Crashed on Sulpher Springs

After having climbed up Palo Comado on Saturday around 3:00 I was coming down Sulpher Springs in Cheeseboro Canyon. I was taking it easy because I was alone and feeling a little under the weather. I made it all the way down and was cruising through the dry creek bed that separates Sulpher Springs from the Cheeseboro Canyon trail fire road. I came in a bit faster than usual ( having gone up and over that small hill rather than taking the right fork that goes around the hill) and missed my line that takes me to the right of a big rock in the middle of the trail. I've hit the rock before but I guess I usually lean farther back in anticipation of the hit. Whether it was because I was fatigued and not positioning my self correctly on the bike or if I had just lost the proper respect for that rocky section, I hit the rock and endo'd in the middle of the creek bed.

I went over the bars and landed hard on my left side. My left hip/love handle exploded in a sharp pain. I laid there for a minute in shock and thinking only of how hard the rocky ground was. I tried to sit up but then pain was too intense. I couldnt roll to my left because my side seared with pain. I couldn't roll to the right because my back pack kept me in place. I laid there for about five minutes cursing towards the sky and moaning loudly.

I finally kicked the Stump Jumper off of me and slipped out of the camelbak. I got to my feet and could feel that the back left of my shirt was soaked. I felt my left hip and was frightened to feel nothing. The fleshy part of my hip (love handle for a lack of a better term) was completely numb. Above it was a terrible pain. I noticed some blood on my fingers when I looked at my hand. My ribs, arm, shoulder and chest felt tight and ached as if they were all cramping.

I struggled to pick the bike up. My Gatorade bottle fell. I tried to pick it up several times but couldn't. I decided to leave it and get back to my truck before the shock wore off. (Sorry about littering). I started walking back but didn't think I'd be able to make it so I straightened my bars and somehow got back on the bike. I coasted the 3 miles back to the parking lot.

After getting the bike in the truck, which seemed like an impossible task, I started to asses the damage I'd done to myself. I couldnt turn my body to look so I used my iPhone to take pictures of my left side. My shirt was covered in blood and sand and had a dime sized hole in it. I lifted my shirt and snapped a few pics. That's when I saw the hole in my side. I landed on a rock that punched a hole in my side.

Since it was 4:00 I was going drop my bike off at Winns Wheels for a free post crash check up. As I was driving I decided to go to the ER instead.

After the X-rays and ct scan, they probed the wound. The rock punctured through the ample fat of my side and went into the muscle. The dr described it has a "highly contaminated" puncture. It bled for 5 hours before the closed it. They flushed it and partially stitched it so it could still drain. She was concerned that stitching it closed would increase the chances of infection. I still have no feeling in the fatty tissue below the puncture and the left love handle is now twice the size of the right.

The upside of the whole thing was that I spent the afternoon in a bed watching the Ohio State/ Nebraska game with some morphine to dull the pain.

 

Welcome to haunted Cheeseboro. It was only about 100 more feet and you were clear. Haunted all the way down to the spring. What have I done there? The rock at the oak tree, OTB, I think the same rock as yours. That flat right before the fork, jumped those little fun ones, almost got a stick in the eye, on three consecutive jumps. Bruised/broke a rib crossing the little sulfur spring. Saw a guy loose a front tire, and go OTB as we were passing head on, that one was a freaky one. Farther up the canyon it gets worse until you cross the Palo pass, or the pass going to Pipeline. I was passing a MBU dude, and wack straight into ground, an OTB on the top of Dead Cow, once I was jumping this and that and had a rear wheel unlace. Throw in three pairs of shades and a set of hand updated Topo maps. Haunted Cheeseboro, the spirits let you pass, but please show them some respect when tresspassing on their final resting place.

 

Dude! We were up there at the same time yesterday. Perhaps we passed you as we climbed? Who knows... Heal up. Sounds like no bueno fun times. I snapped my wrist several years ago just below Sulphur Springs and also rode out to the lot. Not much fun, for sure but at least it is fairly flat riding. Glad you made it into care.

