October has come and that means it’s riding season for us desert dwellers. I’ve been really stoked to get back out on the dirtbike, especially with the new Skydio 2 drone. Last weekend I met up with some buddies and managed to grab some killer footage of our ride out at Nelson. It turned out great and had me itching to capture more. Well, that and I really wanted to ride too, but I really love putting videos together from our rides and sharing them with friends and my YouTube buddies.
First Nelson Ride With The Drone!
Round Two Of Nelson- Almost
A few days went by and I noticed a post by my buddy Shawn in the Vegas Dirtbike & Singletrack group. He was putting together a ride at Nelson for the upcoming Sunday! I was immediately in. The group of RSVPd riders quickly grew from about 6 to almost 20! As much as I hate riding with big groups, I really do think they can be fun. I showed up at the 9 AM meet-up time at the staging area, which was full of trucks with dirtbikes. Every guy there was there to ride with the Vegas group. Everyone was really pumped to ride. I quickly shook some hands and met some of the new faces and then I got all my gear together.
After Shawn gave a quick ride briefing about the day, we all set off down a trail and up a little ridge. It was really dusty at first but I hung back to let everyone get ahead. Once the dust cleared, I fiddled with the drone controller a little bit to make sure it was in close sight of me. After a couple of quick stops to make sure it was behind me, I was ready to ride and planned to catch up to the group ahead. I went over a rise on that ridge and was coming up on a medium-sized G-out with sort of an angled step in the face of it. I thought I was properly set up and prepared for it, but wouldn’t you know as I hit it the bike bucked me off like a pissed-off bull. It kicked me up and over the bars but to the side. I landed on my right shoulder and tumbled hard with the bike. I landed on some sharp, jagged rock. It was unforgiving, to say the least. I had multiple cuts, bruises, a concussion, and a right shoulder that felt like something was majorly wrong with it. It was such and stupid crash.
After the crash, the rest of the guys (about 5 riders or so) came up and saw me laying there. They immediately helped and organized a plan to get me safely back to the van. Once back at the van, my wife and mom came out to help me and the van out of there and to the ER. Throughout my recovery of me in the desert and drive to the hospital, I felt my shoulder pop. It was extremely painful and it was then I realized I dislocated my shoulder. Luckily the CT scan and X-rays came back good. I had no broken bones and no major head injury. I took a couple of days off of work and reluctantly headed back because, well, I need to make some money to do all the dumb things I do.
Things I Learned That Day
- Get my suspension done. It is not set up for my weight and it’s something I shouldn’t have put off!
- ALWAYS wear ALL my protective gear no matter what I’m riding.
- Stay focused on riding. There were many distractions that day and I should have made riding my first priority.
- Always ride with a buddy or group. I used to ride alone ALOT. I would always take it super easy but this day I thought I was. I am rethinking my solo rides at least when it comes to technical or enduro riding.
I Will Never Stop Riding.
The support from my friends and even strangers online has been amazing. However, I am hearing a couple of things that have me pretty annoyed and rather irritated. The first is “you’re not 18 anymore” and the second is “with age comes the cage”! They are basically telling me this injury happened because I’m old and/or that I’m getting too old to ride dirtbikes and I should slow down and buy some super lame machine with a cage like a RZR. Yeah, because those things are safe! It baffles me how people could look at this or any activity or sport in life that has the potential for injury and choose to just stop doing it. You could also get killed in a car accident on the way to work but you still go every day. I have been riding dirtbikes my whole life and I think the last time I had a bad crash was about 25 years ago. I think I have a pretty good track record and for the most part, dirtbikes are relatively safe for me. My shoulder is already feeling better. I am back at work. Parts are already in the cart to fix the bike. Life goes on and you don’t stop doing what you love doing just because of an accident. Yes, I got really lucky. It could have been more serious. But it wasn’t. What I’ve learned through my years on this Earth is this. As soon as a person stops doing what they love, they already stopped living. Why cut your life short and deprive yourself of the things that make life worth living? I will never stop riding.
Leave a Reply