Brett Rheeder Breaks Femur at Indoor Bike Park

Dec 11, 2020
by Sarah Moore  


Brett Rheeder announced on social media today that he's broken his left femur.

bigquotesNot very stoked to report that I broke my left femur last night.

Surgery scheduled first thing tomorrow morning. Big thanks to @airreccenter, @jacksongoldstone, @paulson_griffin @chancemoore__ and all the locals for helping me. This one SUCKED.—Brett Rheeder

We wish him all the best with surgery and recovery.

Posted In:
Other Injuries Brett Rheeder


Author Info:
sarahmoore avatar

Member since Mar 30, 2011
1,351 articles
Report
Must Read This Week
Pole Bicycles Has Filed for Bankruptcy
63409 views
Kona Bicycles' Parent Company Appoints New CFO, Intends to Sell Brand
63337 views
Randoms Round 3: Dario's Treasures
42946 views
Downhill Bikes of Sea Otter - Part 1
42249 views
Brian's Randoms from Sea Otter 2024
40183 views
Pinkbike's DH Fantasy League: Get Your Team On The Line - Fort William is in TWO WEEKS!
37791 views
[UPDATED] Final Elite XC Results & Overall Standings from the Araxá XC World Cup 2024
37476 views
Randoms Round 1 - Sea Otter 2024
37316 views
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup

77 Comments
  • 59 0
 Oh man. That sounds brutal. His brief assessment that "this one SUCKED" makes me think it was probably super painful and scary. I dont want to see footage, but wouldnt mind knowing what went wrong. As for now though, I just hope everything goes smoothly with surgery, and wish him the best of luck for a flawless fast recovery.
  • 5 0
 Scary no doubt! Sending healing vibes! The big vert wall behind them there. He went up it straight (which is gnar, that wall is like 25 feet tall or something), and rode fakie out and I'm guessing wanted to half cab up the box jump right after. I think he went off line going backwards and got flung hip first into the corner of the box jump lip (which you can see the start of to the left of him(his right)
  • 43 0
 I'm no radiologist, but I think his butt cracked too.
Seriously though, I can't imagine how painful that was. Hope he heals back to 100% quickly!
  • 3 1
 I laughed like an idiot at that joke. xD
  • 14 0
 Heal up! I'm going on 7 years since my femur fracture. Just to add content. I did mine in a parking lot pre-ride. I think there is a lot of truth to the routine stuff that catches you off guard.
  • 4 0
 "JRA" and BAM!!!!
  • 6 0
 Welcome to the femur club unfortunately, it does suck. Honestly the xray doesn't look that bad, if you saw mine you would probably quit riding.
  • 4 0
 I suffered a complete quad detachment slipping of the back while in a manual in front of my house... after just getting back from hitting the biggest dirt jumps in my life.

The actuaries out there can attest that it's the odds the will get you in the end, coupled with the fact that the more you ride, the more stuff that non-bikers see as insane becomes "routine"
  • 1 0
 @plyawn: ouch! I was just getting back into MTB after a 6 yr stint of full roadie. I never rode clipless before but I was trying them out. I think it was fourth clipless ride. Did a stoppie, stopped and tipped over. Couldn't unclip. Everyone around was in total disbelief.

