FATBMX Your Online BMX News Resource Since 1998

(including BMX Freestyle, BMX Racing, Freestyle Motocross (FMX), Mototocross Racing/Supercross, Skateboarding, Skiing, Snowboarding and Wakeboarding), cheerleading and dance, and martial arts (Judo, Karate, MMA, Point Sparring, Poomse, & Taekwondo) creating the company almost 2 decades ago. As with all the sports I work it started out with an interest in the injuries that occur in the sport and then simply falling in love with the sport and the athletes themselves.  BMX I started out with local BMX Racing and later was asked by a friend who was covering the Gravity Games to come help out. I was actually assigned to BMX (both dirt and park) because of my research in head injuries and therefore my lack of fear of dealing with them as well as any other traumatic injuries, and I was hooked.

Last year I expanded my desire to provide quality healthcare to athletes who very much needed but could not afford or did not have access to good injury healthcare by moving to PA near Camp Woodward where many Pro BMX riders come and train at various times of the year.  Since I provide medical coverage at many of the events which the athletes who come through Woodward compete in they are familiar with and comfortable with asking me to help them out with injuries. I may simply tape their ankle before riding or evaluate an injury and set them up on a rehab and strengthen program to help them return from an injury, including doing soft tissue massage, as well as other modalities that help them recover and get back on their bike once again, or get them to the doctor to determine if surgery is necessary.  

I often visit Greenville, NC, to the training facilities located down there to check up on those Pro riders as well.  I provide this service free of charge to the Pro BMX Riders as many do not have good health insurance nor do they tend to trust traditional healthcare.  I do it for free because not only are these riders phenomenal athletes but they are incredibly thankful people, and I know I am going to deal with their injuries sooner or later at competition and I would rather them at least show up at competitions as healthy as possible.  

Devastating injuries unfortunately are a part of action sports and you and your team are trained to deal with them both on-site and as well as during the recovery and rehabilitation. With these potential injuries in the back of your mind at every event you work at, are there some things athletes can do to at least potentially reduce the severity of injuries sustained?
As with any sport there are ALWAYS things riders can do to reduce their risk of injury:
First & Foremost, ALWAYS WEAR YOUR PROTECTIVE GEAR BEFORE GETTING ON THE BIKE.  It sounds stupid to have to remind riders of this, but in such a lack-of-fear, adrenaline sport the reminders have to be made daily.  So what protective gear am I adamant about?  

MOUTHGUARDS!  Every athlete from the time they start should have a fitted mouthguard, either made at the dentist office or through such companies as www.customguards.com.  I can't stress it enough.  The mouthguard not only protects the teeth, but also the jaw and the brain...yes, I said the brain.  Athletes who are wearing properly fitted mouthguards are less likely to be knocked out and the chances of a serious concussion are reduced.

With the mouthguard is also the HELMET. ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET, and wear a well designed helmet like those produced by Poc Helmets.  They may be a bit pricier but well worth it.  Mike Aitken's head injury should be all it takes to scare every rider into understanding the need for a helmet.

Shin Guards -- so important for the stupid injuries to the shins

Elbow Pads -- swellbows are ugly guys come on now

Eating right -- a lot of injuries I deal with don't come from the crashes but rather, the body crashing inside due to lack of eating the right foods.  When you put junk fuel in, just like with a car, it will catch up with you and it will be so much more expensive to repair than if you had simply eaten properly to begin with.  This means good low-fat protein (fish, chicken, beef), plenty of fruits and green veggies, and calcium, whether it is from dairy products or Ca-improved products got to have them.  A daily vitamin, even just a couple children's vitamins does wonders.

DRINK LOTS OF NON-CAFFEINATED Drinks!  So many injuries come from simply not keeping the body hydrated enough.  Muscles and organs are like sponges when dry will crack and break when you try to twist them, but when full of liquid rarely sustain and great amount of damage.  I use to be a hardcore water only person for athletes but with action sports I have turned toward the need for sports drinks and fruit juices, as the athletes not only need the water replenishment but also the sugar and salts replaced.  This does NOT mean I encourage use of energy drinks unless the athlete is willing to drink 3 times as much fluids that are beneficial, such as water and sports drinks, along with it.

Get in the gym and strengthen the ENTIRE BODY, not just the cool muscles, or at minimum strengthen the core muscles of the abdominals, obliques (sides of the body) and back. Not only does strengthening greatly reduce the risk of injury it also increases your ability to do stunts.

