Back in May, after getting a substantial amount of metal work put into my foot, Dan Barham and I worked on this little snippet together. We had being planning a video shoot of an entirely different kind but when I injured myself it called for a radical re-think. We were then going to make a full documentary about injury recovery, but even best laid plans don’t come to much. The reason for this was that I made a much quicker recovery than expected, and Dan and I both found ourselves extremely busy and unable to devote the time that such a huge project would require. Nonetheless, the teaser certainly tugged at some heartstrings because all mountain bikers know what it feels like to be injured and facing a lengthy recovery.

Looking back at this video really triggers some strong emotion inside me. When we filmed it I was faced with reassessing everything I had planned and prepared for the year ahead. It is a lot to bare all at once and I was pretty wracked with fear, disappointment, anger, and sorrow. I was worried I might never be physically fit again, that I might have jeopardized my work, and that I could become lost. However, I am gratified to say that less than six months later I managed to achieve perhaps more than I would of without the injury. The recovery was one thing, but mental fortitude to not get down about the injury was something I am extremely proud of. What I achieved this year was one thing, but how I achieved those things was the biggest success. This injury taught me everything I know now and I’m actually very thankful for the opportunity to grow.

Below is the blurb for the project.

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How would you feel if your summer was taken away from you?

Fascinated by the emotions that someone would experience having their main focus for the summer suddenly ripped away from them, Dan Barham will spend the next five months following various riders, who for one reason or another, have had the rug pulled out from under them.

The mini-film will follow several riders who had spent the winter training, planning, and preparing for summer, but as the summer just got into swing found themselves crippled and lame, throwing all that hard work away.
The full project will be released in October 2012. Between now and then Dan Barham will be attempting to capture the kaleidoscope of emotions, what adversities exist and how they’re overcome.

Not everything in the world of biking is sunshine and lollipops. Too often the golden egg at the end of the yellow brick road is shown at the expense of the effort it took to get there. But what about the warts, the failure, the seemingly unsurmountable challenges? Behind every rider there lies a world of anguish and pain, tests and strains, and summons to fail.

This project is not intended to celebrate the dark side of biking but rather pull into focus the motivation for doing it in the first place. We only know what light is with understanding the dark.
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