Trent was smiling most of the time we rode together. Once he told me his story, I understood why he was so happy to be riding. Photo by Bryon Dalton.
One of the greatest people I have met mountain biking is Trent Burns. I met Trent during a recent mountain bike trip to South Carolina. He stopped to talk to me and my friend while we were resting alongside the trail. Trent has a great personality and seemed to be so grateful to be out riding that day. It didn’t take us long to learn why he had such a positive attitude.
Two years ago, Trent sustained a serious injury while mountain biking. It could have been the end of his riding days, and it was for a time. However, he overcame the setbacks and darkness he struggled with for nearly a year after the injury, and ultimately returned to the sport he loved. I am honored to tell Trent’s story using his own words.
Trent was an active rider before his accident
Trent poses for a picture while riding at Raccoon Mountain in Tennessee in 2015. Photo: Trent Burns.
Trent started mountain biking regularly after graduating high school in 2005. “I ended up moving to a place within a few miles of Balm Boyette in Lithia, Florida. Living so close to the trails there led to more and more trail riding.”
Trent rapidly developed a passion for mountain biking. “I quickly fell in love with the sport and went riding any chance I got. By the end of 2005, I discovered Alafia and Santos, and spent the next 4 years riding trails in Florida before I had the chance to ride in another state. Since then, I have ridden trails in Utah, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Indiana, and Kentucky.”
But life got in the way of Trent’s riding. “2016 was a rough year. I had been laid off from a job I thought I would retire from. My wife was pregnant, and the contract work I had picked up to pay the bills kept me traveling nearly every week from Sunday to Thursday. I sporadically rode while traveling for work, and during brief periods while I was home and could get away with it.”
Pretty soon, the sporadic rides came to an end. “It was a very busy transitional time. We moved back to Florida and I started a new job. Our oldest child started attending a new school. And we had to adjust to a new baby. All this led to a completely inactive riding period from August 2016 until March 18, 2017.” Trent vividly remembers the day he resumed mountain biking. “The same day I resumed riding was the same day it came crashing to an end.”
A simple ride turned Trent’s life upside down
Trent went to Alafia for a morning ride that fateful Saturday. “I arrived at the park around 9am, rode most of the intermediate and black diamond trails, and was having a great time. It was like I hadn’t taken any time off [from] mountain biking.” While Trent had been out on the trails, a demo booth had been set up at the trailhead. “I had plenty of time to kill, so I figured I would jump on a demo bike and ride a few more trails.”
That’s when the crash happened. “I went back out and rode the same trails I had just finished riding on my own bike. I overshot a drop and washed the front tire out. When I put my right foot down trying to save it, my ankle and leg were instantly broken.”
Fortunately, two other riders stopped to help Trent within minutes. “They wanted to call emergency services, but I insisted they just help me ride out. I couldn’t step or put any weight on the foot, but as long as it hung loose I didn’t feel anything but pressure and could manage the ride back in. I turned the demo bike back in (thankfully it wasn’t damaged), and the same guys from the trail helped me up into my truck.”
Trent called his wife to let her know what happened, and then drove to the hospital. “The ER got me in pretty quickly when they saw my leg. The bone didn’t protrude through the skin, but my ankle definitely didn’t look right. They put me in a cast, gave me pain killers, and told me I had to see an orthopedic surgeon.”
Despite the nature of the injury, Trent thought he would have a quick recovery
The x-ray of Trent’s ankle clearly shows the extent of his injury, and how much hardware his surgeon used to put it back together. Photo courtesy of Trent Burns.
Trent saw the surgeon the following Monday. “I learned the true extent of my injuries. The medial malleolus was broken off as my foot was forced to rotate in a way it isn’t supposed to go. As my foot continued to move in that direction, it also broke my fibula, and tore tendons and ligaments.”
Trent underwent surgery the Thursday following the accident. Despite his doctor’s advice, Trent pushed himself to go back to work quickly. “I was equipped with my determination (or stubbornness, if you ask my wife) not to let an accident that happened on my personal time effect my productivity at work.”
Trent’s desire to speed up the recovery resulted in complications that set him back further. “Being up and moving around led to sweating, and the sweating caused an infection in the still-healing incision. Follow-up visits to the surgeon led to attempts at treating the infection, but it kept coming back. The infection was bad enough at one point that the surgeon had to cut it out.”
