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Desert racer on the mend
Tribune/Dan McGee
Although she is in pain, and very stiff due to a broken back, Elysia Ulrich can still muster a smile as she stands with her dirt and road bike. The Reno rider is facing a long recovery from injuries and fully intends to resume racing as soon as she can.
By Dan McGee
Special to the Tribune
RENO - Everyone that races, whether they strap into a car or throw their leg over a motorcycle is aware of the risks. It`s part of motorsports and sometime those risks bite the racers.
In mid June that`s exactly what happened to Elysia Ulrich.
The 22-year-old Reno resident got her start in the MRANN desert racing series where she found success."I was the women`s champion in 2003 and 04," she said. "I wanted to so something different that was more challenging than what I was doing."
That "something different" was motocross. At first she had problems since her bike was set up for desert racing and the suspension would bottom on the jumps that are part of motocross.
"Last year I sold my bike and bought a new on in January," she said. "A YZ like I have is pretty much race ready out of the crate so I`ve hardly touched the suspension."
In addition to her new dirt bike, an YZ250F Yamaha, Ulrich bought a street bike."I planned on riding all summer," she said.
A couple of months ago, Ulrich won second place at Hangtown and at that time her future looked very bright. Then on June 14, things went very wrong.
Ulrich, along with a new riding partner, went to the E-Street motocross track at Marysville, Calif. to participate in a practice session.
"It sucks when you have to go to the hospital the first time out with someone new," she said. "It made me look dumb as I rode all day and 30 seconds before I would have stopped I waded up."
"Waded up," is probably an understatement. Ulrich came off her bike after a jump and landed on her back. As she lay on the ground, Ulrich`s EMT training took hold."When I landed it hurt so bad I didn`t want to move," she said. "The first thing I did was to wriggle my toes and to find out if I could feel them. I didn`t want to move until there was someone that knew something was helping me."
She added that several people had to be told not to move her and to leave her helmet on. All during that time Ulrich remembered an incident that happened when she was on her high school ski team.
"We had a party and several jumps were set up," she said. "One girl on a snowboard landed on her back and several people when to help her up. Although those bystanders had good intention they may have made the girl`s injuries worse as she`s now paralyzed from the waist down.
Once the medics arrived they put Ulrich on a backboard and she eventually ended up at U.C. Davis Medical Center. "My chest protector probably saved my back as the back plate helped dissipate the impact so it wasn`t super bad," she said. While the impact might not have been super bad her list of injuries is. Ulrich`s T-3 and 4 vertebrae suffered compression fractures while the T-11 had a spiral fracture. Her L-1 through L-4 vertebraes had transverse fractures, which means the little arm things were broken off.
And last week, her doctors recently discovered she had two broken ribs."I was complaining on how bad it felt to breath," she said. "But with my back nobody noticed the ribs until last week." Once the doctors at Davis were satisfied she was allowed to return home. Since her crash was less than three weeks ago, Ulrich was flat on her back during this interview. She briefly got up for the photo then got back onto the fold out bed in her family`s living room.
"It`s pretty hard to come through this," she said. "As soon as I got home I looked when the next race was going to be, which was in eight weeks. The bones should be healed and I should have most of my mobility by then.
"Although I have no idea if I can ride it gave my a point in time to look forward to and work on." Right now, according to Ulrich, she`s begging her friends to come over and hang out with here. Otherwise she reads, watches TV and checks her e-mail. For a person that has lead such an active life, being confined is very hard on Ulrich but she`s doing her best to deal with it. Looking down the road, she`s optimistic about her recovery.
"The way I see it if you can ride you can race," she said. "Still, I`ve got a long row to hoe. I don`t know anything as fun as riding my dirt bike but it`s also fun to ride a street bike." One concern right now is her sponsors. She hopes they will stick with her during this recovery period.
Those sponsors are RMS, ASV, Works Connection, Carbon Fiber Works, Dubach Racing Development and EVS, which makes the chest protector she credits with saving her from being paralyzed. While it`s called a chest protector this piece of equipment consists of two large plastic pieces. Secured with straps, one covers the chest while the other protects a rider`s back.
Ulrich is keeping her spirits up but at the same time she isn`t underestimating what has to heal and the work needed to return to normal, or as close as she can come."I`m looking forward to starting physical therapy in a couple of weeks," she said. "And heck yes, I want to see myself getting better. " Of course there is possibility that her racing, and maybe her riding days are over. Right now she`s isn`t thinking about that.
"I don`t know about the future," she said. "When the bones do heal I still might be stiff but with the end result I should be able to ride. Still I`m in decent shape considering and I`m pretty lucky." One thing Ulrich is facing is medical bills, which are mounting. Sadly she`s put her new Yamaha up for sale at a very good price for a well-maintained bike that has about only 30 hours of riding on it.
Her other option is to offer for sale several modeling photos she had taken before the crash. Anyone interested in seeing them should go to the following website; www.shutterfly.com/pro/Elysia/Elysia. And yes they need to list her name twice.
Despite the pain, and the fact she`s on morphine, Ulrich still has her smile and positive outlook Even though she can`t do much; her focus is on getting back on her bike and racing again. Finally, at the end of the interview, Ulrich was asked what she would tell her fellow riders. Her answer was simply, "I`d tell them, always wear your safety equipment and especially your chest protector," she said. Those wishing to send greeting to Ulrich can use either of the two e-mail sites: (1) dirtygirl@rimbenders.com or myspace.com/dirty_girl1. She`d appreciate any good words of encouragement.
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