- shud

 

I had a bad crash in 1993 and there's a section of my leg by my knee that's still numb and a bit red.
Gnarly crash. Glad you weren't knocked out.

 

Dang! Every time I ride by that stinky creek bed, I tell myself how terrible it would be to land there!

Heal up and post up pics of your gnarly muffin top!

 

Okay. Seeing as you are new to this site, let me help you out with a few things.
First...sorry you got hurt and glad you are okay...hope you heal soon. (these are all the things you are supposed to type when you read someones crash report.)
Now...to become a truly respected STR crash reporter you must earn your respect by remembering that despite all the blood, pain, swelling, and fear....to pull out your camera and take some pictures right then and there. Or ask you buddy to get one...especially if parts of you are hanging out like teeth or bones or finger nails.
Next...if you fail at the above task, then you need to at least take a picture at the ER with the before and after stitches shot. Even better is if you can get one with the doctor or nurse in the shot too!
Finally, if you fail both of those very important and high point value pictures...then you should at a minimum take a home photo and tell us how lame you were for not getting one of the earlier described pictures.

So young Jedi, please take this friendly advice to heart the next time you eat Sh!t and come here to post about it!!

Seriously...heal up soon so you can get us some new pictures.

 

Your crash still was better than being impaled on a trail spike like ones that exist on San Juan.

 

He said he took a bunch of pics....soooooo let's hope he didn't delete them so we can all barf up our breakfast.

Heal up. That crash sounds crazy, and I'm glad you didn't puncture an organ!

 

Hommie don't do Sulpher Springs now....

 

That's the one thing that I remember clear as day from my last crash. I was trapped by 80oz of water :?:

Thanks for the report and heal quickly.

 

i couldnt finish reading that without stopping to cringe a couple of times. im glad your ok. punctures are scary. be well.

p.s. you now have a pretty interesting story to tell. that one time that being overweight saved you life

 

ouch man, heal up - that sounds crappy as hell. You're talking about the hill that splits left goes up, right goes low, and they both join up before the bees right? Did you bail on the downhill before the trail rejoins? I can't really think of a big rock right there, but I know you can get some quick speed coming down that.

 

Oh, I took pics. They are uploading now.

 

After they rejoin in the creek bed.

 

Took this with my phone after impressing myself with how well I did making it most of the way up Palo Comado:


After the crash, I noticed that my shirt was wet. When I felt that my side was numb, I chose not to look and just start the 3 miles back to the truck. If you zoom in, you can see the whole in the shirt:


This is the photo I took back at the truck to see what they hell was going on back there. That thing bled from time I crashed at around 3:34pm to the time they sewed in partially closed at 10:00pm.


Oh, I knew everyone would want pictures. I cut my internet-forum-teeth on the hunting sites. There, if you can't product a head or a photo, it simply didn't happen. Here, I am waiting for the CT Scan at Los Robles Medical Center.


Yesterday morning. It's all turning black now. The skin around the puncture is so thin from the swelling and scraping across the rocks that removing the medical tape to change the bandage pulls skin off.

 

ahhhh damn, yeah there's a crapload of rocks to fall on there. gnarly pics man. Oh, just saw that you're also an Agoura local, sweet!

 

YEEEAAHHH!!!
I take it all back. You got this crash covered. A+++++

That dirty tshirt shot is great!

 

Truly a great crash report! Cool stitches too. You can tell them it was from a knife fight where you saved an old grandmother from 22 gang bangers!

 

I did see a group or two of people pass me the other way as I was coming down Sulpher Springs. I recall pulling over a few times to let people pass and thinking I was doing the right thing since it caused me to slow down on the descent. Caused me to miss some jumps but I was sick and fatigued from the climb. Better to take the descent more slowly, 'cause, you know, wouldn't want to get hurt.

 

Not to mention they have right of way.....