to, and forget about playing sports like american football etc.
other than that, best thing you can do is sit back, watch teevee and enjoy those freaking great painkillers!

if you have any other questions about my exp. feel free to pm, i'd be more than happy to tell you all about it, and what to expect.

 

[ecbmxer]

At least you didn't brake something at a joint. Like an ankle or a knee. It happens. You gonna have the plates removed or not? They left in plates when I broke my left foot twice. But on my right ankle, they were bothering me afterwards so I had them removed.

 

[DH Dad]

that sucks bro---i had a compound fracture of the same bones last year....not much fun. the good news though is that since you have all that hardware, recovery should be pretty quick (i was on that stupid boot thing in just short of 4 weeks). muscle recovery, however......
one thing i recommend is going to the local college or something and see the sports trainer there, maybe throw him a 6 pack or something to save some $$. they can really help you out with movement, and give you some good excercises to develop the muscles again.

about the hardware----it really all depends. i've had mine about a year now and i cannot wait to finally have it removed (i guess it's now "safe" to remove according to doc. whatever). here's the reason---running, jumping and especially jumping on bikes puts a lot of stress on your bones. when you have metal plates that are screwed into your bones guess what happens? they don't bend with stress like they're supposed to. the result is a lot of pain (manageable, but really annoying).

i actually had to tone down my riding (less jumps), can't run as much as i'd like to, and forget about playing sports like american football etc.
other than that, best thing you can do is sit back, watch teevee and enjoy those freaking great painkillers!

if you have any other questions about my exp. feel free to pm, i'd be more than happy to tell you all about it, and what to expect.

I figured my Hardtail would be out of the question for a while, your post sort of confirms that. I don't run so that's not too much of a concern. I'll have to see how it feels once I'm active again, hopefully the cushy 6" on the rear of my RFX makes it managable although I may need a more supple fork up front than my FireFly, maybe this is my excuse to get a Fox 36 Van. I tend to think I'll want the plates out but time will tell. I've just started week 3 from Post Surgery so I get to start PT next Monday and hopefully at 4 weeks I can begin some weight bearing stuff assuming my X-Rays look good. At this point I just want to drive again so I'm not stuck in the house and relying on everyone under the sun. I hear swimming is a good recovery excercise, maybe I'll try that.

Thanx for the info.

 

[Supa8]

Kev, not sure if you know Brian Willis? He rides with us all the time ( flying Brian, superfast ) he had a compound fracture above his ankle ( big mess ) he has the pins and rods in still and said he is now used to it vs. going through another surgery.

As far as a fork for your RFX the new RS Totem I saw at Whistler last week maybe something to look into.

 

[SK6]

Hell up fast! My wife is PT of 20 years and is also an instructor for MCV. best advice; Do NOT overdo your PT! Do as the PT tells you and you'll be riding and skiing in no time.

 

[Ciaran]

here's the reason---running, jumping and especially jumping on bikes puts a lot of stress on your bones. when you have metal plates that are screwed into your bones guess what happens? they don't bend with stress like they're supposed to. the result is a lot of pain (manageable, but really annoying).

I run and jump all the time. I never feel my hardware. I have 12 screws and the two plates. It's possible that some hardware hurts more than others, though.

 

[oiswego]

I run and jump all the time. I never feel my hardware. I have 12 screws and the two plates. It's possible that some hardware hurts more than others, though.

you're lucky then---when i said my hardware hurts, it's mainly the screws i have closer to my knee (about 2 inches south of the joint on the inside of the leg). so it could just the placement. oh well--everyone's different.

but i can't wait until riding season is over, only because i can get the hardware out for next year for some races!