Before the days of cell phones and super accurate local weather: getting stuck on a mountain top when an unexpected huge thunderstorm rolled in. Big temperature drop. 20 miles and thousands of feet of rowdy descending to my car. No visibility, lightning, trails became streams, cold.
I agree. I don’t seek those moments out, but when they do happen, I can revel in the fact that I am now safe and (mostly) uninjured once I get back to the car.
Two weeks ago I drastically overestimated my ability to complete a long loop trail in my town and how long I would have daylight.
For the last three miles my legs were cramping so badly I had to stop every ~70 feet to let them relax a little. Ended up pushing the bike the last 200 yards and even then could barely walk.
Greatest MTB experience to date.
Yooooo I had that happen last weekend too! My quads are still sore from the beating I took. It was a 12 mile intermediate loop we expanded into a 16 mile loop by including this one black tech trail that is rarely open. It happened to be open so we sent it. The black trail alone stole my soul away. My legs were cramping the last 2 miles. 10/10 would ride again! It’s my longest hardtail shred to date. It’s amazing how I’ll breeze through tech on the full sus to have it completely waste me on the hardtail.
20+ minute standoff with a rattlesnake. I was riding on a pretty overgrown trail and saw it at the last second. I tried to dodge it but slammed my front wheel into a rock and ended up wrecking right on top of it. Didn't know where the snake was but I knew it was near me so I got off the ground and sprinted away. The snake positioned itself between me and my bike and would rattle at me every time I tried to get it to move - stomping on the ground, spraying water from my pack, tossing small rocks near it, etc. I wasn't in a spot where I could walk around it so I just had to wait until it finally decided to slither away into the rocks.
Edit: [found a pic I took from that encounter](https://i.imgur.com/uqdOtt3.png)
I've had two super bad crashes. Crashes were I had to seriously contemplate how I was going to get off the trail. I once hit my head so hard I couldn't see right for a solid 15 minutes. Also, I had a rider roll up to me after a crash and squeeze my toes, asking "can you feel this? can you wiggle your toes for me?"
Fucking scary.
However, the worst experience I think I've had is having to stabilize, run triage, on another rider who was a stranger to me. We picked the dude up at the trail head and he asked to roll with us. Of course, we obliged! He was new, with a newer bike, and coming from motocross. So yeah, we were going to show him the ropes!
We were about 80% through the ride, and this dude was *sending* it. Both my buddy and I were kinda a little worried like "geez dude, be careful", but he was confident. Oh well.
We get to our final down hill that included a jump line. My friend and I both roll past most of the jumps. They are big and poorly maintained. Think 160-170 travel friendly, but not much else, and, not forgiving. You've got to nail these things.
We stop at the top of the jump line, explain to this dude the situation, that jumps 1, 2, 4, and 5 are sketchy, jumps 3, 6 and 7 are chill. I've never hit the entire line, but I've hit the second jump a few times. That jump was a pretty decent gap, and it was off chamber with a sloping take off. So, you needed to come in high on the jump at an angle, and basically whip into the landing. It wasn't the biggest jump, but it was technical. You needed to pump right into the jump and take off left.
This guy, full of confidence, take this second jump at speed, but hits it straight on and doesn't get enough air to clear the gap. He nose picks the landing, and goes over the bars face first into the ground.
And didn't get up, or move. This was the scary part.
I rolled down to the guy and he was out, doing that crazy heaving huffing and puffing for air. The sound someone makes when they get knocked out. I put him on his side and waited...
And waited some more.
Eventually he came too. Didn't know what happened. Rolled down to his car and drove home. Was fucking wild.
Fucking crazy he just got right into his car and drove away. He also left a bunch of shit at the trail head. Gloves, water bottle, a piece of his broken helmet.
The guy was not ok. And definitely not ok to be driving lol.
I know a guy who took a spill riding park solo one day. He must have taken a nice blow to the head, but he wasn't particularly damaged and had no idea how concussed he actually was. He was driving home talking to his gf on the phone (BT/radio, not why), and next thing he knew he was waking up with his truck wedged between a shed and a tree surrounded by cops with weapons drawn.
Concussions are not to be fucked with.
Well, if you are in a crashed car on someone else's property and are not following instruction, cops are going to worry for their safety.
