Wicked Spill

[Grizz]

Three of us had a great ride at SBP last night until the end was nearing. Ed, who I work with had just bought a new Giant and was itching to get some dirt on it so he joined us at the park. We had rode all of the trails and approached Kickapoo to see that the chain was down (its usually up) so we headed on down with Ed bringing up the rear. Rob and myself exited onto the asphalt but Ed never came out. Thinking he missed a turn we waited a few minutes but still no Ed. We started yelling for him but no answer. We went up to look for him and found him knocked out cold at the log bridge, front tire taco'd, handle bars jacked 90 degrees and covered with mud. He came to shortly after but could not remember what happened. The left side of his face was completely bloody and his pinky finger was bent completely backwards, I mean it looked like a backwards L. We got him cleaned up and none of the face injuries were bad enough to require stiches. It looked like his chin hit really hard and we are guessing that is what knocked him out. His helmet had also taken some serious abuse and might have possibly saved his life. We see alot of people not wearing helmets "WEAR YOUR HELMET". Ed said in all of his years racing motocross and bad spills he has never been knocked out. He didnt know what day or month it was and could not remember our previous twenty minutes of riding. He rode down to the parking lot but ten minutes later could not remember doing it. It was a pretty scary thing. We hung out in the parking lot for about 45 min. to make sure he was all right to drive (he wouldnt go get checked out) and he called me when he got home. He is at work today and besides a mangled face, a sore pinky and a bruised ego he is all right.

[Neiprider]

wow man sounds like quite the wreck thats a scary situation to come upon out on the trail glad he is doing alright

[jimithng23]

Dude, scary stuff...I'm no doctor by any means, but, being that this guy is your buddy you should seriously recommend he see a doc - no doubt he's suffered a concussion.

First time I ever rode Sunderbruch, I took a very nasty spill in the exact same spot - too much speed and I didn't know how to handle it, grabbed a fist full of brakes and went shoulder first into a tree, rolled head over heels across the trail, and went head first into another tree...scary stuff.

Glad to hear everyone's ok!

[dru_b]

holy ****..............

that's all i can really say.... sorry to hear this.

[Grizz]

My second time out I broke two ribs on the same strech. We pleaded with him to go because we saw all the sighns of a conc. too, but he would not go. It was pretty sick watching him snap his finger back into place.

[Bexter]

Oh my! Wow! He's a trooper for sure! Glad he's doing OK. Thank you for posting.

[Rage]

We pleaded with him to go because we saw all the sighns of a conc. too, but he would not go.

Future reference: if someone who has suffered an apparent concussion declines medical treatment, do whatever possible to have someone with him for several hours afterwards (call his wife, friend, etc). Many times the full effect of internal damage is not discovered until later. Passing out and not waking up is a bad way to end a ride.

Hope the next few days go already for him.

Rg.

[dirtboy]

wow, man glad to hear he is ok. I just wanted to reinforce Rages comments. Having had more concussions than Tom Brady (not kidding) due to hockey, football, and being clumsy, it is very important to monitor a victim for several hours. Often the symptoms don't mainfest for awhile. If they want to sleep, and they will, it is important to wake them every so often and ask a few orientation questions. Swelling can make an idiot out of you (it helps if you start that way:) Narrowed vision, nausea, a broken visual field (i used to say it was like looking at Picasso paintings, little pieces every where) are all common. If you want to scare the sh*t out of your mom, start talking jibberish in response to her questions. So always take a head shot seriously. Live to ride, ride to live.
peace
db

[SweetSVT99]

Ouch, glad to hear he is stil kick'n! I too have had my worst SBP crash on Kickapoo down. I was going way faster than my skill allowed.

[dman35@mchsi.com]

Me and Don were there at the same time. It's great to hear this other rider -Ed- is doing all right today. We chose to ride the black Diamond instead of Kickapoo, else we might have come upon him lying there. That would have been something else, cuz Ed, rob and Grizz were havin a blast, just like me and Don. Last night was our second time there and we're learning what it takes to ride those trails. It helps to see the other posts where riders are sharing the places that have got them also.
Again, glad to hear that Ed is all right today.

[Vibrato]

Dooods, I know we mountain bikers are usually more concerned with taking pictures of our injuries than geting them checked, but life threatening stuff needs to be checked. SOOO glad Ed is ok, but lets take this oportunity to set the stage for future crashes. Raise your right hand, repeat after me-

I (state your name) (you had to do the "animal house" thing, didn't you...) hereby vow, that If I hit my head hard enough that I can't remember what I've done in the 20 minutes SINCE waking up, I will allow myself to be checked, even if I am the baddest, most hardcore HFDB MFer on knobs. Amen.

[SASS]

I am sorry to hear about your friend. I am glad that he is doing okay now. But every one is right he should go get checked out.