Big Bear Annual Run... Ate it harrrd!

[Boston Mangler 0]

Hey Guys

This was my first time doing an actual "organized event". For those unfamiliar, every year the Big Bear Trail riders hold a D37 dual sport event. They do an easy route, an adventure route, and a hard route, and whoever completes the hard route earns a pretty cool plaque.

Having done woods racing back east for a long time, although its been awhile, i signed up for the Saturday "Hard Route" wanting my damn plaque! Oh... I got my plaque alright, but......

Cut and pasted report for the event!:

Well... Everyone knows I don't crash often, but when I do it's pretty fawking epic!!! First crash on my KTM was one for the record books.

Ride started at 6am sharp.. About a 50 bike cluster heading right for Gold Mountain which was basically obstacle #1 out of 9..

We waited a few and headed out after the masses cleared..

3 of us got to a scene out of the Erzenberg Rodeo.. Bike and riders flying everywhere.. We picked our lines, pinned it through the chaos and checked out.. Was a cool bonsai dash to checkpoint #1, no issues..

After checkpoint 1 we did the Famous Malcolm Smith trail (also known as Redondo Ridge) followed by White Mountain (both good stuff).. Smooth sailing, hauling ass.. We were going at a good clip, and some dude came by us like we were stopped! More on that later...

Checkpoint 2, Dan #1s Husky wouldn't start. Spent a lot of time trying to diagnose it and turns out the rubber boot connecting the throttle body to the motor was completely shredded and unable to fix..

Me and Dan #2 decided to make some tracks and make up some lost time. A little further along. Dust was insane..

I told him to go ahead and I was gonna hang back a little until his dust settled..

I suddenly found myself riding in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of people I didn't know and don't remember getting there .. Odd... Carried on..

Did check point 3 and feasted like a starving homeless man on cookies that they had at the check point..

Did the John Bull boulder garden and coming out of it, met with a group of folks taking a break..

One of them says, are you sure you're alright, that crash looked gnarly.. WTF? Oh look, my hand guard, clutch lever, bling Rekluse cover, and all plastics on both sides were trashed! Oh oh... Adrenaline wore off, sharp pain omin left shoulder and my hip.. No bueno..

Limped it about 30 miles back to the starting paint to let them know I was done... About 1000 yards away from start point ran out of gas.. Had to push it rest of way.. Once in the convention center, the group that had had mechanicals and whatever were there hanging out.. Nice guy from the club offered me some gas and i was able to get back to the house.

Was sore, nothing too major, figured i wiped out a little. Tossed bike in garage, quick shower, took a nap.

Woke up in EXCRUCIATING pain in my left shoulder, to the point of tears. Texted Dan #2 letting him know what happened, and he replied "I am also at the ER right now, i will come get you when i am done". Long story short, apparently right after i crashed, he went head on with a jeep, luckily just graising it, and dislocated his thumb. This portion of the trails was supposed to be bikes only.

Went to the hospital in Big Bear, got Xrays, checked negative, got CT scan of head, checked negative.

Got back to house, bike wasn't too bad, but every piece of plastic on it had deep scratches, meaning it kart wheeled good. Helmet had a small hole in it, guessing from a rock. And my one piece Fox Titan armor has one of the shoulder pads ground down to about 1/2 the original thickness, and a big dent in the spine protector..

Fast forward a few days.. Get back to SD, go to doctors, get MRI. Doctor said in his whole career, he hasnt seen a Labrum torn that bad. Basically shredded it, and also a slight tear to my rotator cuff and a hairline fracture of my humorous where the ball smashed into the socket.

Got surgery scheduled for Tuesday..

Moral of story hear, is 1) Don't leave your riding partner, 2) all gear all the time (almost took my one piece armor off due to heat), and 3) dont skimp on your helmet! Had a brand new Shoei VXF, and having it fit properly and being a high quality helmet probably saved my life! I still have NO CLUE what happened with the crash, how i got my bike started afterwards, and how i even got to John Bull. Weird..

I made it a total of just over 100 miles and still had a blast, and definitely doing it again next year!

As for the guy that hauled ass past us, it was none other than Ty Davis!

Here is a pic of the plaque i got at the awards ceremony! Bawahahaha!

Good Time!

