Gay Returns from Reconstructive Knee Surgery
By: Justin Felisko
July 24, 2018
Gage Gay returned from reconstructive knee surgery to go 1-for-2 at the PBR Cheyenne Frontier Days. Photo: Andre Silva.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Gage Gay was getting stir crazy in North Carolina this summer as the months became weeks and the weeks became days.
The 23-year-old has spent the last six months recovering from reconstructive right knee surgery after he shredded his knee a week after winning the season-opening Monster Energy Buck Off at the Garden.
When Gay learned that the PBR was returning to Cheyenne Frontier Days for the first time since 2010, he knew he was going to make sure he would be nodding his head in front of the packed grandstands at the Daddy of ‘em All.
“I always wanted to ride here,” Gay said. “I couldn’t pass it up. Especially us bull riders that lived watching ‘8 Seconds’ when we were 10-15 years old. This is where Lane Frost died. This is an arena that always been where the best guys have been. Lane Frost and a lot of World Champions have rode in this arena. It is a great place to get on.”
Gay made his return official Monday night by riding Time to Shine for 85 points in Round 1 of the PBR Cheyenne Frontier Days.
It was Gay’s first qualified ride in PBR competition since he tore his right ACL/MCL attempting to ride Pit Bull on Jan. 13 in Chicago.
“Yeah, I will take it,” Gay said. “That bull was just really cool. One of my buddies from North Carolina rode him last year at the CBR. Eli Vastbinder. I knew he was going to be pretty cool if they marked him 86.5 points on him. I was pretty excited and I was glad it went my way.”
Gay finished the evening in seventh place following his 1.63-second buckoff against Lil Fool.
The four-time PBR World Finals qualifier wiped some mud off his gear – a torrential downpour just before the event started created a massive mud pit for the delight of the bulls – and shook some cobwebs out of his head.
“I guess that is welcome back,” Gay said with a chuckle. “He was in there leaning and I tried kicking with my left leg coming out of there. You can’t do that.”
The PBR Cheyenne Frontier Days concludes on Tuesday evening with the 2018 CBR Championship.
Thirty riders from Championship Bull Riding will compete on Tuesday night during the 2018 CBR World Finals, including four-time PRCA champion Sage Kimzey.
The event winner over the two nights will take home $26,400 and 120 PBR world points.
Gay will now head to Big Sky, Montana, for the Big Sky PBR on July 26-28.
He says his knee is feeling great.
Gay also made a 77.5-point ride at a $500 open bull riding in North Carolina last week in preparation for his PBR return.
“It feels great,” he said. “No pain at all. I haven’t thought about it once. I am really confident. It kind of took a beating too (last week). The bull wasn’t really good in the bucking chutes. I landed on my feet, but I went to my knees and my kneecap really drove into the ground. It kind of hurt for about five minutes and then it went away like nothing ever happened.
“It can definitely handle it. Getting the surgery and stuff it kind of gets that doubt out of your mind a little faster anyways.”
Gay was the No. 1 bull rider in the world at the time of his injury in January.
He is still ranked 26th in the world standings despite competing in only one 25th PBR: Unleash The Beast event in 2018.
In fact, Gay was supposed to go for a follow-up appointment on Aug. 8 with his North Carolina doctor for a final green light to return to competition.
Gay was tired of the bills piling up though.
“I am still not cleared by my doctor, but I asked if my bills could be delivered to his address and he could start paying them for me. He said no, so I figured I better start getting on bulls,” Gay said.
Gay also didn’t want to head into the premier series stretch run, which begins on Aug. 11 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, cold turkey against the rankest bulls in the PBR.
“I wanted to get warm back up before Tulsa,” Gay said. “I don’t want to get on the best bulls in the world cold and rusty. I wanted to get back in the groove of things before getting on them bulls.”
The Staley, North Carolina, native admitted that while by no means did he ever want to see his time atop the world standings be halted by an injury so hastily, there was a positive to the situation.
He learned the harsh lesson that you can’t take success in bull riding for granted.
“I definitely took some positives out of it,” Gay concluded. “I wasn’t quite as hungry as I should have been the past one and a half, two years probably. Having to sit out made me want it really bad.
“I haven’t really wanted it for a long time.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
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