it's funny ten years ago i broke a collar bone on a trail named Mo Heinous in Bent Creek.
almost 7 years ago busted 3 ribs on a section of trail called Satan's Staircase in Pisgah
5 years ago ruptured a calf muscle on a trail named Chain Breaker at Issaqueena
and last night i nearly broke my neck on the "Turtle" Trail at Paris Mountain. the closest thing to a kids trail at Paris Mtn.
think i'll re-name that trail Satan's Turtle Trail. Mo Heinous Turtle! TurtleBreaker
Last night after our SORBA meeting a few of us went for a short night ride. maybe 10 -15 min into the ride and the next thing i know... i'm looking for the broken pieces of my glasses and trying to find my headlamp in the dark... I was going a little too fast and a little too wide into a turn, and the front wheel missed the little concrete slab bridge across a 10 inch stream.....
WHHHOOOPP My front wheel nosed into the ditch and i became a human lawn dart. Face, head and neck into the dirt like a meteor from space with my bag full of anvils fatass coming in hot over the top. man that was ugly...
Luckily Bob and Molly were a little ways behind and they were able to help me find all of my missing pieces... "that sounded like it hurt, You Ok?" yeah..... i ended riding out and back to the ShortBus... Once back to the car I was able to half-ass superglue and medical tape the glasses together... just enough for them to stay on my dirt & bloodied face.
Driving home was interesting... i was still a little fuzzy... and picking dirt outta places dirt shouldn't be...teeth, ears. halfway home i smell something hot... like something burning... then i smell more holy shit the head lamp wasn't turned off .. what a dumbass i am luckily didn't burn a hole thru the front seat... did nearly catch my jersey on fire... smart, real smart.. if it weren't for bad luck i wouldn't have any luck.
Helmet? shot. Glasses? destroyed. headlamp Still works, mounts busted. Bike? ok Skull? not fractured. Neck ? not broken , Jersey? nice headlamp sized burn hole through it
Didn't get too much sleep it was kind of hard to get comfortable... and then when i did get to sleep, i'd turn and wake myself in pain... This morning i couldn't really move my neck but maybe an inch or two side to side. and maybe an inch up or down... I knew i needed to have it checked, have had several friends suffer a broken neck due to a mtb crash, and knew i don't need to f*ck around with not having it looked at.
Called my buddy Danny this morning and asked "hey how did you know when you broke your neck?"
his reply: "when i went to the ER"
Went to the Eye doc first to see if i could get a replacement frames. the tech was like " oh my goodness what happened to you?" me: "wife beat me!" well she wants too.
Luckily they had the same frames in stock so no waiting 3 to 5 days... new frames using the old lenses and was out the door.
Then it was over to the Doc to for some Xrays. I don't know how long i'm out of riding, i've never suffered a neck injury, sprain or pulled muscles, so fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.
d'you smell something burning?
bRad