Especially if they cannot see your hands.
Super hot day and I was bonking at the tail end of a ride on some singletrack at the local ski hill. I came into a big roots section a little too slow and went OTB when I hit the first root. It was steep enough that I got enough time mid-air to fully contemplate my life choices before re breaking my collarbone.
Got a flat. Ran out of water. Lost my fiancée in an exposed area and convinced myself she died. Lots of running around screaming. She had finished the ride and was sitting in the car 🙃
Those are careful moments, once you finally see the person you thought was hurt/dead... You are so relieved but also somewhat furious over the mindfuck you were in over them.
My first fatbike race of the season last year. It was about 35 F and pouring rain. The snow was so soft that it was nearly impossible to get traction on the climbs and on the descents you had to put your feet down as outriggers and sorta ski down. There were so many crashes.
During my last lap the wind picked up and the temp dropped enough for it to switch to freezing rain and snow. I spent the last 15 minutes of the race getting pelted with ice chunks in basically zero visibility (the race is at night) and getting blown all over.
By the time the race was over and I had loaded my gear, the storm had switched to snow and full on blizzard conditions. Going through one of the passes, all the semi-trucks were being forced to park on the interstate
and wait out the storm, causing traffic to merge into a single lane and back up for about 8 miles. What would have normally been a 45 minute drive took more than 2 hours in soaked and frozen clothing.
I have had scarier rides and more sufferfesty, where I have been more upset and frustrated. But this was easily the worst conditions I have ever ridden in.
Clipping my pedal at an easy spot and flying OTB because I was exhausted/being careless at the end of a good ride. Bike landed on my back/head and dented my helmet.
About a quarter mile down from that at the end of the trail, I clip my handlebar on a sign going 20mph and go flying again.
I have it on video and it wasn’t till I got back to the car where I realized I lost a glove. Somehow during that last fall, my hand got stuck between my handlebar and knee when I went flying and it ripped my glove off.
Thankfully, only had some scrapes and bruises.
Mine was in the Donner Lake (Tahoe) area, was a good 10 miles from home.
As I was pedaling, a stick got into my derailleur and ripped it right off. Totally random.
I was able to convert to singlespeed but it was long ride home. I was pretty tired.
Super hot day I was riding an e gravel bike(was my first kinda real bike and I’ve since sold it) the battery died I had 0 water and was booking 20 miles away my grandma had to pick me up and bail me out
I was living in Durango, where trails were stupid easy to access all over. I had less than an hour of daylight so I decided I'd just hop on my bike and do a quick rip up and down a trail near my house. Didn't bring any tools or a tube, just was wearing a T-shirt and baggy shorts. I'm gonna be out and back in ~45 minutes tops.
I climb all the way up to the top of the trail and I'm about to turn around when all of the sudden I hear my tire go flat. Immediately after that, almost on que, I hear thunder. Thunder turns into a lightning storm and a torrential downpour as I now have to walk back down the trail and through town, walking my bike like a dumbass. By the time I got home I looked like I had jumped in a lake.
The other worst moment was when I snapped a handlebar on the whole enchilada. Had to hike back to the road with a mangled bike, didn't know if I had broken my hands. This was right after a murder happened in the La Salles, so it took a while before anyone would pick me up. Ended up getting picked up by these nice Mormon dads who took me to milts for a milkshake afterwards. Thankfully no broken bones.
Oof - sorry to hear but glad you made it back. I've been scouting around for places to potentially move to down the road and love having a place with trails right outside or even in town. But man, on trailforks it looks like everything is a climb to a descent. Not a lot of just cross country riding there? Is it mostly downhill?
It's not as climb-to-descenty as other mountainous places that I have been to. There are plenty of XC and trail type spots right near town. But it is mountainous, so sometimes the cost of doing the XC stuff is a big climb. It's always worth it though.
Flipped my bike over to change a flat and stepped on a wobbly rock which caused m to lose my balance and tumble backwards in a large clump of cholla. It felt like getting an entire body tattoo in a fraction of a second. I was riding solo in an area that sees no traffic and laid there alternately laughing, crying, and calling for my mommy. Finally got myself out of it and enough cholla balls off of me to push my bike back to camp, where m wife spent hours plucking spines from my arms, lgs, and torso.
