Hannah davies: 10 months on
I’ve had mountain biking crashes before, but always stood back up, brushed myself off and got back on. I’ve been very lucky.
However, on August 3rd last year I had a big one. I was at a local bike park, and trying a new line. It was the last run….Yes, the last run.
I made a mistake, and went off a large feature but didn’t get the landing right. Next thing I know I am hurling towards the ground face first. I was very lucky, my full face helmet did its job.
I came away with a small concussion and a few cuts to the face. The chin bar saved my jaw as it completely came off…. I would dread to think what state I would be in without it. My back however wasn’t so lucky. Due to the way I crashed my spine compressed giving me compression fractures on my T11 and T12 vertebrae.
This resulted in me wearing a brace for the next 6 weeks. Although it didn’t feel like it at the time but wearing the brace was one of the easier parts of recovery. It was frustrating, seeing friends out enjoying the sunshine and the brace was uncomfortable. I soon accepted it was something I just had to get on with. During this time, I felt very lucky to have such great friends, giving me lifts, taking me on days out and the time seemed to go well.
The next part of the recovery, was building my strength back. Having never been hurt before, I didn’t realise how quick and easy it was to lose muscle strength. My brace had been supporting my back completely for 6 weeks, so once it came off, my back felt very fatigued. Something I hadn’t considered before.
I’d only be able to stand or walk around for an hour max, before feeling like I had spent a day in the gym. I had to sit down a lot and take lots of breaks. I started physio, which helped my flexibility.
I had 2 sessions but then it was left to me to continue. I quickly realised this wasn’t going to be enough. I felt weak and stiff, which massively impacted my confidence, not just in riding, but in everyday activities such as carrying shopping.
After this I refocused and decided to turn the crash into a new starting point to get stronger than I was before. So started personal training sessions. I messaged a PT who I found through mutual friends and went for a taster session. Straight away I could see that he was listening to everything I was saying; I wanted to gain confidence, strength and have fun whilst learning the correct techniques to ensure my back was safe. We booked in a block of 10 session, seeing him once a week and went from there.
During the first block we focused on learning new movements, gaining flexibilities and started building strength from scratch. I was seeing improvement after each session, with new challenges, heavier weights or better technique. I could feel my confidence growing week by week and slowly this started to become apparent in my riding.
After about 5 months, I got to a point where I felt strong enough that riding was back to normal (aside from the occasional mental battle) I no longer have any pain or fatigue. It would have been easy enough for me to stop there, say thank you very much and go back to my usual routine. I am now 10 months post-crash. I’ve decided to stick with training and I am now at that place where I feel stronger than ever. Movements that have really helped improve my back strength are whole body movements such as deadlifts, RDL’s and squats where I have had to focus on maintaining core strength though the movement. Accessories such as lateral pull downs, planks, and face pulls have also helped massively.
I am so happy I decided to see the crash as an opportunity to start again, and so grateful for finding a PT that has so much patience and understanding. 10 months feels like a long time ago now, but actually the journey to getting back to this point has been a fun one.
I now look forward to the rest of year with coaching at Wye MTB, Ard Rock festival and a trip to Slovenia.
Words: Hannah Davies