[TrophyHunter 15]

Concussion much? Wow....glad you made it back. Yeah, I've been teased about some of the gear I wear but like you, have come back with deep gouges in hard plastic that would've been my knee, etc. Good you stayed suited up.

[Bagstr 288]

Well now, That is the definition of a fun outing! Congrats on making back in one, although torn piece. Great attitude.

[Uncle Champ 116]

Labrum?

[Vacman 0]

Labrum?

http://orthopedics.about.com/od/shoulderelbow/a/labrum.htm

Glad you're able to type about it. Sounds like a serious crash! Having been in a serious street crash with a broken left arm and a dislocated shoulder, broken rotator cuff and torn labrum on my right I know exactly the pain you went through.

Make sure you do all the PT they tell you to after surgery no matter how much it hurts. I still don't have the full range of motion and my accident was in 2002. It's completely my fault; I stopped going to PT because I figured I could just work on it myself. Stupid.

Good luck with surgery. Heal well!

Btw any more story on the Jeep?

[Afry 1]

Crazy story and good advice! I have a similar plaque from a different event

[wildwood 11]

Good to hear you'll be able to carry on after that, pretty wicked.

I stopped getting into fights after I started riding. It's much more fun kicking my own ass, and I can stop when I've had enough.

[dirt dame 561]

Glad you are okay (for the most part, anyway), and got your plaque. Getting your bell rung certainly can erase details of a crash. I'm still not sure of exactly what happened to me in a crash that happened last August. Hope you make a speedy and complete recovery.

[TdubLady 1]

Maybe it's better when you don't remember-that way it can't haunt you.

Sure sounds like an adventure!! I'm glad you'll be okay and that you had fun!!!

This ATGATT club gets bigger every week-wow!

[robertaccio 412]

best wishes, get well soon, and be careful out there all.

[Dirtdiver 2]

My personal feeling with that big bear trail ride is that it is EXPENSIVE. A number of really hard sections and people wrecked everywhere becoming a hazard on themselves. My heartbeat still increases as I think of the different sections. All of those big rocks just waiting to impact into something brittle or soft. haha.

My friend and I took a couple weekends and rode through the course by ourselves. We took different chunks for different days. It was fun to do and we had nothing getting in our way. Still hard and hot.

My hat is off to the guys that can show up the day of the ride - and get the plaque. Better riders than myself, I think.

steve

[Boston Mangler 0]

My personal feeling with that big bear trail ride is that it is EXPENSIVE. A number of really hard sections and people wrecked everywhere becoming a hazard on themselves. My heartbeat still increases as I think of the different sections. All of those big rocks just waiting to impact into something brittle or soft. haha.

My friend and I took a couple weekends and rode through the course by ourselves. We took different chunks for different days. It was fun to do and we had nothing getting in our way. Still hard and hot.

My hat is off to the guys that can show up the day of the ride - and get the plaque. Better riders than myself, I think.

steve

Ya know what the kicker here is?? I LOVE hard sections and boulders, grew up on the East Coast in the woods of New England.

The disappointing and embarrassing thing here is that i am 99.9% sure, i crashed on a flat fire road... DOH!!

[Dress4Less 162]

The Big Bear Run is hard on bikes & bodies regardless of skill level...it's not for the timid. I know that plaque (Hard Luck Award) is not the plaque you were aiming for but, there's always next year!

[Boston Mangler 0]

Thanks.. Yeah, I'll definitely be back next year!

[dirt dame 561]

The disappointing and embarrassing thing here is that i am 99.9% sure, i crashed on a flat fire road... DOH!!

What makes you think that?

[Boston Mangler 0]

Last thing I remember is standing up hauling ass down a fire road to make up time we lost messing with the husky.

[dirt dame 561]

Last thing I remember is standing up hauling ass down a fire road to make up time we lost messing with the husky.

Those darned Huskies.

[Boston Mangler 0]

[tomh 0]

Sounds like a helluva trip, they sent you up Gold Mine and UP John Bull holy crap did that once between the elevation the rocks and old age I was beat after that section. My hats off to you.

[Boston Mangler 0]

Sounds like a helluva trip, they sent you up Gold Mine and UP John Bull holy crap did that once between the elevation the rocks and old age I was beat after that section. My hats off to you.

That part was fairly easy, the 1/2 long hills of loose shale / cobble type rocks is what totally kicked my arse!!!