I wear Dainese hard shorts e1 over bibs all the time now. The tailbone pad has saved be several times over the years
  • 1 0
 @plyawn: Damn i feel ya. i dislocated my knee doing a wheelie and im only 17
  • 5 3
 @ReeferSouthrland: As an orthopaedic Technologist I can tell you that it is bad. Bad enough that he may end up with a hip replacement due to the impaction and comminution of the greater & lesser trochanter. If they manage to piece it all back together he will have a significant amount of hardware and likely won't be able to walk on his left leg for a significant amount of time and much longer time doing physio.
  • 4 0
 @Gibbersticks: he is young! He will heal. The guy is not 70 years old now.
  • 1 0
 @Gibbersticks: As somebody who completely displaced an exploded femur and hip I can guarantee he will be back shredding as I have been for many years. Hopefully he doesn't need 3 surgeries.
  • 1 1
 @DH-Angel: I never said he wouldn’t heal. But it isn’t like a broken wrist or ankle. He will have surgery and have to go through rehab. And having to have a hip replacement is not exclusive to 70 year olds. You’re arguing with someone who does this for a living.
  • 1 1
 @ReeferSouthrland: Again, I never said he would not ride again. It isn’t a injury like breaking your wrist/ankle/collarbone. It will require significant hardware to repair and extensive rehab.
  • 2 1
 @Gibbersticks: You did your best.
  • 8 0
 If I was going to post an x-ray of my leg on the internet I would at least ask the xray tech if I could put a massive sausage next to my leg for the scan.
  • 8 1
 yikes, bad subtroch. Way worse than a midshaft femur fracture
  • 5 2
 Yes, fractures up around the neck and head aren't good. Hopefully Brett will recover quickly and not have any issues with the metalwork. Midshaft fractures are usually nailed, which generally causes less problems. I managed to do both, sucked in a very big way. Because I fractured the head as well as midshaft, mine had to be externally plated which caused massive problems with rehab.
www.pinkbike.com/photo/18776387
  • 1 0
 @commental: bad radio for sure he's going to similar thing!
  • 1 0
 My wife did a compound subtroch slipping on the stair. 6 peices.
  • 1 0
 @commental: Holy shit that's a lot of metal, i can't imagine how bad that must have been
  • 2 0
 I gotta wonder what trick he was trying. Since this is just after Tomas Lemoine needed to have reconstructive surgery on his face .....after crashing doing a pretty routine trick, a tabletop.
  • 3 0
 I feel like it's always routine tricks that mess you up bad
  • 6 0
 My last two crashes have happened by being complacent and a bit lazy riding very familiar trails.
  • 5 0
 From what I hear it was a pretty routine trick. But Brett Rheeder routine....
  • 2 0
 I've heard bar spins are deadly
  • 3 1
 My buddy was there when it happened. The big vert wall behind them there. He went up it straight (which is gnar, that wall is like 25 feet tall), and rode fakie out and I'm guessing wanted to half cab up the box jump right after. I think he went off line going backwards and got flung hip first into the corner of the box jump lip (which you can see the start of to the left of him (his right)
  • 3 0
 Is this going to be on the next episode of airrecked?

