Gee Atherton Pulls Out of Rampage After Surgery
Gee Atherton has announced he will not be able to ride in Red Bull Rampage after having surgery on an injury picked up in training.
Gee had been working hard towards his run in Utah and was seen busting out a lot of newly-learned backflips in training at Hardline. However, he was riding with the Nitro Circus crew last week in Dyfi bike park and unfortunately picked up an injury on his left arm. He initially seemed positive that it would only result in a few days off the bike but it seems it was worse than originally thought and he has had to go under the knife to recover fully. Gee posted from the hospital:
 | Man down. Was so pumped to be getting ready for Rampage but a crash last week meant surgery today! Absolutely gutted to have to pull out, Rampage has always been special to me and I was feeling the draw to the desert again badly! But I'll be back, and doing everything I can to be there next year! Sometimes you have to go hard. |
We're sending healing vibes to Gee and hope to see him back on a bike soon. We've reached out to Red Bull to see if anyone will replace Gee on the Rampage roster.
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA4i_OkfnFU
Just because someone signs up for one of your patented "Mike Check" lessons, doesn't mean they're ready for its full impact... But, then, with a slogan like "Levy Your Ego at the Door," it's admittedly hard to resist the appeal.
i'm about a month out from biking again. the recovery is long and slow, but it'll be worth it in the end. should've just not crashed and dislocated in the first place -_-
Edit: This legit feels like a support group. Ha.
Oh oh, dislocated both shoulders, the right one I lost count how many times, stopped counting after 21st. Last two times on july and september last year, still having problems with it. You're right, it does hurt less with time, and it's quite easy to pop it back in. Which is not necessarily good
I did ride on a training bike for about 2 weeks before my first real ride, on the lowest force setting. I also got an OK from the ortho for putting weight on that leg, until I feel pain - I can do it, it just hurts, a lot sometimes. For the first two rides I had my crutches with me, in case I needed to walk
But you can easily ride a bike without putting much weight on one of your legs.
I just have to be really careful not to fall over on that leg, obviously, and can only ride being seated all the time - which is surprisingly hard
Your injury must be somehow different than mine. Sometimes with certain types of screws/metal plates in your bones you're not allowed to bear weight or have PT too soon. It sounds so serious -not being able to walk properly for 6 months.. Sorry to hear that. And also I'm really curious why.
I started my PT 5 days post surgery - nothing fancy, just strengthening my core, thigh and buttocks muscles. Then about 3 weeks later some exercise for the sick leg, but it's been only the last 2 weeks when it started to hurt a bit less, enabling me to put more weight on it and add some more serious exercises for it. My sadistic physio (god bless that man!) tortures me everyday, then I spend 3-4 hours in the physio-gym.
Also, I can't come back to work either. Fortunately I found some types of work I can do from home.
Healing vibes towards you man. Things will get easier once you will start PT and start having some progress! So fingers crossed it starts as soon as possible for you. And hope you'll get to ride soon!!
thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2012/01/16/the-awkward-world-of-private-insurance-in-the-uk
The NHS was something to be proud of and I am very much proud of the doctors and nurses but its not really fit for these sorts of things unfortunately.
He got 4th at proving grounds so deserves his spot at rampage unlike Gee who hasn’t done anything freeride in years and hasn’t competed at rampage since level was massively improved. I have personally seen both ride live and in my opinion bienvenido aguado is a much better freerider and this is a freeride competition.
The athertons were the ones who brought the awareness of off season and structured training to their racing, dominated then everyone else realised they needed to catch up.
The athertons have probably furthered the sport of DH racing more than anyone imo.
Of anything, mass road racing scares me most. You can be prepared all you want, near the finish line in a mass sprint the audience is waving all kind of merchandise and cellphones/cameras at you, dropping it for you to slide or smash into it. Or the rider in front of you goes down and there is no way to avoid it wearing no other protection than a minimalist helmet.
Admitted, this XC season has seen a good few racers recover from heavy injury. So it goes in cycles. They've seen bad injuries too.