A trip to the truly epic French alpine town of Morzine back in August with the boys ended with some injury woes.

Les Gets provided some awesome entertainment with trails of all types weaving down the mountain with enough berms, drops and jumps to satisfy a whole season of Enduro riding.

Spill

Sadly, on the final run on the 3rd and final day, I hit a sender too quickly and overshot the landing by miles. The result was a nose dive and hitting the dusty deck at speed and from height. The full face lid did its job and took a big hit. Blood splattered my goggles as my teeth went through my lip.

I vaguely remember being asked my name by the trail rangers who took me off the mountain in a nearby pickup and scooped me out when we arrived at the medical centre.

The kind medical professionals checked me over and some concussions and sore shoulders wasn’t enough to keep me in.

Diagnosis and recovery

Arriving home, I knew I’d severely damaged my shoulders from instinctively putting my arms out at impact.

Scans and ultrasounds confirmed tears, but not ruptures, in rotator cuffs on both shoulders. There were, and still are, lots of smaller secondary injuries around my back, arms and ribs.

The last few months have been super painful and frustrating. Range of motion is still limited and painful but with Physio exercises, things are improving.

A whole month off exercise after the accident was perhaps a silver lining that enabled my legs and body to recover from both a hard season on the bike and the accident.

Comeback

I’ve been back on the bikes for a while now and the trainer has been the best way to cycle without the extra stresses that cycling on road and trail brings my shoulders.

Overall, I’m grateful that it wasn’t worse. With two young kids, I needed a reminder about the notion of self preservation and it certainly delivered that.

Am I back on the trails? For sure! Just need to know my limits when it comes to catching air and over shredding!