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Saw a guy go over a cliff today

Ciaran

Fear my banana
Apr 5, 2004
9,839
15
So Cal
So mtnbrider and I rode Mt. Wilson today, which was a blast. We were on the one of the last trails when I had a flat. So we move over to the side of the trail and start to fix it. In a minute or two a couple of other riders come by. We had seen them earlier so they stopped to say hello and make sure we didn't need any help.

We were fine and just about done so they started to leave. The first guy walks his bike past us and the second guy slowly rides past us. As he gets next to me he stops to say something when he stepped back a bit to far and the edge of the cliff gives way! The dude starts falling backwards. I reached out to grab him but he was too far gone. He tumbled over and over down a rock face about 40 feet before landing on dirt and bushes where he slid another 10 feet or so finally being stopped by a tree.


I swear I thought the dude was dead. Turns out that he hit his head pretty good (He did have a helmet on! ) and cut up his knees and possibly dislocated his shoulder. mtnbrider and the other rider put their helmets back on and climbed down to rescue (big props to mtnbrider for immediatly heading down to help rescue the dude!). I stayed up top to pull them and the bike up the last part, not to mention that you always leave someone up top in case the rescuers end up needing to be rescued themselves. They got him and his bike back up to the trail safely and without anyone else getting hurt.

We rode with them the rest of the way out to make sure they got out safe.

I have never seen anyone ragdoll like that. I swear I thought I would be calling Altadena mountain rescue to come get the body. He got very lucky.

What a day!
 

LordOpie

MOTHER HEN
Oct 17, 2002
21,022
3
Denver
all we can say is "wow!"

i'm glad the dude wasn't worse off. If he had a concussion and other injuries, how'd he make it back to his car?

Props to you two for helping out.
 

Ciaran

Fear my banana
Apr 5, 2004
9,839
15
So Cal
LordOpie said:
all we can say is "wow!"

i'm glad the dude wasn't worse off. If he had a concussion and other injuries, how'd he make it back to his car?

Props to you two for helping out.
we were maybe a 1/4 mile from the trailhead so he rode out. By this point in the ride it was mostly flat and smooth. We took it slow.
 

zmtber

Turbo Monkey
Aug 13, 2005
2,435
0
with trail like the ones here in sb i have heard of that happening a lot i hope your friend is okay
 

TN

Hey baby, want a hot dog?
Jul 9, 2002
14,301
1,353
Jimtown, CO
So the dude rode out?!?!?! If so, that is F'ing Badass.

Buy him a beer for me if get the chance.
 

Ciaran

Fear my banana
Apr 5, 2004
9,839
15
So Cal
TN said:
So the dude rode out?!?!?! If so, that is F'ing Badass.

Buy him a beer for me if get the chance.
Yeah, even if his shoulder wasn't dislocated (I'm no medic so I don't know. Told him I would not touch his injured shoulder and to go see a doc) it was hurting him pretty bad. But he didn't whine or complain. I could see his face wince once in a while though. I gave them my number and told them to call me if they want to ride. Not sure if they will though. The first time I met them and one of them almost gets killed! :D

One funny thing was that before the fall we were chatting a bit and one of the guys looks at my jersey and says, "Hey, you're one of those Ridemonkey guys, huh?!". I told them to logon and sign up. Hell he could have a custom title before his first post... "Cliff Diver"

As an aside I must say that riding with MTNBRIDER was a breeze. The kid has some good solid skills (the boy was doing nose manual heel clickers in the parking lot, and did some nice nose pivots around thetighter switchbacks) and was well prepared (which is way more than I can say for myself on that day!)... first aid kit, patches, levers, multi tool, water, pump. :thumb: Nice parents too. :)
 

Freak

...............................................
Aug 15, 2001
3,728
0
Redmond, Washington
Wow!!! Glad to hear he made it out ok. Cliff edges are one of my worst fears...even driving thru passes in the car can freak the crap out of me! I just hope I have guys like you around if I ever take a tumble off one!!!!