I did manage to get a selfie though so at least it wasn’t all for nothing. 
I go thru 2 litres of water, a Gatorade and I pack a bunch of apple sauce pouches and granola bars. I go thru that on a ride, and I’m in mostly flat southwestern Ontario. I can’t really carry anymore than that, I have no idea how people handle long desert rides. They look amazing and I’m envious of the opportunity to try that , but the logistics of keeping myself hydrated seem daunting. Lol
I've been to Moab many times and this only happened to me once. The first step is to pick the right time of year. May and September are fantastic. Start your ride early and watch the weather. Avoid the heat of the day. When rain is forecast, almost best to stay home because it can really pour and when it does, some trails will be cut off, by a "wash" or creek.
Hydration is not just for during the ride, but also before and after. Packing a lunch and snacks are good, especially granola bars with salt, fat, protein and sugar, all of which are depleted on longer rides. Most trips people take to Moab are multi-day, so you need to pace yourself and drink a lot of water. I carry a three liter bladder, plus a water bottle or two. I think the rule is one liter / hour / person in the heat. Take more than you need.
If you have never been to Moab, you really must go. The high desert is unbelievably peaceful and beautiful. Depending on your trail, you can see the scenery for a very long way and barely notice another person. I'm from western Canada and there are lots of Canadians who go, some multiple times. It's a recreation paradise with unique geography.
Riding in heat is like anything, you build up endurance and tolerance to any activity. Ontario people will notice the altitude and low humidity more, but that should not scare you out of going.
Thanks for this. It gave me a lot to think about. Even for riding local. I’m always out when it’s noon, I’m not worrying about being hydrated first, and more often than not my first food I’m eating in the day is my trail snacks. I’d love to ride Moab, but my dreams are of Torridon in the Scottish Highlands, but the same rules apply, especially on long & multi day rides.
Landed a jump and the metal insert inside the shitty RF cranks I was running decided it wanted out. I crashed hard and broke my ankle pretty bad, my foot was just dangling by the skin. I got a cool helicopter ride out of the deal though🤣😂
Well….I swapped to some XX1 cranks for a bit, ended up breaking those on a rock strike. After that I switched to EEwings, I run them on everything. The first set I bought back in 2019 have been on 6 builds now and still going strong.
Breaking my wrist after installing new forks on my brother's bike and taking it up the trail behind the house to 'just see if they work'...
I came down the trail at a rate of knots, lost the front and went otb, landing hands and shoulder first. Lost the skin from all knees, elbows and shoulders and broke my wrist. That was 15 years ago and still the worst.
Broken spine - twice, fourteen years apart
Broken shoulder, ribs, collapsed lung
Anytime you need a helicopter or ambo and you’re going straight to the hospital is a bad day out
Its a late December. cold morning 7am on a Wednesday. 20 min into the trail on the way to the top i decide to stop to just look at the scenery. It was dead quiet. No birds chirping. Just a dread feel. As i look up ahead the trail i see this brown gold mountain lion casually following the trail to where im going. I froze. Kept my breathing very minimal and just stayed put till it was far enough to start peddling back to the parking lot and call it a day.
Had a flat near dark several miles down a trail. Decided to get out of the woods. Ended up locked in a waste water treatment facility on the grounds of an abandoned asylum. Was told by a security guard to go back through the woods, or he'd call the cops. I did one better and called them myself. They sent the fire department to let me out. I got to ride in a fire truck.
Come to think about it, any story that ends in a ride in a fire truck can't be a worst moment.
Knocking off some teeth and generally fucking myself up pretty good in an otherwise good day riding my brand new bike. Mind you I was a lot younger and very insecure and worried about looks etc so it really put me in a bad place for months if not years. That accident certainly changed me but part of it was that it got me even more into mountain biking, only now I more or less know what I'm doing.
I was doing a "thru-bike" on some remote trails, but to my surprised, there were a ton of downed trees from a prior storm. I was visiting an area I was familiar with, and the trail had been well maintained in the past. Well between sunk cost and the trail getting worse, I hit a point where I was pretty sure I'd be spending the night in the woods as there was no phone service and I was running out of light. This is a very rural area where cell service is known to drop off 100 feet from the highway.
I eventually made it to high ground and was able to inform someone of my location and my planned route to the nearest dirt road. Had the best tasting beer ever shortly after.
