Like his friends, family and supporters, Howard Grotts still has many questions about what happened about a mile from the finish line of the Breck Epic mountain bike stage race in Breckenridge on Aug. 16.
After leading most of the stage race, Grotts was found unconscious and seriously injured on the trail. He needed to be airlifted by helicopter to a hospital in Denver.
Now, recovering in a rehab facility in Denver, Grotts’ first memory since before his serious crash in the Breck Epic was him being in the hospital. He didn’t remember being airlifted to the hospital. Or the crash itself.
“That’s still a gray area,” Grotts said about the crash. “I have some unfinished business there. Whether it brings closure or not, I’m going to revisit the crash site and see if it brings any insights. As far as I can tell, it was just the high-speed area where maybe there were some rocks to clip a pedal on. I must have hit the ground pretty hard from a high speed. The GC battle was already pretty well locked up. But as a racer, you’re always going for it, so that finally caught up with me.”
He suffered numerous injuries, including a fractured collarbone and scapula (shoulder blade). He broke some ribs, suffered a concussion and has had about eight of his thoracic discs in his spine fused by a medal rod.
Grotts has already undergone numerous surgeries, including one to insert a plate to secure his collarbone. Another surgery was on his spine. His ribs and scapula injuries were minor enough that he didn’t need surgery on those and they are healing on their own. His last surgery was a little over a week ago.
Grotts must be careful with his day-to-day movements. He is not supposed to twist, bend or lift anything heavy. He can push himself up gently into a sitting position. He’s been walking on his own with some instability and wobbliness. He isn’t in much pain with the painkillers he’s on, and described his pain as a dull ache.
Despite all he has been through, he remains in good spirits. He joked about not drinking enough milk as one of the reasons for his injuries. He’s thankful for modern medicine and the medical care he’s gotten in Denver. Grotts is looking forward to coming back to Durango and rehabbing at home. He hopes to be out of the rehab facility by Friday.
Grotts is especially thankful for all the support he has received since his crash. Mike McCormack, race director of Breck Epic, set up a GoFundMe to help support Grotts’ road to recovery. As of Tuesday, it had raised $97,990.
He thanked his partner Ellen Campbell for her support and his other family and friends who have been there since Day One. Some people visited him when his memory was still hazy and he thanked them, too.
“It’s been incredible,” Grotts said. “This is the kind of an accident that every athlete hopes doesn’t happen. It does statistically, it’ll happen. It’s really incredible to see how much community support and just having friends come up here who either live in Durango or have connections with the Front Range. It’s really special, all things considered.”
Grotts, 31, isn’t the young up-and-coming star he once was. He was the cross-country national champion from 2015-18. He went to the 2016 Rio Olympics in mountain biking. He won the Leadville Trail 100 three years in a row from 2017-19. And he now races on the Life Time Grand Prix gravel series. He most recently won the 2024 Cape Epic mountain bike pair stage race in South Africa with Matt Beers.
After such a tough crash and a lot of serious injuries, some riders might want to throw in the towel on their career and move on. Not Grotts.
“I’m definitely thinking about next year already,” he said. “I can’t really count on any racing this year; it’s just a little too soon. But if anything, it almost sets me up better for next year. I can get back the base training that much quicker and not have the late break that other people are having to take. We’ll see what the landscape of the U.S. cycling is. But I’ll definitely apply for the Life Time Grand Prix and see where it goes from there.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
