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Thread: Bad Crash on Bear Claw Poppy Trail

  1. #1

    Bad Crash on Bear Claw Poppy Trail

    We ride the Bear Claw Poppy Trail more than any trail down in Southern Utah. We can't count how many times we've been, it's just one of those "must rides" when we're down there, even several times per trip.

    On top of that, each time we ride, we stop and play on the Three Fingers of Death multiple times before we continue on down the trail. The same goes for the Acid Drops, and again on Clavicle Hill. The ride takes maybe 20 minutes to blow straight through but we average about an hour and a half.

    I say this because no matter how familiar you are with a trail, no matter how experienced of rider you are, things can go wrong. I can even hear myself chuckle on the video right before the crash and now I feel sick about it.

    So anyway here's how it happened. We had been on the Zen Trail and Paradise Rim the day before. We were going to start this day out with our favorite ride and then maybe head over to the JEM Trail later that afternoon.

    @REDFOX @glasscutter and I headed up to the trailhead for our first run of the day, planning which "finger" to ride down. Lately we've been choosing this middle, or 2nd finger. We start flying down and I'm following Mark. He takes a decent line, but somehow his feet lose the pedals. I see him trying to find them at the same time applying the brakes. When you can't find the pedals, you're obviously on the seat, so he couldn't brake in time and went over the drop while sitting down. This is ALWAYS a bad combination but there's nothing he could have done to redeem it.

    I'm sure a bunch of different numbers are thrown out there judging the height of the drop, but here's a visual:



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    Photo provided by:
    http://www.dostgeorge.com/st-george-...in-biking.html
    and
    http://www.atozion.com/utah/biking


    Funny, I'm googling images for "three fingers of death bear claw poppy", I see this one and wonder if I should use it, and then realize it's Shawn, Mark, and I in the photo from another previous time. Shawn's the one hitting the drop.

    So.... Mark slams down HARD at the bottom. I'm right behind him with the camera rolling, I pull over asking if he's OK and we're just thinking he got the wind knocked out of him, he'll be up and riding in 5 minutes.

    It quickly becomes obvious that this is not the case. After becoming clear that we are finished with the ride, I ride back to the truck parked down the road blocked by the gate.

    I find a way to drive around the gate and I'm able to park the truck right up by the trailhead near the water tank. I make my way down to Mark and Shawn, which fortunately is only about 200 yards from the truck now. There are some others that have helped move Mark off of the trail for fear of being plowed into by another rider. This is when we should have called 911 but we were thinking we could just get him 200 yards up the trail to the truck, then be on our way to the hospital.

    We couldn't even get him to his knees. Excruciating pain. I decided to go up to my truck where decent Cellular reception was and make the call to 911. They brought a truck with 4 guys, and we were able to haul him out on the board.

    Currently, the damage is a severely broken Clavicle, and 7 broken ribs. He has internal bleeding and they've drained 1500 CCs of blood through a chest tube inserted between 2 of his broken ribs. He is still in the hospital in St George as of 11/16/2010 and we hear he might be released tomorrow.

    Here's the video. It doesn't look that bad because we're both on the downward angle, but keep in mind he falls @13 feet.




    Here are a few pictures....

    Just minutes prior

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    The swerving pattern of his front tire as it hit right below the drop

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    Helmets... It's nice to have a rock NOT embedded in your skull. We saw two other riders go past us without helmets.

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    Proceed with Caution....

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    The X rays. Notice all of the criss crossing bones.

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    Clavicle bump - before surgery:



    after surgery






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  3. #2

  4. #3
    Man I really hate those people riding the loop backwards
    IF YOU WON'T STAND BEHIND OUR TROOPS, PLEASE, FEEL FREE TO STAND IN FRONT OF THEM!!!!

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  5. #4
    ephemeral excursionist blueeyes's Avatar
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    Thanks for the report. I had wondered if you guys were able to get him off the trail with out assistance, which would mean it might not be as bad as it sounded. Wishful thinking... Sweet shirt Mark is wearing in the pic. Sorry they had to cut if off.

    Mark I have been sending healing vibes your way everyday at work as I look over that way. Hope you get out tomorrow and go home to heal!

    Justin the pic you found on the internet. I remember that day riding with you guys. There was another fellow there watching with a nice camera, talked to him for a second but didn't get a name or anything. Funny finding that.
    Chere'




  6. #5
    That is cool that you found that pic. I have been thinking about that drop and if I would ever do that again. I was trying to talk myself into launching it that same day. That is why I waited so long at the top. After what seemed like forever not seeing mark ride out from the base of the hill is when I followed the trail down to where I had last seen Justin and Mark. As soon as I arrived, I realized Mark was hurt bad. I will say this, Mark is one tough guy. I think that all 3 of us thought that he would limp his way back to the truck after resting for awhile. I think that Mark was testing his level of pain threshold. Looking back, I wish that we would have sought assistance sooner. I may just be speaking for myself, but I think that some of us might ride more conservatively for the next few rides. Get well soon Mark.

  7. #6
    Man that sucks
    I hope Mark is back on his feet soon.

  8. #7
    ephemeral excursionist blueeyes's Avatar
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    For kicks I googled "three fingers of death" found the page you pulled that picture from. Mark is in three of the pictures used for this site. http://www.atozion.com/blog/?tag=bear-claw-poppy-trail Smile you are on candid camera.. guess ya never know when your pic is going to be posted out there in the interwebs.
    Chere'




  9. #8
    Thanks for the concerns guys. Looking back at the short ride I still shake my head and wonder what happened. I know I took a line alittle more to the left than usual, but all I can think of was losing my pedals at which moment I lost total control. It happened so fast, but I wasn't going any faster than normal. Just goes to show that ya never know when it's gonna happen to you. Man, I didn't realize how long we sat trying to get me up and back to the truck. I heard Justin say something like 2 hours, it felt like 20 minutes to me. Sorry for holding you guys up so long. Goes to show, better safe than sorry, I think I'll be wearin more body armor from now on. Thanks again for the concerns and visits from everybody in St. George who came to the hospital and offered help. I love mountain biking, I'll be back asap.

  10. #9
    Hey, at least your back on the internet. Hope ya heal quickly!

  11. #10
    See you out there soon!
    Still trying to get in riding shape.

  12. #11
    Mark, it doesn't matter how many times you ride a trail - one day like you found it could be your turn to go down. Bounce back soon man - we'll ride!

  13. #12
    I updated the original post to show the xrays. Mark is home and walking around a bit. He will have to go in and get his clavicle fixed tomorrow. I have the permission to post up the video so I'll get to that maybe tonight.

    The chest tube removed @14 cups of fluid from his lung cavity.

  14. #13
    Bogley BigShot
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    Hoping you have a good Thanksgiving and your wife is giving you LOTS of TLC!!!!

    ~hug!

  15. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Sombeech View Post
    I updated the original post to show the xrays. Mark is home and walking around a bit. He will have to go in and get his clavicle fixed tomorrow. I have the permission to post up the video so I'll get to that maybe tonight.

    The chest tube removed @14 cups of fluid from his lung cavity.
    14 cups!

    My wife said all those dark spots are the fluid in his lungs. He must have had a punctured lung?


  16. #15
    WOW! Glad to hear you got him out and to the hospital.
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  17. #16

  18. #17
    YouTube? Must be something else and that's why I cant see it on this damned iPad.


  19. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by accadacca View Post
    this damned iPad.
    blasphemy.

    I added it to the original post, but I'll throw it down here too:


  20. #19

  21. #20
    ipad thats a baby toy
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