I went riding two weeks ago in central PA at a coal town named Trevorton, known for its immense coal hill right outside of town. We came up in the back side of the hill and I stayed at the top, out of trouble with the other two utility riders, and let the two younger sport riders try some short hill climbs.
While waiting for them, I looked across to the plateau of the next pile across from us, maybe 75 yards away and from my eye angle it was a flat path to get there. So I headed up a 15° grade at about 20 mph in AWD just in case. I looked to my left to make sure no one was running parallel to me and then straight ahead to make sure I was still headed towards the plateau.
The next thing I remember, I was lying against the right wall of a cut that ran perpendicular to my access trail. The quad had fallen into this and tossed me as it hit. My helmet cracked into my jaw and knocked me out for about 10+ seconds. I don't remember falling in, I don't remember the quad going out from under me, all I remember is looking down the cut only to see a kid on his dirt bike on the left side of the cut, where he had ditched it to avoid being hit by my quad on its way down.
The quad was completely destroyed, and pieces were scattered down the entire climb, and I really started to hurt by the time I got to the bottom. It began raining on us. Back home, my wife (who was at the beach and had to drive 3+ hours home to deal with me) took me into an emergency clinic. That was at 6:30 and we were there til 9:30. Off to the hospital ER, where we stayed until 4AM Saturday morning. Diagnosis - fractured rib, internal bruising.
Pic of my side/back:
This happened two weeks ago, and right now I am more depressed than anything, but I try and take it one day at a time and just plop down on the sofa and watch TV all day and night and pop all sorts of pills. After two weeks off, I have finally been cleared to return to work on Monday.
More pics after the ATV was dropped off @ the dealership:
Worst part is being taken out of the sport I love, by force, never to return. I don't want to risk it again and leave my wife and kids without a husband or father. Even so, it kills me to see an empty spot in the garage where it was parked and know that my riding days are over. Ohh, and that avatar over there ...
<----
... its gotta go ... its too depressing seeing it now.
Apologies to the tl;dr crowd. I needed to vent and keep in mind that I survived a crash that has claimed numerous lives on that very hill. Life is short, enjoy every second. Play hard, but be smart about it too.
While waiting for them, I looked across to the plateau of the next pile across from us, maybe 75 yards away and from my eye angle it was a flat path to get there. So I headed up a 15° grade at about 20 mph in AWD just in case. I looked to my left to make sure no one was running parallel to me and then straight ahead to make sure I was still headed towards the plateau.
The next thing I remember, I was lying against the right wall of a cut that ran perpendicular to my access trail. The quad had fallen into this and tossed me as it hit. My helmet cracked into my jaw and knocked me out for about 10+ seconds. I don't remember falling in, I don't remember the quad going out from under me, all I remember is looking down the cut only to see a kid on his dirt bike on the left side of the cut, where he had ditched it to avoid being hit by my quad on its way down.
The quad was completely destroyed, and pieces were scattered down the entire climb, and I really started to hurt by the time I got to the bottom. It began raining on us. Back home, my wife (who was at the beach and had to drive 3+ hours home to deal with me) took me into an emergency clinic. That was at 6:30 and we were there til 9:30. Off to the hospital ER, where we stayed until 4AM Saturday morning. Diagnosis - fractured rib, internal bruising.
Pic of my side/back:
This happened two weeks ago, and right now I am more depressed than anything, but I try and take it one day at a time and just plop down on the sofa and watch TV all day and night and pop all sorts of pills. After two weeks off, I have finally been cleared to return to work on Monday.
More pics after the ATV was dropped off @ the dealership:
Worst part is being taken out of the sport I love, by force, never to return. I don't want to risk it again and leave my wife and kids without a husband or father. Even so, it kills me to see an empty spot in the garage where it was parked and know that my riding days are over. Ohh, and that avatar over there ...
<----
... its gotta go ... its too depressing seeing it now.
Apologies to the tl;dr crowd. I needed to vent and keep in mind that I survived a crash that has claimed numerous lives on that very hill. Life is short, enjoy every second. Play hard, but be smart about it too.