[Dave Moore]

and it scared the crap out of me.

I recently found 2 new riding buddys and we were out yesterday in full force. One buddy was in the lead followed by me and then the other buddy (I don't want to mention names without permission). Anyhow the lead "buddy" was moving along killing us on climbs and I was pushing myself to keep up.

I am guessing we were about 8 miles into the ride and its very hot and I'm getting tired but still keeping the lead buddy within 100 ft. On this one downhill section there is sort of a gully at the bottom, not real deep but fairly rough and there is a slight left turn that transitions through the gully.

So here I go pedeling as fast as I can down this section. I have been through this section many times and am aware of the area but today I am, as I said earlier, pushing myself to go faster. As I approach the gully I am trying to figure my line and then...I choke. For whatever reason I can't think clearly about what I want to do and I am moving along faster than I feel comfortable with cause I'm so winded and tired at this point.

Too late

I ride throug the gully and its pretty rough. My hard tail jars me and I can't think, brake, or turn fast enough and I go off the trail to the right straigt for a large tree...

BAM!!! Contact!

Somehow I'm still standing straddling the bike. I managed to keep from blasting the tree with a tire but my right side took a beating. My right index finger is numb and my wrist is jammed. I stay still for a moment and move my limbs...nothing broken. I look at my bike and still nothing broken but my rear brake lever is pushed, not bent, lower and my chain is off. I put the chain back on first before removing my gloves. There is no tear in the glove but my finger is throbbing and I figured if its cut or mashed I want to get the chain on first before taking the glove off.

I get the chain on and take off the glove. No cuts. What I didn't realize is that my right shin and knee took a good hit as well but the throbbing finger and sore wrist took all of my attention.

The damage...
Thankfully nothing broken.
1 swelled finger
A slightly jammed wrist
A large bruise on my right shoulder
A large bruise on my right knee
Several bleeding cuts on my shin.
a brake lever that needs to be readjusted.

I finished up riding about 2-3 more miles, a good bit slower

All in all a scary moment on an otherwise perfect ride.

Dave ><>

 

[borregokid]

You probably broke the laws of physics. Unfortunately in mountain biking unlike in driving a car no one has set up a scale for when you are going to crash. Police know that if you go too fast around a corner or too fast and brake on a straightaway you will crash or lose control. I went over the same spot maybe 50 times once I went faster than the other 50 times and it had very disasterous results. Think about all the kids who crash their cars around a corner close to their homes, thats what happens in a lot of mountain bike accidents. Slow is good when going down.

 

[sky84]

i wasn't so lucky

well i wasn't so lucky like you were. i went over the same trail here near my town at least 20 times, so i knew the trail pretty well, however, last sunday i kinda took the course little fast and when i went over this narrow bridge/obsticle POW!!!! (my front brake locked up and i went over the handle bar). i believe i was out for about 30 min when i moved my arms and legs around i've noticed something was very wrong. my left shoulder made crunching sound and it came w/ unbareble pain. soo i called 911 blah blah anyways later found out my left collar bone was crushed. so i'm out for about 8 weeks, yes it sux. no biking for me......8 weeks.....