What is your favorite "come back" athlete story? Someone who sustained an injury and came back stronger than ever?
Oh I have so many! Hmmm, well looking at the past year and the athletes whom I have worked closely with I would have to say my favorite story is Drew Bezanson.  Drew was training at Camp Woodward when his stunt got away from him as he went into the foam pit ending with his crank hitting his hip.  It essentially paralyzed the leg temporarily, to the point we had to drag him out of the pit.  It turned out that he had chipped a substantial piece of bone off the top of his ilium/iliac crest (top of the pelvis) and in the process damaged the nerve to his leg making it difficult to move let alone walk.  His recovery and rehab took time and persistence to return to competition, but Drew did everything I asked of him no matter how much it hurt and how frustrating it was.  He actually had to re-educate the muscles to lift his leg and progressively regain first walking then pedaling and eventually his tricks a little at a time.  Drew was back in competition, although not fully recovered in 3 weeks.  He was still left having to do rehab for several months.  Drew went on to finish 5th in the finals of the last stop of the Dew Tour in Orlando, FL, his highest finish at Dew Tour to date, 3 months after the original injury.  Drew then went onto win one of the biggest European contests this past January by both qualifying 1st and then finishing first at Simpel Session at his first visit to this contest.  Drew is now stronger and more flexible than he ever was before his injury but his injury reminds him that he can be taken out of riding at any time and he works very hard now to avoid injury.

What is the number one mistake riders make when it comes to healing their injuries?
Doing nothing for it.  Seriously, they think they can "walk it off" or simply take a few days off and it will heal, when in actually they often set themselves up for an even worse injury than if they had done the simple care at the time the injury occurred.  I often get athletes several days or even weeks after an injury occurs and it is often quite a job to get a rider back to normal riding once they get to me.  Simple things such as icing and elevating an injury, plus working on motion and flexibility of the injured joint can greatly reduce the injury and therefore the time lost from the sport.

You drive a ridiculous amount of miles and literally travel the globe to support the athletes you care for. Can you tell me how many miles you put on your car per year and your worst driving story in recent memory?
Hahahaha, everyone thinks I am insane.  I own a 2006 Chevy HHR that now has 190,000 miles on it (it had 5,000 on it when I bought it in Sept 06), and I only drive to half of the events I work, especially since it is hard to drive to Europe.  My worst driving memory recently was driving back from an event in Toronto when my clutch decided it was time to retire when I stopped at a stoplight in upstate NY.  Miserable!  I am 3+ hours from home, had little cash and knew absolutely no one in the area....$1500 later I was back on the road again.  But Toronto last year also got me as I was on my way to the Toronto Jam as I had a tire blow out during a big snow storm.  But both times people came to my aid, and renewed my faith that there are truly good people in this world.

Tell me your predictions on who is going to have a "stand out" year in 2010 and why?
Wow, I work with so many incredibly talented athletes that it is hard to say who is going to be the "stand outs" for 2010, but I can say that it probably will some of the better known athletes like Daniel Dhers, Dave Mirra, James Foster, Ryan Nyquist, Jamie Bestwick & Ryan Guettler to some guys just starting to turn heads although not new to the sport, like Drew Bezanson, Andy Buckworth, Jeremiah Smith, Brett Banasiewicz, Jorge Jovel , Vince Byron and Mark Webb.  All of these guys and many more have so much incredible talent.

Trish, you do so many BMX events without asking for much compensation, with some events actually costing you money to help with medical coverage.  Why do you do it, and with such passion and enthusiasm?
The answer is simple: these are some incredibly great athletes to have in my life and I want to see them reach their dreams.  So many events have no medical coverage or simply an EMT who has never seen the sport and does not have the education to treat the injuries on site as I do.  I have been doing this for decades and have been very fortunate over the years to have had some great sponsors as well as people willing to make donations in order to allow us to continue our mission to ensure quality injury care for these athletes. Right now we have several super incredible sponsors: ATS (www.athleticsoftware.com), which is the secured database company which we use to store all of our athlete medical records with the ability to access these records from computer or even our phones; Poc Helmets (www.pocski.com) who make incredible bmx, ski and snowboard helmets; Boudreaux's Butt Paste (www.buttpaste.com), an incredible product we use for many abrasions and wounds, riders love the name but also the fact we can reduce their scarring and help them to heal; Macho Martial Arts (www.macho.com), a martial arts company who makes incredibly durable safety equipment, uniforms and clothing; and our newest sponsor is the Athelte Recovery Fund, ARF, (www.athleterecoveryfund.com), an incredible non-profit company which was created out of the need to help action sports athletes pay for their recovery from serious and traumatic injury when they don't have the means to pay their medical bills or to get the medical treatment they so need.  
ARF has decided to back Bare Essentials Sports Medicine in our dreams of providing quality injury & healthcare to events that are not traditionally televised or who do not have the funds to provide medical care for their events, by helping to provide funding for myself and staff to travel to events and provide a familiar face the riders trust for medical care. We are so excited that ARF has decided to join us in helping to provide immediate and long term care for some of the worlds most incredible athletes.

If you are interested in having Trish at your next event, please contact her at:

Trish Bare Grounds, MS, ATC/L, LAT
Owner & Medical Coordinator
Bare Essentials Sports Medicine Co LLC
www.bareessentialssportsmedicine.com

Facebook fan page: Bare Essentials Sports Medicine.

Or, if you at the Toronto Jam, come find her and thank her for her dedication to BMX.  I can guarantee she will be easy to spot!  

By Susan Linerode