Hey folks,

I really did a number on myself. Last weekend I did a ride with one of the NorCal high school mountain bike teams and I fractured my wrist.  All things considered I got off pretty lightly. I was following a bunch of kids down a trail that I wasn’t familiar with and we eventually came to a section of the trail that lead sharply downwards but how steep and how far down I didn’t know. By the time I committed to the drop off it was too late. The drop off was several feet high and very steep so as soon as the front end of my bike dropped over the edge it was too late.

Halfway down the chute I could feel the rear end of the bike stat to lift above my head despite me dropping my butt over the rear tire I was at the point of no return.  One of the last things I thought of as my front wheel went into a slide was “Don’t let go of the bars”. Well, the bars hit the ground I was still holding them and I knew nearly instantly I had really hurt myself. I was hoping it was a sprain but deep inside I started to prepare myself for the worst.

The pain from my wrist was intense but when I tried to lift myself using that hand the pain was even worst.

I had to dust myself off and with the aid of one of the other riders ride about a mile back to the car and hoped that could give me a lift to back home.

When I finally got to the hospital the X-rays had shown that I had at least one fracture in my radius and possibly a second fracture of a smaller bone in the wrist.

This isn’t the first time I had been injured on a bike and not the first time I’ve had to go to the hospital as a result of crash either but the one thing this crash brought home to me was the importance of having emergency procedures in place in case of a worst case scenario.

I always pack with me a first aid kit but that doesn’t do any one any good if I’m the one who is injured.  Sure, you can talk some one through an emergency medical procedure.

That is if you are still conscious.

Be careful out there folks. This is all I want to type my first day in a cast.

Adam H