inotocracy

Member
Apr 22, 2008
208
1
I went camping with some friends out at Carnegie over the weekend. Yesterday my friend and I were riding this skinny trail, and to the right is just a cliff that goes pretty much straight down (I think the top of the trail detaches from Juniper and is called Dead Crows Trail or something similar). Anyhoo, there are a couple jumps on it so on one of em I give it a little throttle to get a nice little jump and at the top there was a rock I didn't see, I hit it and my handlebars jarred violently to the right and off the cliff I went.

I was in the air a good few seconds before I pushed the bike forward and just free falled (the side of the hill I went off pretty much just went straight down so I was in the air for a bit!), flew at least 100 feet. I hit my head on something hard and that bounced me around and then I rolled through some bushes all the way down the rest of the hill. Luckily, I was able to stand up (thank God!).

My friend got down the hill to me and when he saw me first thing he said was "dude! I thought you were dead!". We tugged on my bike for 20 minutes or so but with each pull it would slide further down since the hill was so vertical and the dirt was so loose. We climbed up to the top of the hill, and I flew so far we couldn't see my bike from the top of the hill. A bunch of riders stopped and were talking to us (Carnegie riders are always so helpful, thank god for them), one of em goes "so who flew off?", I raise my hand and he goes "awesome!". Pretty funny :) They got a ranger to come and about 3 of them and my friend helped hoist the bike out. Carnegie folks are always so helpful, best place to ride.

The ranger said the last guy to go down that hill broke his back. I'm very fortunate! I've been reading about those steering dampers/stabilizers, but the price is so high.. considering this situation I'm wondering if it would have helped? It was so sudden and violent, it had to be a rock or something sticking out that I didn't see.

Anyhoo, heres a photo of my arm (I'm going to start wearing pads on my arms, I've got most gear though so I came out pretty well):

2877591124_b59411a7a8.jpg


Yesterday I didn't feel so bad afterwords, my back hurt a little bit and it felt as if I pulled something in my left hand but I was still able to ride. But this morning when I woke up it hurt to stand. I guess the adrenalin wore off? My left hand is a little swollen and I've got bruises on my face, ribs, and back. Today is a sick day for sure, filled with icy hot. :|

By the way, my KX250 is fine! Although my "unbreakable" lever (front brake) is completely bent, it looks like a hook. Now I just need to find a hollow pipe to bend it back.. other than that though, its runnin and lookin fine!
 

rmc_olderthandirt

~SPONSOR~
Apr 18, 2006
1,533
8
Yeah, the rangers at Carnegie are great, they rescued me a couple of weeks ago....

I am always terrified when I am riding one of those trails that traverses a slope so steep you can't get back up if you went down.

Glad you could get your bike out without resorting to an air lift.....

Rod
 

Chili

Lifetime Sponsor - Photog Moderator
Apr 9, 2002
8,062
15
inotocracy said:
Although my "unbreakable" lever (front brake) is completely bent, it looks like a hook. Now I just need to find a hollow pipe to bend it back.

Outside the warranty of the lever? I've found ASV to be really good about warranty replacement.
 

inotocracy

Member
Apr 22, 2008
208
1
rmc_olderthandirt said:
Yeah, the rangers at Carnegie are great, they rescued me a couple of weeks ago....

I am always terrified when I am riding one of those trails that traverses a slope so steep you can't get back up if you went down.

Glad you could get your bike out without resorting to an air lift.....

Rod

Yeah I've never found people who are as nice as the riders at Carnegie, every single person I've come across while riding has been super helpful and always cool. The trail I was on wasn't that advanced, it was just a tight squeeze on a high hill (probably about 5 feet wide), so not much room for error. Really a freak occurrence. Do you think a steering stabilizer would have helped in that situation? It was a very sudden and violent twist on my handlebars.

High Lord Gomer said:
Make sure you take the lever off before trying to bend it back. You don't want to also break your master cylinder in the process.

Thanks for the tip, I was just going to do it while attached :bang:

Chili said:
Outside the warranty of the lever? I've found ASV to be really good about warranty replacement.

Lifetime from my understanding, so if I can't get this lever bent back I'll see if I can get a free replacement. Its seriously bent though, it really looks like a hook. I'll get a pic of it up later.
 

High Lord Gomer

Poked with Sticks
Sep 26, 1999
11,790
34
Yes, a steering stabilizer likely would have made a big difference in that exact situation.

Simply trying to bend it back will likely break it. I've had better luck heating a lever up with a torch then trying to bend it back while in a vise.
 
Apr 30, 2007
657
0
All that and you didn't break yourself!!! Someone's definitely on your side! Hope the soreness isn't something more serious!
 

inotocracy

Member
Apr 22, 2008
208
1
^ Yeah, I definitely had a guardian angel watching over me on Sunday, I'm very thankful to walk away from that one. Still pretty stiff today, if I don't improve by Friday I'm going to go in for an xray. :(
 
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