A mountain biker injured in the Cache Creek drainage underwent successful surgery for a broken neck Monday but faces a long recovery, his wife said.

Andy Parazette, the owner of Pica’s Mexican Taqueria, broke his neck in three places while riding Saturday.

Parazette’s wife, Danielle, who started Pica’s with her husband, said doctors had given them “good news” after surgery Monday.

He is expected to make a full recovery, although it will likely be a long one. “We are just very happy to have him back with us, he has three sons,” she said.

Parazette fell while descending The Staircase on Upper Hagen trail in the Cache Creek drainage.

“He was very fortunate with the people who got him to the ambulance and stabilized him,” his wife said. “We are very grateful to them and to the doctors.”

Jacob Pitts, a second mountain biker injured Saturday in another location, remained in serious condition Monday at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.

“Serious” condition means vital signs may be unstable or not within normal limits, hospital spokesman Michele Badrov, said. It can also mean the patient is acutely ill and the outlook is unpredictable.

Pitts was lying unconscious on Jimmy’s Mom, a downhill mountain biking trail on Teton Pass, when he was found by a group of bikers.

Pitts’ unconscious to semi-unconscious state lead the Search and Rescue team to believe the rider sustained a head injury, Teton County Search and Rescue member Ed Fries said.