Tass breaks her leg mountain biking in Utah, June 2008
Tass in the center with the Divas
(also known as the Centennial Five),
the first all women group to ride the entire Centennial Trail through the Black Hills.

Tass was in Park City, Utah, at a mountain biking camp with her Diva friend, Cherrie (first on the left in photo).

They were learning new tricks and techniques for dropping off rocks and ledges.

They were required to wear safety pads supplied by the camp that were very large and loose fitting.

On a slow, sharp corner Tass's pad caught on her brake lever. The torque as she fell broke her leg before she even hit the ground.

The moral--safety pads are only as good as they fit.

Cherrie wearing the monster pads. Note the excess material above her knee. That is what Tass caught on her brake lever.

Tass in hospital
Tass the morning after her surgery. She now has three titanium screws in the head (top) of her tibia, just below the knee joint.
Tass's bruised and battered leg. She has a leg brace which she takes off daily to massage and do rehab exercises. The tape covers where the three screws were inserted into her tibia.
Tass' bruised leg
This is Tass's third broken leg. Her first was from skiing, the other while trail running. Tass also broke her hand road biking five years ago.

Not just her leg was black and blue, she also had huge bruises on her arm, shoulders and back.

When you play hard you also sometimes crash hard.

The show must go on!

Just four days after her surgery we had an evening program of our all new Rainforests & Maya Ruins program at the Lead Opera House in South Dakota.

Tass is loaded into the back of our car, her leg over the front bucket seat, riding to the slide show venue.

 

Tass is on an aggressive rehab campaign, and does special workouts twice each day.

She should be able to start road biking in September, and will be able to mountain bike and ski by December.

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