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Running late for a group Sourdough ride, I opted to pull into Beaver Reservoir and intercept the group ride a half hour after there supposed 9am start out of Camp Dick.
They didn't show up until 10, meaning they started a half hour late anyway (I coulda made it to the main start). There were 15 or more of them - this is how large group rides go - lots of waiting.
This was a rare collection of most of the usual front range suspects - many talented riders were present.
At 10:30, Athalliah had a hard fall. Somebody heard a groan when she fell, but by the time we got back to her, she was up and at'em. We took a 10 minute break in the shade anyway, while we ate, drank, and let Athalliah dust herself off. (Who's got that photo of Athalliah's 5 o'clock shadow?)
Proceeding on, at maybe 11:00, IBMKid broke a derailleur cable. That took another half hour to fix.
(Being slow means you're at the back which means you get to see all the action!)
Riding on, it took about 10 minutes to catch up to where most of the group was waiting for us. We took a brief rest, then started on.
Immediately upon restarting, Athalliah, who was riding directly in front of me, dismounted on a fairly easy move, and complained of tunnel vision.
Uh Oh.
Us laggards insisted she sit down and rest, but Athalliah's a tough one, and she tried repeatedly to get on her bike and get going!
A few more minutes went by and Athalliah complained of dizziness and was obviously increasingly uncomfortable, and had moments of incoherence, and the 5 or 6 of us nearby started to worry. JoeMTBer started to walk her down the trail, but didn't get very far before Athallia fainted, while VA_HArdtail and I rode out to get help. Around 11:50 we reached the Boy Scout camp where there luckily happened to be a paramedic. He put in a call to emergency response and then drove with us back to a remote intermediate trailhead, about 2 tough miles below where we had left Athallia. (Great navigation John!)
VA_Hardtail and the paramedic started hiking up the trail to Athallia a little bit after noon, while I waited. By 12:30 there were about 15 4wd cars at this remote trailhead from various emergency response organizations, including Boulder Sheriffs, the Fire Department, the Forest Service, and Rocky Mountain Rescue. Various people starting hiking up the trail with medical kit and eventually a Sheriff with a quad headed up the trail as well, carrying an EMT. (I must say that I was most impressed by the emergency response. There were many qualified people heading up to Athalia within 30 minues of the call, and this in a fairly remote location. There was no chaos, either - it was well coordinated and orchestrated.)
It might have been 12:45 or 1:00 before the first EMT made it to Athalliah. I overheard some medical reports over the radio, and some were worrying while others were reassuring. In any case, it was decided that a helicopter evac was appropriate.
For a bit, we cleared an area for a helicopter to land, and then they determined that there was a landing zone closer to Athallia, and everybody left for that location.
That's the end of my involvement until around 6pm when I received a Sheriff's call stating that Athallia was at St. Anthony's (Central) in Denver, and doing fine.
Anyway, it's my understanding that Athalia will be spending the night at the hospital and is able to see visitors...I'm sure that friends would be welcome.
Get well fast Athalliah!
They didn't show up until 10, meaning they started a half hour late anyway (I coulda made it to the main start). There were 15 or more of them - this is how large group rides go - lots of waiting.
This was a rare collection of most of the usual front range suspects - many talented riders were present.
At 10:30, Athalliah had a hard fall. Somebody heard a groan when she fell, but by the time we got back to her, she was up and at'em. We took a 10 minute break in the shade anyway, while we ate, drank, and let Athalliah dust herself off. (Who's got that photo of Athalliah's 5 o'clock shadow?)
Proceeding on, at maybe 11:00, IBMKid broke a derailleur cable. That took another half hour to fix.
(Being slow means you're at the back which means you get to see all the action!)
Riding on, it took about 10 minutes to catch up to where most of the group was waiting for us. We took a brief rest, then started on.
Immediately upon restarting, Athalliah, who was riding directly in front of me, dismounted on a fairly easy move, and complained of tunnel vision.
Uh Oh.
Us laggards insisted she sit down and rest, but Athalliah's a tough one, and she tried repeatedly to get on her bike and get going!
A few more minutes went by and Athalliah complained of dizziness and was obviously increasingly uncomfortable, and had moments of incoherence, and the 5 or 6 of us nearby started to worry. JoeMTBer started to walk her down the trail, but didn't get very far before Athallia fainted, while VA_HArdtail and I rode out to get help. Around 11:50 we reached the Boy Scout camp where there luckily happened to be a paramedic. He put in a call to emergency response and then drove with us back to a remote intermediate trailhead, about 2 tough miles below where we had left Athallia. (Great navigation John!)
VA_Hardtail and the paramedic started hiking up the trail to Athallia a little bit after noon, while I waited. By 12:30 there were about 15 4wd cars at this remote trailhead from various emergency response organizations, including Boulder Sheriffs, the Fire Department, the Forest Service, and Rocky Mountain Rescue. Various people starting hiking up the trail with medical kit and eventually a Sheriff with a quad headed up the trail as well, carrying an EMT. (I must say that I was most impressed by the emergency response. There were many qualified people heading up to Athalia within 30 minues of the call, and this in a fairly remote location. There was no chaos, either - it was well coordinated and orchestrated.)
It might have been 12:45 or 1:00 before the first EMT made it to Athalliah. I overheard some medical reports over the radio, and some were worrying while others were reassuring. In any case, it was decided that a helicopter evac was appropriate.
For a bit, we cleared an area for a helicopter to land, and then they determined that there was a landing zone closer to Athallia, and everybody left for that location.
That's the end of my involvement until around 6pm when I received a Sheriff's call stating that Athallia was at St. Anthony's (Central) in Denver, and doing fine.
Anyway, it's my understanding that Athalia will be spending the night at the hospital and is able to see visitors...I'm sure that friends would be welcome.
Get well fast Athalliah!
