Running is a Death Trap

[dirtvert]

subtitle: Hiking: Gateway to to the E.R.

so i've still been in recovery mode from rim nordic last weekend (no rides). decided to do hike up ontario peak (near baldy) with some friends yesterday morning. it was my first day of summer vaca. what could go wrong?

mellow hike, beautiful peak/views, good times. on the way down my friend pat wanted to take some pictures, so she would run ahead a 100 yards or so--shoot, repeat. i started following her since i used to do trail running years ago and it looked like fun...

everthing was fine for a mile or so. then we came to a rocky section, and the next thing i know is i'm supermanning down the trail--trying to keep my face from smashing. my left forearm immediately felt bad (broken?), there was lots of blood, and i went into moaning/nausea mode...

luckily, pat used to race/crash xc mtb and she had me pinch the hole in my arm and started wrapping me up. one of my friends came up (she's a doctor), checked me out, and gave me some gel advils. i felt a lot better after about 10 minutes, so we headed back down the mountain.

toward the end of icehouse canyon we started seeing ladybugs, and eventually there were 1000's of them covering up some logs--always way cool to see.

i drove back to the e.r. in huntington beach, entered the waiting room this-is-gonna-be-slow limbo, and asked if i could leave for a while. they said "sure", so i went home, showered, dropped some pills, and had a beer. i checked back in and only had to wait a few minutes to be seen--sweet. i highly recommend this method on your next e.r. visit!

anyway, ended up not being bad--only 9 stitches, on antibiotics, and kinda sore today. prognosis: all good, but a week off mtbing. we'll see. also, as i was falling, i evidently (instinctively) reached out with my right hand to grab something, which turned out to be one of my favorite wildflowers--fuchsia-flowered gooseberry: beautiful, edible, and full of thorns...so my right forearm looks like a cat had violent sex with it, and i have about a dozen stickers imbedded in my hand. nice.

BIG LESSON: first aid, pato-style. although i had some basics with me, so did everybody in my group- so they were able to bandage/wrap me quickly to stop the bleeding, and even make a sling w/ my jacket to make the hike down easier. it would have been long and messy if i just had a few bandaids.

be careful out there...

[xhuskr]

sorry to hear about this Doug ER is not the place to spend your Summer Break, eh? Now...what beer did you have to kill the pain...riders need to know! Heal up my friend!

[dirtvert]

thanks, kevin. i'll be back on the bike path tomorrow.

beer/pain reliever of choice--black toad from t. joe's: effective, satisfying, and cheap.

[minhster]

any pictures of you battle wounds?

[Sewellymon]

ohhhhYea. that trail is not a walk in the park

i trail ran it a bunch in the 80's . rocky goin

poached in on a mt bike in '85 and found it way hard descending

the thing is more suited for walkin

glad u r ok

[sasquatch9billion]

Heal up quick Doug, it sounds like everyone is nursing wounds this month.-t

[jeff^d]

Some people are better off on two wheels.

[Au575]

Tough day for celebs and cyclists. Had a mass crash on the velodrome here in SD last night - three sent to hospital via light/siren chauffeur. Some still there...

I really like your ER tactic of check-in/beer/treatment. That's awesome.

[Go Go]

Hope you heal up fast!! Take care.

[Kid A]

ahh, just got the skinny, skinny.

so while i applaud the self pain remedy thought alcohol makes u bleed more????

yeah and no pix, weak sauce my friend

j/k healing vibes brutha...hope to ride friday

[9kBud]

Here's the lesson I learned: Check in to the ER, go home, shower, beer, then back to the ER. Got it!
Luckily I've had a crash free weekend!