Mountain Biking - Stupid tree

as a few of you know i spent spring break in kamloops. so of course i rode rose hill. i made a huge mistake that i know and even said i wouldnt do. i went to fast on a trail i didnt know. i was comin down one of the first decents and the lure of the nice berms and smooth lines got me. so i just went with it. then BAM theres a rock garden.slammed on my brakes and somehow i managed to ride it through but strayed from the trail a bit. on the side if the trail theres a big burnt fallen tree. well i hit this went over the bars and straight into a tree. i winded myself but other then that i felt fine. shook it off rode the rest of the trail(locals were really nice, they waited every once and a while for me to catch up). it wasnt till i sat down in the car that i realised that i really did something. so i was off the bike for a day then got back on for a shorter easy ride then the day after i was back at rose hill and in the next few days rode it about 10 times. got some sweet air and had lots of fun. well i get back to pg and my back is really bothering me so i decide its a good idea to go se a doctor to see what i did. go for a xray then get a phonecall from the doctor asking me to come in. turns out i have a 25% compression(basically crushed) on the 4th thurasic(4th vertebre down from the neck) which means that im out for i month. i know im lucky because if it was 50% then it was possible that i could have been paralised. worth waiting just a month for it to heal. the doc said that if i had taken another hard hit to the top of the head it would have been bad. so i guess this just gives me some time to tinker with my bike and get her ready for the rest of the season.

from what i heard from the locals rose hill eats people and bikes alive the brake bumps where HORRIBLE at some points i thought i was going to get bucked off. and then a few days before i got there a guy broke his neck, aparently he was a pro rider(thankfully hes ok now) and then another guy hurt himself really bad the day i got there(dont know what but he got an ambulance ride) but other then that the hill was great like i said big berms and big air(some insane stuff the locals built) and it seemed everwhere i looked there was a big huck of some sort(road gap, path gap...)

the bike was awesome not so great though the brake bumps but awesome on the big hits, really nice through the fast corners and the tires were very grippy in the sand and hardpack. it survied the many wrecks i had with nothing wrong with it at all.

i was very dissapointed because on the day i got there there was a camp with shaums march teaching as well as serveral other pro riders. but oh well mabey next time.

just though id share my stories of spring break.

a) there is no good bike for braking bumps. Braking bumps suck, I really wish people would brake correctly.
b) I think I knowthe trail you speak of, people keep telling me to hit it...I will keep in mind to ride it once, race it later ;)
c) good times to be had, glad you enjoyed your trip

Shaums is good ****. Seriously take his camp, you will progress in 3 days more than any other time :)

Sounds like a good time. Sorry to hear about your back. Do what the doctor says,you will have plenty of time to ride once you heal up.

Damn... How could you ride after crushing a vertabrae? Wouldn't it hurt like hell?

Get well soon, have fun playing with your bike and go out, party, get pissed forget what you did and do it all over again:p Just make sure that if you are doing something really stupid at a party keep drinking so you forget it ;)

Snoop,

Glad you're not hurt worse.

Your post is a good reminder to us to be humble and to take care.

Thanks for excellent post.

Al

I thought that some people cleared the trails of the burnt trees. I've hit a lot of trees but I have never thought to get an x-ray, maybe that's why my leg hurts so much. Well its a good thing that you're not paralized otherwise you wouldn't be able to ride except for off-roading in a wheel chair. :D

Dood, dood, dood!

Don't ride when you've got injuries! It'll only make the next accident that much more worse.

Take the time off now and heal, please.

Koffee

I second Koffee!

DON'T RIDE UNTIL YOU'VE HEALED!!! PERIOD!

I'd also take the advice to "start small"...I know I am! (I have loads of road miles...but relatively few (OK--disgustingly miniscule!) miles off-road. And, I've gotta both: 1.) Bike commute. :D, and 2.) Work for a living! :mad: I can't afford to be "laid up" for a month!! )

NOBODY, and I mean NOBODY ever began with the "big" stuff...anyone who tries will be...DEAD!
We don't want YOU dead...no sireee Bob!

So, when you can get "back in the saddle again", take it easy...and get body armor! :lol: If you can't ride it...WALK it: you can come back and try it again another day.

Protection: That's what BODY ARMOR is for, anyway! ;)

your user title is holding true. get well soon.

Damn... How could you ride after crushing a vertabrae? Wouldn't it hurt like hell?

Get well soon, have fun playing with your bike and go out, party, get pissed forget what you did and do it all over again:p Just make sure that if you are doing something really stupid at a party keep drinking so you forget it ;)

i guees with the adranaline rush and the endorfins(i love thoes things) i just rode it out. and ya it hurt like hell i landed really hard off of one jump and my head snapped down THAT hurt.

ya it was amazing how many people were riding that trail. the first ride i went for i rode with 10 people and what musht of been a collective 50 grand plus of bikes there
a norco team dh 3 demo 9s a demo 8 2 giant faiths an imperial frame decked right out a kona stab supreme and a few other sweet dj bikes(HT down rose hille :ouch: )

crazy locals there, but i guess after youve rode the trail as much as they do you have to get good. i was very impresssed i saw 6-8 people working on the trail trying to smooth it up. i harly ever see that here


ya mabey i should go on a month binge. then as soon a i sober up ill be able to ride again.

and ya i want to get a race suit. although it wont protect me from a crash like i had it will from many other things. just gotta save up some money.