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):
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!
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):
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!
