Wild day up on Wasatch Crest Sunday.

[bnd]

The wife & I finally, 2nd time all summer, were able to get the kids taken care of & enjoy a full day of trail riding. We left the house at 6:20am in Cottonwood Heights & rode up to where Big Rack Shuttle does their pick up. We hit the trailhead around 8:30am with 2 of our buddies. We headed up the trail towards Puke Hill, About 1/2 way up, 1 friend got a cut in his Race King tubeless. He was going to pack it in right there & walk back but we put in a dollar bill, then a sidewall patch then a tube in & it all seemed to hold up pretty good.
We rode for another couple of miles when the same rear tire let loose again. This time it was a bad valve stem. My buddy was really pissed this time, we ended up fixing it again same way but he decided to pack it in & went back to the road. So it was 3 of us.

Crash #1. By the time we hit the spiny crest section there was a pretty good amount of bike traffic coming thru. We got to the bottom & watched some near crashes & one really bad one. As you drop into that spiny section, I always like to stay to the left. The one rider whose body position was all wrong from the get-go, went left & proceded to get body slammed OTB's, face plant city. The guy managed to walk away with no major damge but damn, did it look BAD.

Crash #2. So after the spiney section you ride for a mile or 2 then drop into that last really steep, rocky tech section that you can see the Canyons resort off to the right. After that, you ride for another mile or 2, then after getting out of the aspens, you start hitting the big tree section. It starts getting really fast thru here.
I was following my buddy Tom entering this section, all the while having a group of 3 riders who were really fast behind me. As we hit this really fast downhill turn, I ramped right up onto Toms back wheel right when the trail kind of divided because of water runoff/rut down the middle of the trail. I ended up making the bad decision of transfering to the far side (left) of the trail but as the corner exited, my momentum took me back into the middle of the trail into the crevace. At this point, doing warp 10, I'm still not panicking but as I tried to get out of it onto the right side of the trail again, my front end went away & I'm going for a ride. It happened sooo fast but I went OTB's & as I slammed, I hit the top of my head & somehow my right shoulder. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. I felt my helmet compress then my head or brain (no lie) compress.
I was pretty dazed & then I came around, my bike was one top of me & I had the air knocked out too. I couldn't roll over to my back but those guys behind me stopped, took my bike off & rolled me over. It took me a few to gather my wits & after I stood up, I was alittle woozy but couldn't believe I was in 1 piece with no broken bones or at least SOMETHING wrong. Wow.
This was off of my wifes GoPro minutes after the event. Sorry for the cursing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En-fZ5t5 ... 4kjmAzUIlg

Sitting here now, Iv'e got a pretty good headache & my right shoulder has some roadrash & is sore but for the most part, I thank my lucky stars I wasn't broke off on this ride. The rest of the ride went great.

Crash #3. We were at the top of Rattlesnake Gulch getting ready to drop in when this young guy pulled up, sandals, gym shorts, t-shirt & old helmet beat us to it. I followed behind him & he didn't make it down 20 yards before he got sideways, tried to stand up over the bike & went OTB's & ate **** so hard I thought he had to have lost some teeth. He cut up one of his arms pretty bad but said he was ok & took the rest slow & easy.

Have any of you seen the sign as you exit the canyon at the Ranger station that states even bikes have to stop? I asked the guy inside what that was about & he said there has been some instances where a passenger has gotten out of a car & almost taken out a speeding bike. So every now & then a Sheriff will be hiding out right past that & ticket bikes for not stopping & speeding. Just a heads up.
The wife & I got home & her Garmin says we rode 38 miles today. Other than my crash, what an epic day! It was actually chilly, or felt like it at the top of Guardsman Pass.
Going back to my crash, 2 things, even if you have great bike handling skills or so you think, **** happens. 2nd, I thought my Reign with 6.7 inches of travel & 2.5 tires would handle anything a typical trail could throw at me, I was proven wrong today.



b.