Edit:
Oops...this is Velocity Girl! Don't want to give Freak a bad name of being a scardey cat :eek:
 

MikeD

Leader and Demogogue of the Ridemonkey Satinists
Oct 26, 2001
11,698
1,749
chez moi
Sheesh, when I saw it was you posting, only one word came to mind as I waited for the thread to open up (dialup). WILSON. I knew it.

Glad to hear it worked out OK. I saw another member of the board try and walk his bike past a scoutmaster who was leading a few kids up there...and he accidentally bumped shoulders with the guy and knocked him off (on the loose, open section near the top). Pretty scary, but he only went 6-10' into a big bush and climbed back out, rattled.

We can even make enemies up there when we're dismounted. :o

MD

PS I wish there was a cliff around here for me to fall off. Honestly, the max elevation change you can find in this place is like a meter or two over a (*&#_@* mile of distance.
 

Skookum

bikey's is cool
Jul 26, 2002
10,184
0
in a bear cave
The cliffs of dooooooom!

Glad to hear everything turned out alright man. i've come close to doing a Marshal Will and Holly Land of the Lost style fall a few times and it definately wakes you up.

Sounds like some trail work is in order for that section!
 

MikeD

Leader and Demogogue of the Ridemonkey Satinists
Oct 26, 2001
11,698
1,749
chez moi
Skookum said:
i've come close to doing a Marshal Will and Holly Land of the Lost style fall a few times and it definately wakes you up.
It's not the fall that kills, skooks...

 

skatetokil

Turbo Monkey
Jan 2, 2005
2,383
-1
DC/Bluemont VA
whoa. there are a couple of sections up there that always make my heart beat fast. sooo exposed. also, I almost went off a cliff shuttling wilson. my buddy was driving up in his mustang and decided it was a fantastic idea to race a group of tricked out mini coopers up to red box. i was so terrified all i could do was laugh and try to warn him about the hairpin turns. it got so bad he was sliding all the corners with all 4 wheels, and then just lost it in one, went across the oncoming lane sideways, slid through the shoulder, and stopped about 2 inches from one of those stone barricades they have just above the more massive drop offs. scary ****
 

PatBranch

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2004
10,451
9
wine country
I was putting some tools away...I look back and he's passing by mike. All of a sudden, his cliffside foot sink into the dirt. He starts going over... "oohhhhh ______". After about 40', he hit the ground missing a rock..."I'm ok".:eek: :D .

Other than that little "dive". It was an awsome ride. Some of those cliffs are so sketchy, especially with those rocks sticking out in the hillside.
I want to do that more. That flowy singletrack is awsome!

Thanks for the compliments mike:D !!
 

hooples3

Fuggetaboutit!
Mar 14, 2005
5,245
0
Brooklyn
yikes that must have been a scary sight.. i couldnt even imagine, it must have seemed surreal. good to hear you were able to all help each other out and get him out safely
 

blt2ride

Turbo Monkey
May 25, 2005
2,333
0
Chatsworth
That's crazy! At least he wasn't seriously injured--he's lucky. I hate to say this, but there are certain parts of that trail that could result in death if a rider were to fall over the edge. It sounds like you guys really went above and beyond to save a fellow rider--nice work! :thumb:
 

manimal

Ociffer Tackleberry
Feb 27, 2002
7,212
17
Blindly running into cactus
wow...good stuff.

when i was unconcious after a botched drop, the 30-something XC riders that were watching ditched me w/ my 16 yr old riding buddies.

glad you guys helped out :thumb:
 

TN

Hey baby, want a hot dog?
Jul 9, 2002
14,301
1,353
Jimtown, CO
manimal said:
wow...good stuff.

when i was unconcious after a botched drop, the 30-something XC riders that were watching ditched me w/ my 16 yr old riding buddies.

glad you guys helped out :thumb:
dude, their heart rate was dropping. :rolleyes:
 

Skookum

bikey's is cool
Jul 26, 2002
10,184
0
in a bear cave
manimal said:
wow...good stuff.

when i was unconcious after a botched drop, the 30-something XC riders that were watching ditched me w/ my 16 yr old riding buddies.

glad you guys helped out :thumb:
meh there's not too many 200 plus lb. XC'ers out there like me that could lift your fat ass out of the woods.:oink: ;)