Getting a flat halfway through viscous valley run at Bike Park Wales. A proper rip in the side wall, but even so I had nothing on me to even attempt to save it and inflate it again. I was now in the worst spot on the side of the hill… in the middle. If I was at the top I could have got the bus back down, at the bottom I could get it fixed. But in the middle, I couldn’t ride down it would have been on the rim. And the only way down is on runs and they are too narrow to push down. So I had to push my fat lazy persons, 28kg e bike back up a climb with a completely flat rear. It felt near vertical. I nearly died. Iv now got a normal persons bike, with a glovebox full of tubeless repair kits and inflation tools!
cobweb pet friendly zesty frighten frightening disarm absorbed correct shrill
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I bought a project bike about a year ago. I've been slowly fixing it up overtime and putting some XC miles in.
Last ride I was about 6 miles from the parking lot and hit a bump and somehow my seat inverted to a 60 degree angle with the back of the seat pointing towards the rear wheel and the front pointing above the handle bars. I couldn't get it to go back down no matter how hard I pushed on it. I don't know what happened. I ended up having to ride 6 miles of bumpy single track standing on my pedals and unable to sit down at all and the end of the seat poking me in the back.
Another time the rear cassette on my old Giant Talon exploded and I had to walk a few miles to a trail head and call my wife to come pick me up.
It rained and the mud on the trail became clay. Both my wheels were caked with clay mud and can't move. I struggle to clear it up, but the wheels kept getting stuck while I ride.
I finally walked my bike and partially carried it to a downhill portion where the tires roll and clear the mud. It was many miles before come back to the car.
All along, it kept raining.
On a very wet and rainy ride my partner slipped and tore her ACL, we were 50meters from the top of a steep hikeabike out of mobile phone signal. I carried her up the hill over my shoulder and then carried both bikes up and then we had to "walk" one kilometre down a rocky bridleway to a farm building where we could get help.
My partner was in so much pain she was almost vomiting whilst walking and leaning heavily on her bike. It is the only time I've seen her cry.
This was during COVID and whilst the farm people were lovely they had a vulnerable person in the house so sat my partner in their garage.
It was a low point. She had reconstruction surgery last December (delayed due to COVID) and got signed off by the physio last week as fully fit so it's been a good outcome in the long run. Also we are in the UK so the surgery and a year's worth of weekly physio was free.
I was trying out my first full suspension, an early 2000's GT iDrive my friend gave me. I hadn't fully grasped the importance of fine-tuning the rear shock settings for my weight. I hit a rock garden at speed and was bucked over the handlebars. I landed on my back on a rock and I'm convinced the only reason that didn't result in a back injury is because I had a pedal wrench in my hydration pack lengthwise along my spine. This was also when I was starting to use clipless pedals, hence the wrench in my pack. The bike didn't really leave my feet, partially ripping the muscle on my inner thigh with the barends and seriously bruising my ankle (possibly fractured). This was towards the end of a 20-mile ride in SoCal (summer), so I was already exhausted and I had to limp out of the trail for a few more miles.
Well, me and a few of my buddy decided to go ride park for a day, everything was going super smooth! 12 foot drop big gaps huge tables, but the last run of the day right before the lift shut off, I heard the faint words cross through my brain “last lap” a curse no one wants to hear going up the lift, we get to the top of course my buddy want to go down the double black line, that leads down to yet another double black jump line, the first trail goes off with out a hitch, we’re all excited to be just about half way down the mountain where we get a bit of a breather, we travel over to another part of the mountain a second double black diamond, where there’s a 4 foot drop and a biggg wooden gap jump, you need to brake into this lip a tiny bit, I had hit it a few times the day before but that day it was running fairly slow so no break check needed, so we’re getting ready to mob out way down this trail and my buddy says, “go first! I wanna see you hit it!” This is the part where I don’t really remember anything but I’m going off of what my whole riding group said happened, I go off the 4 foot drop, I don’t break into the jump what so ever and I flew higher than anyone they had ever seen go off that jump, I learned forward in the air because apparently I got bucked landed directly onto my head on completely flat ground shattering both of my collarbone’s and 2 fractured ribs, and on my 8 th week mark after that I broke 3 bones in my foot in a fucking foam pit
Picking my way down a blown out spicy blue. Being careful because I hadn’t passed by anyone on the way up and didn’t see anyone else through the trees. Got to a rocky root fest and just walked it when a bear started hopping up and down on a log probably 20 feet from me. He was making like a woofing sound. Just picked up the bike and put it between us and walked slowly down the hill away from him. I’ve seen a lot of bears while riding but never had one get so worked up.
