As spring came upon us we were in full gear, preparing for the mountain bike season to begin. We had 10 races planned for the year and our first race was in mid May and we were set. Race day came Jordan placed first, Matt placed mid pack and I blacked out and crashed due to having strep throat. So we put that race behind us and we were looking forward to the next race which was in Rochester and was to be the start of our summer vacation. The plan was to go to the race, then drop the kids and dog off at Jamie and Joe's house in Kansas City for a week and Matt and I were going to go on a mountain biking trip with several stops planned throughout Missouri. Well best laid plans do not always happen. The Rochester race began and I was feeling good and ready, about 6 minutes into the race my hand was bumped off my handlebars and then I hit another bump and I did a superman over my handlebars which resulted in a badly broken collar bone. After the first-aid team assured me it was not broken Matt went ahead with his race and finished 11th. After his race we headed to Mayo Clinic where we spent 4 hours and found out it was indeed broken with an inch separation between the pieces of bone. 
They said they could do nothing for me and sent me away with pain medication and said to come back in a week. So we left Mayo pretty sad knowing that our vacation had turned into just a relaxing sight seeing trip. We headed for Kansas City, and about an hour into Iowa with a fully loaded van we smacked right into a deer making our van inoperable. With help from the local police (the kids can now say they have ridden in the back of a police car, so can the dog) we were able to get all the kids and some of our stuff to a local hotel, the next day with more help from the police we gathered up the rest of our stuff and found a repair shop for the van. Then we found out it was going to be 2-3 days before the van was repaired. Lucky for us Jamie rented a van and her and Shanon drove down and rescued the kids and our dog from Hampton Iowa. Matt and I found ourselves there for the next 3 days of our trip. Let me tell you there is nothing to do in this small town, at least the hotel had a hot tub. We did manage to salvage 3 days of our trip in Lake of the Ozarks, MO. Although I was in a lot of pain and being on the pain medication I was sort of out of it the entire trip. We had to extend our trip 1 day so I could stop at Mayo and have them look at my shoulder again. Again they sent me away and told me to see someone in 2 weeks; I asked them "what should I see in 2 weeks?" The doctor said, "...nothing will have changed..." So 3 days later I went to a specialist here in Hutchinson and they said I was definitely a surgical candidate and having done a little research Matt and I agreed. So the next week I had a 4 inch titanium bolt put in my collar bone and there it stayed for 4 months. The doctors told me my biking was done for the season. Two weeks after my surgery I was back on the trainer and another 2 weeks after that I was riding on the road, then after my appointment in late July my doctor told me the only thing I couldn't do was weight lift, so I didn't ask any more questions and I started to race again. I did miss the next 4 races after Rochester.
They said they could do nothing for me and sent me away with pain medication and said to come back in a week. So we left Mayo pretty sad knowing that our vacation had turned into just a relaxing sight seeing trip. We headed for Kansas City, and about an hour into Iowa with a fully loaded van we smacked right into a deer making our van inoperable. With help from the local police (the kids can now say they have ridden in the back of a police car, so can the dog) we were able to get all the kids and some of our stuff to a local hotel, the next day with more help from the police we gathered up the rest of our stuff and found a repair shop for the van. Then we found out it was going to be 2-3 days before the van was repaired. Lucky for us Jamie rented a van and her and Shanon drove down and rescued the kids and our dog from Hampton Iowa. Matt and I found ourselves there for the next 3 days of our trip. Let me tell you there is nothing to do in this small town, at least the hotel had a hot tub. We did manage to salvage 3 days of our trip in Lake of the Ozarks, MO. Although I was in a lot of pain and being on the pain medication I was sort of out of it the entire trip. We had to extend our trip 1 day so I could stop at Mayo and have them look at my shoulder again. Again they sent me away and told me to see someone in 2 weeks; I asked them "what should I see in 2 weeks?" The doctor said, "...nothing will have changed..." So 3 days later I went to a specialist here in Hutchinson and they said I was definitely a surgical candidate and having done a little research Matt and I agreed. So the next week I had a 4 inch titanium bolt put in my collar bone and there it stayed for 4 months. The doctors told me my biking was done for the season. Two weeks after my surgery I was back on the trainer and another 2 weeks after that I was riding on the road, then after my appointment in late July my doctor told me the only thing I couldn't do was weight lift, so I didn't ask any more questions and I started to race again. I did miss the next 4 races after Rochester.