Oh Dang! Beech is in Hospital - MTB Crash

[live2ride]

I guess you get a new helmet too, make sure to replace that bad boy asap!

[Sombeech]

I'm trying to upload the uncut vid but it's 20 minutes and 2GB, I guess I should lower the quality a bit. I ask where I'm at about 10X and when I realize I'm still filming, I'm very happy

[Cirrus2000]

Wow, glad you're OK. That's amazing watching the wheel roll off in slow mo.

First ambulance ride? You haven't been trying hard enough!! Heal up quick!

[Sombeech]

No crash caught on film is complete without an animated gif, so I hereby exploit myself:

[trackrunner]

can't wait for the debriefing

next time you are ready to go riding let me know & I'll hook you up with a good deal on body armor through a work connections.

[blueeyes]

No crash caught on film is complete without an animated gif, so I hereby exploit myself:

So glad you can laugh about it. LOVE the exploitation!

[tanya]

Where is the shirtless shots.

[REDFOX]

The first time that I crashed without gloves on, I really tore up my hands, from then on, I have always worn full fingered gloves. Cool video and I am glad that you have been able to rebound so quickly. A small note to anyone that I may ride with: Don't call any authorities if I get hurt. I don't have insurance and I probably won't for awhile.

[savanna3313]

Just watching the film as your wheel is rolling away.......I can't imagine how you must have felt actually looking at it roll ahead of you!! Hope you feel better soon!

[Sombeech]

Just watching the film as your wheel is rolling away.......I can't imagine how you must have felt actually looking at it roll ahead of you!!

I can't remember what I thought either, so I'm with you on that one

[tmartenst]

Glad it worked out reasonably well. The footie probably makes it all worth it ;)

[canyonphile]

Good grief! Glad you are okay, Justin. We were in the Phx. area the same time, though we stuck to hiking up a trail in White Tanks regional park, which is probably 40 miles to the northwest of where you were. I've never even heard of San Tam park.

Thank goodness you wear a helmet .

[Sombeech]

Thanks, yes the helmet saved my life for sure. It was San Tan Mountain Regional Park, in Queen Creek near Phoenix. So now I'm curious, do I need to make a debriefing thread?

[zzyzx]

Nice helmet cam vivo, Justin. Hope u're right.

Sent from my HTC HD 2 Transformer using Tapatalk

[ratagonia]

Thanks, yes the helmet saved my life for sure. It was San Tan Mountain Regional Park, in Queen Creek near Phoenix. So now I'm curious, do I need to make a debriefing thread?

Since you had a helmet on, I think you can cover it quickly - any idea why your wheel came off???

T

[Dr. Nebz]

We were in the Phx. area the same time, though we stuck to hiking up a trail in White Tanks regional park.

We hike this range every spring when we visit AZ for Spring Break. Love that place. Where's the TR?

[Sombeech]

Since you had a helmet on, I think you can cover it quickly - any idea why your wheel came off???

T

A pure failure on my part. I rarely take the wheels off at all during the whole year because the complete bike fits in my truck for transport, no need to dismantle.

So I packed it up in this rental van to bring it down to AZ, taking off the wheels to fit inside. When I put it back together I just didn't put the wheel(s) on tight enough, although they lasted for @ 10 miles of trail just before the crash, and worst yet I crashed right at the end of the day on our way back to the trailhead, probably 500' from it. Then I would have dismantled the bike and brought it home with zero incident.

Here's the video footage from the ride that day, I keep spotting places where I'd have been much less fortunate if the wheel came off there.

[Sombeech]

OK so I've got the "whole" incident uploaded to youtube but it's unlisted so you can't search it. I can share it to anybody who's interested, just shoot me a private message, or just reply to this thread and I'll shoot it to you. I may end up posting it later too.

The audio is mildly disturbing as you hear me in a clearly incoherent state, somewhat humiliating. But I keep watching it because I have no memory of it. Terry said that I had my eyes open the whole time and was staring at him as I was making the disturbing sounds.

It's 18 minutes long and most of it is just my gopro running and recording me sitting there until the ambulance comes. There's a cutaway with me being filmed from an iPhone from my bud Terry, I inserted it because it's better audio and it shows me just sitting there bewildered and he also shows where my front fork dug into the ground and where I ended up.

I ask what day it is about 15X, the year a couple of times. I ask where I'm at about 10X and repeat the question of my wheel falling off a bunch too.

If anybody would like to see this to see what a concussion looks like I'll be happy to shoot you the link. One note is, my eyes were never dilated which I though was a sure sign of a concussion. I guess not.

[zzyzx]

Be glad, Justin. You had guardian angels and 'only' an easy concussion and no spinal column-injury or similar. Your helmet rescued your life.
Your doctors are quite beautifully rough. However, there was not any reason to cut apart the shirt. 10.000 USD for a Heli flight? Does this pay your health insurance?
Good and fast convalescence.

[ratagonia]

If anybody would like to see this to see what a concussion looks like I'll be happy to shoot you the link. One note is, my eyes were never dilated which I thought was a sure sign of a concussion. I guess not.

Lack of pupil control and dilation is a sign of concussion - but maintaining iris control is not an indicator for non-concussion.

First on scene, with obvious concussion and loss of consciousness, my big concerns would be neck vertebrae and traumatic brain injury (aka closed head trauma), both of which could go south quickly. Sounds like the standard protocol in most areas is to call the heli for those, as they are time-sensitive, even though ground ambulance is faster in many cases.

Air Ambulance is covered by most insurance, but that may mean still 20% paid by Beech = $ 2000. Insurance plans vary widely. Part of the reason air ambulance is over-used is because it is paid by insurance, and therefore there is little push-back against calling the heli.

Tom