Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Monday morning news, ummm, dilemma

What do you do when both your rider and his bike are broken; Again!




That's how my Monday morning went.

Long story...Jeff ran over to Pa for what would be hopefully his last race to qualify for his Pro credentials to be able to race on the national level next season. Racing in the Cat 1 category, he was leading the race with a comfortable margin when a moment of inattention caused him to crash hard in a rock garden, his bike hitting him in the head and knocking him senseless for a brief period. Getting up, his left knee was gashed open and swelling, his right forearm had a large laceration, and he could not use his right hand. He finished the race with one hand on the bar, solidifying his win and his qualifications for next years season. The guys at the finish line badaged him up and told him to go to the hospital. Typical of a mountain bike, there's little health insurance and less common sense, so he and Chip drove the 9 hours home and went to bed.

When he showed up at the shop, I asked if he wanted me to fix his bike or him first ;)

The layout table is good for more than forks and stems...
With a little Betadine to cleanse the area...
After a little numbing and a LOT of scrubbing with a stiff bristle brush to get the dirt out...

I trimmed up the margin where some of the subcutaneos fat was displaced and that's when I noticed that Jeff was looking a bit "off"... so we got him off the stool and into a little better position to avoid having to close a gash in his head from fainting...
With a much better systemic homeostasis, I began to close him up, one more stich to go...
and finally, the icky knee... it's on deck for the next round :)

Now, how bad is the bike?  That will be for another day.

rody

PS...no medical expertise demonstrated or implied...just cheap fixin :)

6 comments:

Winter Bicycles said...

Shop rate, or is that an a la carte item?

Sabrosa Cycles said...

I just want to know if you cleaned that suture area with acetone. You are amazing.

Rody said...

Eric,

I work kinda like Best Buy and other appliance retailers...offer an extended warranty program at the time of purchase to protect against Red Tail Hawk attacks, poison ivy in the genital area, and back alley suturing. Just 99.99 in cold hard cash, available only now :)

Sabrosa,

The betadine and alcohol scrub was painful enough...if Jeff can't keep the body and bike upright next time, I'll consider the Acetone as a future deterrent ;)

rody

EnginCycles said...

I rode my road bike from Philadelphia to the race on Sunday ( a rather epic 65 miles) and got a ride home from one of my employees Ed. He won the Single Speed Elite and said when your fellow there was riding he was ripping the course apart. He was WAY faster than the rest. Good to know he is all better.

Might be seeing Bill next week!!

Cheers,
Drew

rich said...

Wow Rody,
You've taken the term Full Service Shop to a whole new level!!

Unknown said...

I hope you remembered to change gloves between the rectal exam and the laceration repair. Good cosmetic result. MIKEY