Or Rescue #2
I went mountain biking in Moab, Utah last weekend. I was on vacation, and had planned on biking, hiking, swimming, BBQing, and spending time with good friends. Moab Utah is the most awesome place to mountain bike. There are miles of trails, great camping, good condos, beautiful scenery, good weather - it has it all. People from all over the world come to Moab to jeep, ATV, search for fossils, river raft, bike, climb, and play outdoors.
But don't fall off your mountain bike and ruin all the fun. That is what I did.
This was my second Rescue in my life. I had a 7-hour Rocky Mountain Rescue during a winter storm in the backcountry after I broke my leg tele-skiing in 1996 miles from any road. This time it was only a 3-hour rescue. I fell hard mountain biking and knew quickly that I couldn't walk, which meant I couldn't bike, which meant I couldn't get myself out of there. In an instant the vast beauty of the surrounding Utah wilderness seemed endless. In the next instant I completely realized I was going to have to depend on others to help me get out of there. It was a very scary feeling.
We had been riding a new trail area and were having a blast. The area was moderately technical, physically pretty easy, with a super fun mixture of narrow single track and slickrock. Most of it was pure fun. If I had fallen even 45 minutes earlier over the high speed technical parts of the trail, it would have been incredibly difficult to get me out of the narrow rocky single track area. But thank goodness I fell in the easy part about 2 miles from the trailhead. No cars were allowed in the area, but that didn't stop my friends determined to get a 4-wheel drive truck to drive me out of there. Plus some very helpful mountain bike volunteers, who scouted a possible route to where I lay, then carried me to the car for an evacuation to the Hospital Emergency Room.
I am immensely grateful for the immediate action and support I was given. To be an athlete and suddenly loose the function of my legs was incredibly scary. Here are my dear friends, Christy, Kerry, (me) and Susan in the morning before our adventure. These are brave smart beautiful women who took care of me. Susan, (a doctor) never left me and orchestrated the rescue. Christy and Kerry rode out and drove back in to get us. All 3 came to the ER with me. Amazing.
I still can't walk or use my pelvis, or drive, but 5 days later I am getting better every day. Today I saw a specialist and had 2 MRIs. Tomorrow I will visit a Therapist. I'm on a path to a speedy recovery. This weekend I wont be riding a bike, but I have been enjoying the companionship, phone calls, dinners, and breakfasts brought to me daily by friends. We play hard, we live with gusto, we are there for each other. Family and Friends are everything. I am so lucky.
Moab is forever beautiful:
Next time more relaxing ....
