Dress for the crash, not the ride!

[Greg]

We've had a few threads about the importance of riding gear, I came across this video that is on the extreme end of things... but something that happened in our back yard. This was climbing out of Eagle Canyon, in the Swell.

This could happen to anyone, having the right gear goes a long way. Forward to 5 minutes... it gets exciting shortly there after... *NSFW* due to some understandable language.


[video=youtube_share;0BOOxl8jQhc]http://youtu.be/0BOOxl8jQhc?t=5m5s[/video]

 

[Caleb]

"Where the F*** is the Road?" That guy was knocked pretty good to not know where he came from at first.

 

[SpeedyVic]

Ow! He's lucky he was able to walk away from that one.

I can kind of relate to how he feels. I was going down Richards Hollow once during a really sunny but cool morning. The sun angle was just right that it shined in your face and would blind you so you couldn't see into the shadowy parts of the trail. Well, I hit a pretty rocky down hill section and the next thing I knew I was going over the bars. I did a faceplant, but was otherwise ok. I felt the bike land on the back of my legs and thought "Whew, that could have been bad!" I then did a push-up and looked back to see what I had hit. I no sooner got my head turned around as I got a mouth full of foot peg! The bike had done a slow cartwheel and the peg hit me right on my lower lip. Lucky for me, the chin guard on my helmet kept it from knocking all my lower teeth out. I did have to have a few stitches sewn to the outside and inside of my lower lip. It was not a fun ride back to the truck for me that day!

 

[Brian P]

Dang...

 

[Herzog]

From the video description:

My 2012 dual sport motorcycle ride on the Western portion of the Trans America Trail ended abruptly in a crash as I rode my DR650 out of Eagle Canyon in central Utah, in Sept 2012. We were in the middle of a 32 day, 4000 mile ride where 2400 miles were in the dirt.

If you want to skip ahead, the crash occurs at around the 5:00 mark.

Here is the short version of the post crash events:

My buddy didn't see me and passed by while I was down. He returned 10 minutes later to find me sitting on the road. We pressed 911 on my SPOT device, help came and I was taken to the hospital. Partially collapsed lung and bruised ribs was all they found. I am now fully healed. Amazingly, the bike was rolled along the lower ledge back to where it met the road. They got it started, rode it up the remaining trail and an additional 30 miles of highway to where it was stored. I tried to continue the ride 2 days later, but the bike had problems and I had to rent a truck to get me and my bike home to California. My buddy completed the rest fo the trip solo.

Damn...

 

[Westernhunter]

Wow!

 

[SpeedyVic]

I've replayed the crash over and over. I can't see what pulled him over the edge! Something pulled him to the right and caused him to over-correct to the left. But from the vid, I'm not seeing what that was.

Just goes to show that even a seemingly tame trail can still reach out a grab you!

 

[jeeper]

I've replayed the crash over and over. I can't see what pulled him over the edge! Something pulled him to the right and caused him to over-correct to the left. But from the vid, I'm not seeing what that was.

Just goes to show that even a seemingly tame trail can still reach out a grab you!

Seems like he lost his balance and wisky throttled off the edge. You can hear the bike rev up as he drives towards the cliff.

Scary situation got sure.

 

[Caleb]

Seems like he lost his balance and wisky throttled off the edge. You can hear the bike rev up as he drives towards the cliff.

Scary situation got sure.

Yeah, it looks like there was a small "ledge" that he throttled up, lost his momentum and throttled right over the edge.

 

[rockreligious]

Seems like he lost his balance and wisky throttled off the edge. You can hear the bike rev up as he drives towards the cliff.

Scary situation got sure.

just what I was thinking, I would add that the fact he had saddle bags and a pack right behind him on the seat also made it impossible to exit off of the back of the bike. this is the very reason I prefer bikes over quads, normally easier to eject from.

 

[Tonkaman]

Wow I had to watch that twice to really see what went wrong. I cant believe he didn't run down to check on his bike!

 

[krany]

Wow I had to watch that twice to really see what went wrong. I cant believe he didn't run down to check on his bike!

for as long as he laid there it looked and sounded like he was hurting. i would of left the bike to, my bike is way less important than my life.

my favorite quote from that is " where the f**k is my bike"

 

[rholbrook]

Good lesson on why to never ride solo.

 

[STAG]

The question he asked as he was getting up is what I was wondering ha

 

[Rot Box]

Holy crap dude

Not saying this has anything to do with what happened in the video, but I'll add that taking plenty of breaks is also a good idea especially for recreational riders. Those 50+ mile hot summer days can wear me out quick and my reaction time usually goes in the toilet. Lots of breaks, lots of water and lots of nutrition are key. There's a fine line between pushing yourself and overexertion :-\

 

[Greg]

Good lesson on why to never ride solo.

This guy was actually riding with a partner, his friend rode by not long after the first rider plunged off the ledge! The 2nd rider eventually turned around and backtracked until he found his buddy.

I do a lot of solo riding... I realize it's not the smartest thing, but I try to go prepared... and have my Spot on me just in case.

 

[RockMonkey]

At least hea had the good sense to have a GoPro rolling at the time. And for that, we thank you.