Mountain biker seriously injured in major Breck Epic crash shares details of his road to recovery

2024 Breck Epic ended on a somber note for all cyclists participating in the race.

After five days of spirited racing, the sixth and final stage arrived August 16 came to an abrupt stop when Durango’s Howard Grotts collided with a tree about a mile from the finish.

Grotts, who was leading the overall pros and was chasing Matt Pike for victory in the final stage, hit a tree with such force that he spun around him and subsequently lost consciousness.

Shortly after the crash, several cyclists, including Lasse Konecny ​​of Breckenridge, approached Grotto and found him motionless.

Recognizing that the situation was dire, men’s professional cyclists stopped their racing to assist in the emergency by using life-saving measures, informing race organizers or transporting first responders to the area.

Thanks to the quick response of everyone involved, Grotts was airlifted to a hospital in Denver for further treatment. With the race results spoiled by a mid-race emergency, the professional men banded together and decided that the results of Stage 6 would be neutralized out of fairness to Grotts and the riders who stopped to help.

At the hospital, Grotts discovered that he had broken his collarbone; dislocated the ring finger of his right hand; suffered compression, transverse and teardrop fractures of numerous vertebrae; broke the first and second ribs; broke his shoulder blade and suffered a serious concussion.

Due to the severity of his injuries, Grotts spent a week in hospital, where he went under the knife twice. Grotts had surgery to fusion his T4 and T11 vertebrae and then have a plate placed in his collarbone.

After all the surgeries were completed, Grotts spent a week in a rehabilitation hospital, where he learned to deal with all his injuries while wearing a neck brace. Three weeks after the crash, Grotts returned back to Durango.

“I was in the cervical collar for another six weeks and did physical therapy off and on while I was still in the cervical collar,” Grotts said. “I now do physical therapy twice a week. It’s just slow. Obviously, I can look back and see where I’ve been and realize I’ve come a long way.”

One of the most frustrating things Grotts had to come to terms with during his recovery was that he couldn’t move as much as he used to before the crash.

As a professional mountain biker sponsored by Specialized, Grotts has spent his entire career riding the trails and training his body daily. The sudden loss of the ability to exercise and move as he had done for years was an adjustment and a psychological blow.

“We started with quarter-mile walks and then went from there,” Grotts said. “I am now aware of the fact that I am not nearly as fit as I was before the accident.”

Even though Grotts knows he still has a ways to go before he makes a full recovery, he doesn’t feel depressed or discouraged.

“As long as I have enough energy, my mind stays in a good state,” Grotts said. “Obviously I have some way to go, but it’s not that difficult. When I’m really tired, the mental space gets a little worse. It was nice to distract myself with books I wanted to read and do short, really enjoyable activities.”

Two months after the accident, Grotts allowed himself to get back on his bike and do light cycling. Although the ride was not recommended by Grotts’ doctors, the short excursions provide a moment of bliss for a cyclist’s life.

“I’ve been riding a bike for about 25 years or so, so I feel like I have a lower risk of falling than most of the population,” Grotts said. “I’m going to bike to (physical therapy). In about three months I’ll actually be able to start training more seriously, but it will still feel very low key.”

Having made steady progress in physical therapy sessions, Grotts is tentatively planning to return to racing, but is hesitant to crash again. Considering his long-term health, Grotts also considered giving up mountain bike racing to focus on other cycling-oriented projects.

“The head injury can get worse and the bones will take a full year to fully heal,” Grotts said. “I was thinking about other projects I could do outside of racing – like fastest times or king of the hill trying to keep me sane and make me feel like I was competing. Help the team and become a professional athlete in a different way.”

After weeks of recovery, Grotts is still amazed at the strength of the mountain biking community and its response to his accident on the Breck Epic.

“It’s something special,” Grotts said. “This is the world I’ve lived in for so many years, so you don’t take it for granted, but you don’t realize how tight-knit the community is and how many people you can impact as a professional athlete until you actually need it. this helps. I was simply amazed and extremely grateful to everyone who showed up in one way or another. … It gives me a whole new understanding of the cycling community.”

Breck Epic founder Mike McCormack even organized relief fund for Grotts after a terrible accident. Over the past few months, the cycling community has donated more than $105,000 to help Grotts pay for his restoration costs.

“Mike McCormack and the entire Breck Epic team were absolutely amazing when things went wrong,” Grotts said. “It’s a really great race and they show up when it matters. There’s probably no good race you can fail at, but I’m glad this was the one because the entire Breckenridge community did what needed to be done. I’m very grateful to Breckenridge.”