It has been around 8 weeks since I last rode with our bike buddy Pong. He injured his knee badly more than two months ago from a basketball game. Last October 17, he was scheduled for a knee operation.
Then we got an email from him, this was how the operation went…
“Medyo hindi naging maganda yung nangyari sa tuhod ko, it was a gruesome 6 hour operation….
Totally snapped na yung ligament (ACL) ko kaya tricky grafting with titanium implants ang reconstruction – worst was that the doc found out that my meniscus is torn and irepairable… so no high impact activity na – no jumping (meaning no basketball nor volleyball…but fine as I have no more interest na hehe), and no jogging – kalahati na lang daw natirang shock absorber ko sa tuhod.
But then, it was good na nabuksan na ang tuhod ko sooner according to them… they were able to flush out remnants of those torn ligaments and meniscus otherwise it could have been a disaster if not done immediately….”
The doctor told him that it would take at least 2 years for him to fully recover and return to mountain biking. We knew he was really depressed. We knew somehow na parang ayaw niya munang makarinig anything about biking. But guess what, last saturday, Nov. 21, barely 5 weeks from his operation, he was back on the saddle
As we were going up Cardiac, I saw someone going down at least 65-70kph downhill, nung malapit nagulat ako si Pong pala. He took ‘reverse upak’ trail para mas less stress sa recovery ride niya. Then ito nakita namin.
He had this thingy strapped on his knee with dials and everything. Parang bionic foot na. I could see that the wounds from the operation are still fresh kasi may mga fluids pang lumalabas sa mga entry points.
Then after a little chit chat, sabi niya, try daw niya umakyat ng Cardiac… huwaaaat??? sabi ko alalay lang dahil mahirap na.
(Note: Cardiac Hill is one of the hardest road climbs here at Sta. Rosa, thus called ‘Cardiac’ .)
Then up he goes….
Dahan-dahan ba yan???? He even managed to overtake some riders going up.
Safely nasa tuktok na. After conquering Cardiac after a few months of absence, heto you can see the joy in Pong’s face.
Ibang klase ka Pong, certified Halimaw at bilib ako sa dedication mo paps. Pinakita mo sa amin ang puso ng isang tunay na mountain biker. Get well soon, at andito lang kami sa tabi tabi para tulungan ka sa iyong recovery. You are now a few grams lighter with your Titanium knee. haha.
Namimiss ka na ng tropa dito sa Sta. Rosa.
Good luck on your recovery Paps and we are looking forward to riding with you sooner!
blab·ber /ˈblabər/ 