Forest of Dean 16th October 2010 Aftermath

Bike of the Ride?

  • Rob's Kona Cindercone

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Carol's slime green Specialized Rockhopper

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Del's Gary Fisher X-Caliber

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • John's modified Kona Kileaua

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Mark's Alpinestars Ti Mega

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Ed's Fat Chance Yo Eddy

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Chris' orange Kona

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0

ededwards

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A memorable day out with superb weather, great trails and a bit of high drama thrown in.

Looking forward to seeing the photos.....

Oh, and we didn't have chance to vote for Bike of the Ride so a poll is up if you fancy posting up a photo of your bike - no prize but you have to defend your title at the next FoD meet.
 
Mark S

10.10 Sunday: Just found out that Mark was discharged from Hospital yesterday afternoon. That just has to be the most amazing news ever. Mark: don't ever get out of buying a round like that again.

JB
 
orange71":1btoudad said:
so what happened?

The quick answer is that Mark crashed badly, head first into some big, pointy rocks, on 'The Descent of Almost Certain Death' (and how stupid that description sounded at the time).

Mark was unconscious for at least a couple of minutes and had convulsions. The Emergency Services were called once we found a house (mobile phones don't work in the Bermuda Triangle like Forest of Dean) but there were difficulties in accessing the area and it took about 30 minutes for paramedics to arrive by car, ambulance and helicopter. By this stage Mark was sitting up and asking after the welfare of his bike (small scrape to a decal was the extent of the damage). Even while obviously very shocked, Mark was making sense - well as much sense as usual - although he was shaken enough to agree to wearing a Rapha cap. Off he went to hospital and we took his bike off to the pub. And had a pint. I think at this point there was some muttering about "scarce resource using, attention seeking, selfish bastard" but I can't recall who said these things.

After retrieving Mark's car and bike, and importantly collecting a pair of £10 near NOS Storm Control's he'd had put aside in the Pedalabikeaway bike shop, Del and I got to Gloucester Hospital where Mark was just off for a CT scan and x-ray of his shoulder. 40 minutes later after confirming that all was well, Mark was discharged and we went home to a good meal, a DVd and Match of the Day.

Today Mark claimed that his shoulder was a bit stiff so piked the cross ride. Pathetic really and, as John said above, also a bit of a lame way of getting your way out of a round.

Morals of the story
- wear a decent well fitting helmet
- the Emergency Services are superb
- it's helpful for riders to carry a tough camera - in this case I had Mark's in my pocket - so that events can be accurately recorded

Apart from the welcome pint we obviously cut the ride short but still had goodie bags afterwards from a local catering company and encouragement to organise another ride, preferably less incident filled, in the not too distant future.
 
An excellent summing up of the day's action, Ed.

I still can't believe Mark's recovery, they must breed 'em tough oop north.
 
Good summing up Ed. Bike of the ride for me is Del's Gary Fisher X-Caliber 'cos its the steed that went for help (not on its own, obviously).
 
I'm going to put my vote John's way for his custom disc converted Kona Kileaua. Very nice to see someone have a go at this sort of work rather than throwing a wad of cash at a frame builder. I think it will be really top drawer when he gets around to finishing it off.

I also thought John did an A1 job with Mark in his moment of need. It was difficult to work out who was doing what as I was the last to arrive at the scene as John, Rob and Del wrestled him out from under the rock. But what I do know is that John kept Mark talking and alert for a good half hour or so until help arrived.

I liked something about all the bikes to be honest and could have found reasons to vote for any one of them.
 
Despite a nasty tumble I had a top weekend. Thanks first to Ed and Vinia for their fantastic hospitality, secondly to Del for guiding us around the best single track in the UK, thanks also to everyone who turned up and proved such good company. My biggest thank you must go to Rob, Del and John who came to my aid and in keeping my airway open and getting help kept me alive, I have a wife and 10 year old son who'd be most grateful if only they knew! I still have no memory of the crash but think I lost it at speed under braking, my next memory is walking to the ambulance. Must say the nurses at Gloucester A + E looked after me well and perked my spirits up. Thanks to Del and Ed for coming to collect me.

I'll get my photos up tomorrow, I'm home now and will recuperate tonight.
 
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