Tearing my MCL and the Adventure After.

I had big plans for this year, I had come out of 2015 in the best cycling shape of my life: Racing mountain bikes cross country and time trials on my road bike. Oakley asked me to train with their research and development team to perfect some new technical eyewear. I had pre-registered for multiple race series, including one of the most popular in Monterey, CA.

Bellwether brought me on as a company ambassador and started sending free cycling gear from kits, socks, arm/leg warmers and even gloves.

Before the start of the 2016 race season I took a brief break from cycling to embark on a annual snowboard trip to Aspen, Colorado.

There was three of us, including myself, my mother and her best friend. We had the best time riding half pipes and tree sections! We even hiked up the mountain at night on New Years Eve and boarded down in 17 degrees Fahrenheit.
I returned to California and couldn’t shake my desire to keep snowboarding. I decided on a last minute trip to my friend’s Cabin in Big Bear. The six of us drove to the cabin Friday after work and were in awe of the epic snow conditions. There was 3ft of fresh fluffy powder! I had never seen better snow conditions in Bear before. We woke up early the next morning and got a mass amount of runs in.

After a break for lunch we were all flying down the hill! The six of us weaving in and out from each other. I passed my friends and decided to slow down to make sure we stayed together. My friends roosted me with fresh powder as they kept racing by me, laughing I popped up and proceeded to chase them down the hill. Suddenly a snowboarder headed straight across the slope right in front of me. I threw my board heal side and stopped just in time to avoid crashing into him. As my butt plopped on the snow feeling relieved I didn’t hit this person, he lost his balance and parked himself right on my knee. It happened very quickly. He proceeded to stay sitting on my knee as I yelled “OWW” and continuously pushed on his back in effort to get him off! Finally he stood up
and my knee was in a world of hurt.
It took some time but I sat there on the slope massaging my knee. Finally I rode to the bottom of the lift and found my friends. I didn’t realize the severity of my injury until I wasn’t able to stand. My friends called for help and I had to get a ride down the mountain on a ski patrol sled.. That night I drove home with my left leg sticking out of my driver side window because I physically could not bend my left knee enough to get in the truck. I went to bed hoping to wake up with no problems.
The next morning my knee still wouldn’t bend. I went to the ER only to find out there was a laundry list of things wrong including a torn Medial collateral ligament, dislocated patella, bone bruising and several other torn ligaments. Only then did the reality of the situation set in. I couldn’t walk…I couldn’t run, Snowboard, surf or….RIDE MY BIKE.

I was devastated. I lost my ambassador position with Bellwether and didn’t even have a chance to use the new gear they had sent me. I didn’t know when I would get better or if I needed surgery. Spring classes were just about to start and I was taking a full load of 15 units plus working 20hours a week.
They say bad things happen in three’s and things definitely snowballed after that. I got kicked out of the room I was renting because I could no longer help with the horses on the property per our rental agreement, I was forced to go on a leave from work with no pay and thought I was going to have to take the semester off from school. It took over a month before I got to see a orthopedic surgeon who told me I could bypass surgery and begin physical therapy right away. By that time I was stressed, depressed, gaining weight and getting around campus on crutches.
Things started to look up when some restrictions were lifted from work, I found a place to live and began physical therapy. The 15 units of classes were also taking a heavy toll on my ability to function at a normal stride. It was only in March which seemed like forever that I was finally able to walk normally and start riding my bike again.
The adventure began here, when I realized how easy it is to get a debilitating injury and how it can change your way of life in a moments notice. It was only after going through this did I realize how much I identified with cycling and felt lost without it. I managed to race at Sea Otter in late April with little to no training and ended up fourth out of fifteen. I was happy to be there but felt frustrated I wasn’t in the shape I had planned on being in for that event.
After Sea Otter I decided to start checking things off my bucket list. No more excuses for not doing things with the mind frame like “I want to wait until I finish school before I try skydiving or I want to find a boyfriend to travel to Bali with me.”
In May I found a Groupon and went skydiving in Elsinore by myself, worked the Baja 250 in San Felipe, Mexico, rode my dirt bike in the desert with my mom and stopped saying “no” to opportunity.

I started to surf again, bought my ticket to Bali, found a new job, got scuba certified and stopped being so hard on myself. I finished and passed all of my classes the Spring semester, took two in the Summer and left for Bali just before this Fall semester began.
My knee still feels weak and gives out from time to time. Instead of training for bike races all the time I ride at my leisure, my new roommates are great, I’m focusing on school and having fun. Sometimes life has a way of making you slow down when you just don’t know how to yourself. Hopefully no injuries anytime soon, I’m not done exploring!