Trent resigned himself to follow the advice of his doctor regarding his recovery, but doing so caused a different issue. “Taking my recovery seriously was probably where the reality of my situation finally set in, and things started to drag me down the most emotionally. My days consisted of going to work and sitting at a desk with my leg propped up, and going home and propping my leg up in front of the TV. I am not a sedentary person by nature. Living like this was difficult.”
A setback in his recovery drove Trent away from mountain biking for awhile
It’s easy to get down on yourself when you have to be like this for most of the day. Photo courtesy of Trent Burns.
In spite of his struggles, Trent’s recovery was progressing. “The day finally came when the doctor gave me permission to start working toward putting weight on my foot and walking again. I was thrilled! Within a week, I was walking with a noticeable limp, but I was mobile. Things were looking up.”
Then Trent had another major setback. “The bolt holding my fibula and tibia together broke. After going to the doctor, I found out that I had to have surgery once more. While the bones were healing as they should, the broken bolt had to come out or it would cause issues that would hamper my recovery.”
Trent took his frustrations out on the sport he once loved. He sold everything he owned that was mountain bike related, and swore he would never ride again. “I didn’t want to experience this again, and I blamed mountain biking. I was angry, and I was sad.”
Once he had healed, Trent looked for a substitute for mountain biking
Photo of Trent after finishing a Spartan race in 2018. Photo courtesy of Trent Burns.
Trent finished his last physical therapy session 7 months after he was injured. “Finally having an end in sight, finally healing, and having my family’s constant encouragement brought me back to myself. Also, staying involved with our oldest daughter’s activities, and trying to keep up with a very active baby fueled my desire for recovery.”
Trent started working on regaining the strength he once had. “I started with lifting sandbag weights and walking around the neighborhood. I continued doing the exercises and stretches they showed me in physical therapy. Slowly, I was able to work up to jogging, and then running. Being active again and not being dependent on others to get around really lifted my spirits.”
Trent’s desire to get stronger drove him to enter a Spartan race in early 2018. “I used this event to help renew my drive to push and train harder. The race was a short one, and I was thrilled to have finished it. It seemed like a great substitute for mountain biking. I signed up for a second race, and then a third, completing a Spartan trifecta that year. The second and third races were longer, and really challenged me.”
Trent’s family encouraged him every step of the way. “My wife and kids, my mom, and my stepdad were at every race that year. They were there for me when I was ready to give up. Their unconditional love and support for me has brought us closer than we were before the accident.”
Ultimately, Trent returned to the sport he loved
Trent felt at home when he returned to mountain biking.
After completing the races, Trent began to think about mountain biking again. “The races helped fill a gap in my life that mountain biking once occupied, but they didn’t give me the same thrills. It wasn’t long after I completed the trifecta that I started to think about biking again. At the start of 2019, I picked up a used road bike, telling myself it was safer and would be a good alternative to mountain biking.”
But Trent couldn’t stay away from the sport he loved. “I ordered a new mountain bike in July 2019. Surprisingly, my wife was very supportive. She knew where this was headed, probably long before I admitted it to myself.”
Today, Trent is back to being an ordinary rider like the rest of us
Trent is back to riding trails like this one in Lakeland, Florida. Photo courtesy of Trent Burns.
Trent is very happy to be back riding the trails, and being involved with the mountain biking community. “I ride every opportunity that I can. Recently, I helped the Ridge Riders in Lakeland, Florida do trail work, and rode with them afterwards. I also took my bike with me to Tennessee for a work trip. Sometime in 2021, I plan to do a San Juan hut system ride.”
He put his ordeal in perspective. “Looking back at everything that happened, I get a little embarrassed about how I reacted over the entire thing. There are a lot of people out there who are working their way through much worse injuries/obstacles. It was just hard for me to see that things would be better one day when I was dealing with the pain and struggling in the moment.”
Trent credits his family with helping him overcome his injury. “I’m extremely grateful to the people who helped me get to where I am today, especially my wife. She stayed in a positive mood the entire time. She reminded me that I would recover from the injury, and that we had, and still have, a good life.”
