Erik Lawrenuk is Back on the Bike! 3

At Vital MTB, we're Erik Lawrenuk fans. He's a beast and a bruiser, but shoulder issues have plagued his progress for a few seasons now. He finally bit the bullet and had surgery to tighten things up. With some serious rehab under his belt, he's finally back on the bike! Check the vid and his report below.
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So this is been the weirdest “Bike Season” of my life. Over 2 years ago, I took a bad crash over-rotating a frontflip at the Claymore Challenge. For over the past two seasons this injury has haunted me and dramatically effected my performance at contests. There is nothing worse than showing up to a contest feeling weak and unconfident. I decided to do something about it, and after a year of dealing with multiple doctors and surgeons, I received my surgery.

On March 7th, I was finally fixed. It was the beginning of a long 6 month recovery back to being able to downhill and shred slopestyle again. I was pretty bummed about missing a season, but I knew that it was going to be worth it. Anything was worth getting back to being %100 healthy and most importantly, %100 confident.

Rehab is the most important thing to a major surgery like this, and I hit it hard! I started going to Gastown Physio and Pilates two weeks after surgery to help speed up my recovery process. It did. I went to see my surgeon 6 weeks after surgery and I had blown his mind. Physio was doing the trick and I was well on my way. After lots of stretching and Pilates, I finally graduated to being able to ride my roadbike. I was riding the demonstration forest every week, and riding to work every day. Each ride was one step closer to being back in the woods, and tearing apart dirt with my tires.

All of the training was very worth it. I saw my surgeon and was given the go-ahead to ride my bike 1.5 months early! It was time to break in my brand new Cove G-Spot on the “all-mtn” trails of the shore.

I remember my very first ride back: It was on the most classic mountain of all, Fromme. This is the mountain that I grew up riding and discovered my love for bikes on. I pedaled up to the trail Bobsled as fast as I could. When I got to the trailhead I didn’t even stop; I just dropped right in. Nothing could have been more perfect: favorite song blasting, perfectly moist dirt, and a shoulder that was stronger than ever. There was a big stupid smile on my face, and goose bumps down my neck for the whole lap… I almost cried; it was that amazing.

Biting the bullet, and skipping this past season for shoulder surgery was one of the smartest choices I have made in a while. Im back to shredding harder than ever, and cannot wait to come back, guns blaring, for the 2013 season.

Another very different thing that I have been doing this season is FILMING A FULL LENGTH MOVIE. That’s right, I will be producing a full length movie with my close group of friends who also happen to be some of the top athletes in the mountain bike industry. We plan to release it for free online at the end of the year. Filming has given me a way to stay creative and involved with the sport I love so much while I cannot partake in the contest season. There will be a teaser released before Interbike, so get pumped!

I want to send out a very big THANK YOU to my amazing sponsors that have continued to support me, you guys are amazing!

-Lornny
Credit: Ross Measures
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