ATV = Crash Man

[PacMan]

Went to Glamis this weekend for Thanksgiving as we always do. Had a blast until yesterday afternoon when I rolled/flipped my quad about 3 miles away from camp at the end of a 25 mile ride.

I don't remember a whole lot about the crash. There was 11 vehicles (quads and sand cars) in my group and about 20 people. We stopped for lunch at the turn-around (Duner's Diner) and then stopped for a regroup after only a mile or two on the way back. The regroup is the last thing I remember until right before I crashed. According to the people I was riding with, I crashed a good 20 minutes after the regroup, so I've lost that much in memory.

Anyway, the last thing I remember was going off course straight into a small bush that sat at the top of a little berm--all in wide open 4th gear, about 50 mph we were figuring. I remember thinking "OH $h!t" and then hitting the berm and going airborn. I remember thinking "tuck and roll" while in the air and then the next thing I remember was a bunch of people standing around me asking me if I was OK.

They say I was unconscious for about a minute. There was about 20' of untouched sand after the berm, then a huge impact crater from my quad--so I flew about 20' before I hit. They told me in air, the quad's rear end started to come up and then it tilted to the left. The right front tire hit first and sent me off to the right and the quad off to the left (thank God for that). They say I did a few cartwheels and landed on my stomach, then rolled onto my back and sat up, then flopped back down--none of which I remember. The guy who was in a sand car riding behind me said it looked like I went into a buggy rut and got tossed a little to the left--at just the wrong moment, then hit the bush/berm.

They transferred me to a sand car and took me back to camp where we had an R.N. in our camp group. I felt like I was drunk off my @$$ even though I had no alcohol in me. My right pupil wouldn't dialate and they rushed me over to the Ranger's station where the medics backboarded and C-Spine collared me and I got the lights and sirens ride to Brawley Hospital's ER. I don't remember much about the ride as I kept blacking out. My wife rode along and told me that's how it went.

At the hospital they cut my riding jersey off (BASTARDS!!) and at one point I had 4 people working on me. They CT Scanned me and took some shoulder X-Rays. I was on the backboard for what seemed like an eternity. After all the test results came back negative (WHOO-HOO!!) they got me off the backboard but left the collar on. I had my wife snap a cell phone pic then. We were at the ER for about 5 hours and not much of that was spent waiting around actually.

Final injury tally:
-Severe concussion
-Dislocated right shoulder
-Sprained neck
-Sprained back
-Pulled muscles in back
-Bruised ribs

I feel pretty lucky, considering I was going about 50 mph when I crashed. I'm not going to get dramatic and say my helmet saved my life, but it definitley helped the situation. Just another reason to always wear one, whether your bike has a motor or not.

I'm at home now and incredibly sore. I will be taking the week off from riding (duh) and hope like hell to be present at the Sladnas bike relief/SD Fire/Newbie ride next Sunday.

[uno-speedo]

Wow, very lucky dude. Good luck in the healing process.

[RacinJason]

Get well soon. I know the feeling. You will need a lot of rest for sure.

Originally Posted by PacMan

Went to Glamis this weekend for Thanksgiving as we always do. Had a blast until yesterday afternoon when I rolled/flipped my quad about 3 miles away from camp at the end of a 25 mile ride.

I don't remember a whole lot about the crash. There was 11 vehicles (quads and sand cars) in my group and about 20 people. We stopped for lunch at the turn-around (Duner's Diner) and then stopped for a regroup after only a mile or two on the way back. The regroup is the last thing I remember until right beore I crashed. According to the people I was riding with, I crashed a good 20 minutes after the regroup, so I've lost that much in memory.

Anyway, the last thing I remember was going off course straight into a small bush that sat at the top of a little berm--all in wide-open 4th gear, about 50 mph we were figuring. I remember thinking "OH $h!t" and then hitting the berm and going airborn. I remember thinking tuck and roll while in the air and then the next thing I remember was a bunch of people standing around me asking me if I was OK.

They say I was unconscious for about a minute. There was about 20' of untouched sand after the berm, then a huge impact crater from my quad--so I flew about 20' before I hit. They told me in air, the quad's rear end started to come up and then it tilted to the left. The right front tire hit first and sent me off to the right and the quad off to the left (thank God for that). They say I did a few cartwheels and landed on my stomach, then rolled onto my back and sat up then flopped back down--none of which I remember. The guy who was in a sand car riding behind me said it looked like I went into a buggy rut and got tossed a little to the left--at just the wrong moment. Then hit the bush/berm.

They transferred me to a sand car and took me back to camp where we had an R.N. in our camp group. I felt like I was drunk off my @$$ even though I had no alcohol in me. My right pupil wouldn't dialate and they rushed me over to the Ranger's station where the medics backboarded and C-Spine collared me and I got the lights and sirens ride to Brawley Hospital's ER. I don't remember much about the ride as I kept blacking out. My wife rode along and told me thats how it went.

At the hospital they cut my riding jersey off (BASTARDS!!) and at one point I had 4 people working on me. They CT Scanned me and took some shoulder X-Rays. I was on the backboard for what seemed like an eternity. After all the test results came back Negative (WHOO-HOO!!) they got me off the backboard but left the collar on. I had my wife snap a cell phone pic then. We were at the ER for about 5 hours and not much of that was spent waiting around actually.

Final injury tally:
-Severe conccusion
-Dislocated right shoulder
-Sprained neck
-Sprained back
-Pulled muscles in back
-Bruised ribs

I feel pretty lucky, considering I was going about 50mph when I crashed. I'm not going to get dramatic and say my helmet saved my life, but it definitley helped the situation. Just another reason to always wear one, whether your bike has a motor or not.

I'm at home now and incredibly sore. I will be taking the week off from riding (duh) and hope like hell to be present at the Sladnas bike relief/SD Fire/Newbie ride next Sunday.

[tkblazer]

holy crap dougie thank god you're ok after a crash like that...

[coldbrews]

Happens alot out there as I'm sure you know. A co-workers son was killed out there 2 weekends ago. 15 yrs old.
Get well.

[Shannon]

Dang, only ONE week off from riding. Hmmm, maybe you're still suffering from the effects of your conccusion... And wow, what a list of injuries. Very very glad to hear nothing major and you're on the road to recovery. All my best wishes to you for a fast and pain free recovery!

[J_Sims]

So I guess Noble tomorrow is not an option

Get well, give your body the tiime to heal

[sdyeti]

Dang Doug! Glad to hear that you will recover. Geez...those vehicles with motors can be scary Hope you feel better soon.

[sladnas]

Wow Doug...I'm glad you are ok.

If you miss the Sladnas ride, I'll probably never forgive you. Just kidding. Take it easy, let me know if you need anything (sorry, I'm all out of massages).

[allison]

Doug - glad to hear you are doing okay! Heal up.

[Ratt]

Crap, Doug hope you get well soon. Was at BB today and overheard that you crashed on your quad but didn't know it was this bad.

craig

[foofighter]

Doug speedy recovery to you

[CalEpic]

That's a bummer. I'm glad to hear your going to be ok. It's scary crashing on a quad. The first thing I think about is - Please don't land on me.

C

[Hanzo]

Glad youre ok. Healing vibes sent your way.

[bjammin]

Suck it up you sissy.

[Dino Brown]

Get well soon!

[genusmtbkr5]

Doug, I was looking froward to meeting you tomorrow, guess it'll have to wait. Get well soon.

[PacMan]

Thanks all for the well wishes. I know my body pretty well, and I think I'll be good enough to ride next Sunday with a week of rest. Here's hoping.