Originally Posted by BeSelfPropelled

Mine was on the C&O Trail in Maryland in May. The three of us had just come out of the Paw Paw tunnel which was long, dark and very rough when another group of riders emerged and asked if I'd take a photo of them. There is a section of wooden bridge after the tunnel and right as I was saying. "watch out for the hole in the bridge", one of these guys steps right into it and drops through it his knee and proclaimed that he was stuck. His friend gets a Swiss Army knife from his bag and starts trying to cut away the wood with the knife going towards the guys leg. My buddy Scott says say "stop that right now" to which this guy replies "I know what I'm doing" and Scoot replies "no you don't!". I could image this guy stuck in a bridge bleeding from his leg going from an annoying situation to a life and death situation. For the next hour we try and pry this guy out with bike tools, pieces of wood and rock. In the mean time he's messing with the knife and slices his hand. I'm pretty sure that he could have positioned himself to get his leg out, with a few splinters of course but he just wouldn't try. We sent someone down the trail to find help since 911 couldn't hear me on my cell. To keep the situation light, and being the smart ass I am, I told him how I was once passed by a guy with one leg on a climb and now I know how one legged riders come to be. We got a tire iron and finally got the guy out by pulling back a board and pulling him out.



It gets better. The guy's an ER doctor! A year earlier he had a heart attack while riding his bike! The hour delay was just what we needed to get us stuck in a major mud riding down pour. It's a part of the tour that I'll never forget. Video including tunnel, guy in bridge and quoting Forrest Gump while riding in pouring rain and lots of mud.

What are your crazy tour stories?

Looking forward to long rides in the spring!