Gutted dude, heal up well!
  • 3 0
 I'm not very stoked to hear that either Frown
All the best on a smooth recovery!
  • 3 0
 I’m sure those depressing looking cushions eased his comfort leaned up against his leg.
  • 9 2
 Yeah couldn't they have found some fluffy colourful throws to cheer up little Rheeder
  • 2 0
 The fung shui is all off, no wonder he crashed.
  • 4 0
 Semenuk and Rheeder on the front page in the same day....
  • 4 0
 A bit ironic for sure. First Semenuk on safety, then Rheeder with a serious injury. I cant help but feel like this is one of the greatest rivalries of MTB, almost akin to Pastrana/Deegan. You know in the end they will likely reflect, become great friends, and realize how important this rivalry was for driving each of them to achieve the greatness they both have.
  • 1 0
 @takeiteasyridehard: I could see how you would think that but have you ever watched not bad or not 2 bad? They are friends.
  • 1 0
 @ridealltheb1kes: nope, my bad, I have not seen either video. I just cant help but read their body language when they competed together. Maybe I read it wrong.
  • 1 0
 @takeiteasyridehard: Pastrana shits all over Deegan but the comparison is worthy.
  • 1 0
 Damn, that’s not your average broken femur. Wishing you the best Brett, I hope surgery goes well. Prepare for a long, rough recovery, but you’ll be back to form before you know it.
  • 4 1
 Another sh!t part of 2020
  • 3 0
 Just broke the neck of my femur on Sunday as well. Has not been fun...
  • 5 0
 Find a good PT and don't slack on it. I'm 7 yrs post break and still trying to recover full flexibility.
  • 2 0
 Hey man - did you have a full arthroplasty, or could they screw it back together?
  • 1 0
 @tommyrod74: mine was screwed. I'm not sure medically all the terms or the exact procedure. I have an 8" rod down the femur then 1 screw into the head.
  • 4 0
 Get on rebuilding strength and flexibility asap. Subtroch repairs are pretty traumatic and it doesnt take long before surrounding nerves to get all jacked up by overly tight muscle trying to compensate for weak ones.
  • 1 0
 @rpl3000:
Stay loose and stay riding. compounded my femur 7 years ago, 7 surgeries, 1 knee manipulation, bone on bone , I can ride 5 days a week still on mtb and been back on moto for 4 years
  • 1 0
 @tommyrod74: hey hey -- 3 screws to put it back together. Surgery seems to have gone well, 1 week ago now since the op. Everyday is a little better, pain wise and mobility wise, start PT on Tuesday, stitches out on Thursday.
  • 1 0
 @RR1: hell yea keep on keeping on brotha, 14 screws and a plate hold mine together , you will be shredding in no time
  • 1 0
 @rpl3000: Interesting. Did they debate a full arthroplasty? I had the same break but they weren't confident it would align correctly if screwed back together and opted for a total hip. Heal up quickly!
  • 1 0
 @tommyrod74: mine was still aligned well. I don't think they considered it. How's riding with the total hip? I'll be looking at that probably in the future.
  • 2 0
 Didn't Tom Van Steenbergen just break his Femur as well? Do kids not drink milk anymore?
  • 2 0
 1 femur per month is not a trend I wanna see
  • 1 0
 Nasty, I broke my left femur twice, got the pin out and snapped it a week later hitting a car on my dirt bike, if ya gonna be dumb ya gotta be tough.
  • 1 0
 I tried to become Danny Macaskill and went OTB and snapper my arm in half. Bent it at least 90 degrees. Hope he heals up and back riding soon.
  • 3 1
 Had the save break this time last year and it's excruciating.
  • 2 2
 I often hear women claiming there's nothing more painful than childbirth. I wonder how many of them have also broken their femur. Obviously I'll never be able to make that comparison, but it'd be interesting to hear from a woman who's gone through both. When I broke mine the pain was like no other I've ever experienced.
  • 1 1
 @commental: I broke 2 vertebrae in my neck = 10... later got a stomach ulcer and internal bleeding not related to riding... redefined my 10 by a long way, would have been somewhere around 15 before that. I reckon femur's gotta be right up there
  • 2 0
 @ctd07: I fractured T9, 10 and 11 and thought that hurt. If I had to go through one or the other again I'd choose my back. The pain from my femur was exquisite.
  • 1 0
 @commental: oooof!
  • 1 0
 yeeesh how'd you do it? I would like to avoid!
  • 1 0
 @commental: You know for certain when you wake up in a helicopter...on a positive note, they have the "good" drugs in the helicopters....
  • 2 0
 Look out Yeti, hospitals are the new suspension designers.
  • 1 0
 Well thatll be the last time I reply on mobile.
  • 2 0
 Middle name Michael eh? Where's the bandana Brett?
  • 1 0
 The year ain't over... Damn
  • 1 0
 mennn, so sorry heal up fast bro!!
  • 1 0
 I bet it's AirRec... click... yep.
  • 1 0
 Sad for him. My best wishes for a recovery.
  • 1 0
 Bad sub troch fracture. Hope he heals up well.
  • 1 0
 ouch
  • 1 0
 Heal up
Below threshold threads are hidden







Copyright © 2000 - 2024. Pinkbike.com. All rights reserved.
dv56 0.058504
Mobile Version of Website