September 13, Park City

Well the day after the accident, the rest of the crew did Park City resort's chairlift. The trails were excellent, but the chair was awfully slow. Day 5 they did the Mid-Mt. trail riding from Deer Valley out to past The Canyons. Day 6, I made a morning trip to the hospital then made it out for a ride with Mike. Chris shuttled us halfway up Deer Valley and we caught the downhill trail NCS back down. Then we rode Outlook to Spin Cycle, Valley trail and then some. A great ride and I even think Mike was starting to get tired. Today was our last day of riding. Tomorrow we spring Francine from the hospital, put her on a plane, then Mike and I make the 12 hour drive home.

Mike rides the "Barney Rubble" section of the NCS downhill trail at Deer Valley.

September 11, Salt Lake University Hospital

Unfortunately at the very finish of our Wasatch Crest ride, while the boys were waiting at the car, Francine decided to get stung by a bee. Then during a panic stop she put her foot down too early and drove her femur into her tibia, cracking the top of her tibia. The first person to help was an ER doctor, and he was kind enough to drive us to the closest emergency room. That afternoon they cut off Francine's favorite bike shorts, then wheeled her into the operating room to straighten out her leg. The first night they installed an external fixation device. They drilled holes into her femur and shin bone then screwed in long posts that protruded from her leg. These post were connected by square carbon fiber rods that immobilized her leg. The next morning Dr. Kubiak removed the external fixation device and proceeded to install 7 screws and two metal plates to hold the top of her tibia back together.

September 10, Park City

I went to Park City last year, and unfortunately got rained out. The small taste we had last September, convinced us that we should try again for this year. We got a cheap condo in the center of Park City and invited Chris, Corinne, and Mike U. on our adventure. Day one, we tried a new area, Glenwild. Although we enjoyed the area it did not have the trees or great soil like most of the rest of the Park City rides. Day 2 was Deer Valley chair lift assited Mt. biking. Had a great variety of excellent trails! Day 3 was the big ride, we shuttled a car down to Salt Lake City, then started our ride from Park City, over the Wasatch crest and then a 5,000 foot descent to Salt Lake. 31 miles, almost entirely on singletrack.

The crew on top of Wasatch crest.

Francine
Chris and Corinne enjoy the views, Solitude and Brighton ski areas behind them.
Rattlesnake on the trail
Mike

Getting the garage floor ready for Cement.

We were headed to Park City, and Lester the cement guy was ready to pour our basement floor, so we quickly prepped the garage with gravel, plastic, foam, and wire reinforcement.