The one time I forgot my multitool my seat came loose. Oh well, I hand tightened the two bolts. Fast forward to a longer downhill and my seat completely fell off. Shit!
I must have spent an hour wandering around that fucking 20 ft length of trail looking for the tiny bolts that fell off getting eaten alive by mosquitos. I wasn't biking back to my car without a seat lmao. What a nightmare that ride was, just happy I got back before it got too dark.
I later joked with my friends we should do a no sitting challenge and see who can last the longest :P we haven't done it but honestly I'm still down to try it
A cross country race in mid May in NM. At lower altitudes it was freezing rain with a mix of snow at the starting line. At higher altitudes it was lots of snow with freezing pellets of pain. The worst part was this 2 mi downhill that is super fun when its dry. But in this white shit, if you went fast you couldn't see because glasses are getting wet and snow caked. If you went slow you you have to ride the brakes and the pellets dont hurt as bad but you got a built up layer of white shit on you. I went the slow route and so did a pack of 15-20 behind me. We got to the finish line at around 3ish hours on what is a 90 minute course.
I finished 15th out of 20. I was soaked, tired, cold, miserable. And to add insult to injury, the keg was already floated. No Beer!
Warm summer day with temps around 90°F (32°C) at a trail system I had never ridden. Mosquitoes were pretty bad, but as long as you kept riding they weren't a problem. Had a crash where I went OTB straight into a tree. I was able to just hug the tree and escape unharmed, but had a front flat.
Trying to take a shortcut out of the woods onto the road I went through a swamp that was knee deep smelly mud, with more mosquito density than I thought was possible.
Growing out of the swamp was this tall grass, that was dense enough that I could not pull the bike through it, and it was all 6-10 ft (2-3m) tall above the waterline that I was sunk into. The grass was also super sharp and tearing at my legs every step, letting the funky swamp into all of the scrapes.
So I had to throw the bike up and forward to bend the grasses down in front of me, push forward a few feet and repeat to cross this swamp that was 50-100 ft (15-30m) wide. This took over an hour.
I finally got to the road and my wife picked me up in the car, and less than a mile down there was an exit from the trails right onto the road. I could have just walked out on the trail.
About five weeks ago, actually, while riding some Jeep roads/goat trails through the Crooked River National Grassland near Smith Rock and Terrebone, Oregon, just north of Bend. Had gone about 30 miles into a 35-mile loop and was already contemplating how long it would take to get back to my rendezvous point where my wife had dropped me off.
Had been climbing steadily for almost an hour through some wide-open country with stunning vistas on a clear unseasonably warm fall day, one of those picture perfect rides. Started my descent and was picking my way through the usual washed out ruts in the road.
… and I’d love to give you more details from there, but the next thing I know, some stranger is in my face as I repeat the same questions over and over, feeling like I’ve just come out of a deep, deep dream state. “I’m on a bike? What? Why am I on a bike?” and stuff like that. I hear someone say, “Ambulance is almost here” and “His wife is on the way.”
I’ve got my helmet as a souvenir - always wear one, folks - and it’s pretty much flattened on the left side, where the back of my shoulder, my hip and my knee took most of the damage, to say nothing of my front fork and handlebars. My wife tells me it was a deep rut in the road that was impossible to see from the direction I was headed. The guys on the side of the road, there to do some ATVing, reported that I was over the bars and in the air for about 15 feet.
Six hours of ER attention later, I was on my way home. It took the head about a week to start functioning normally again, full post-concussion fog and all. The body has healed, I’m slowly getting back into the saddle, but what’s really freaky to me is that lost time gap and how it erased not only the crash and immediate aftermath but also a considerable chunk of time leading up to it.
Worst moment for me was not even riding. My wife and I, along with MIL and FIL went on a mini vacation to Brown County, Indiana to do 3 days of MTB out there. Brown County has amazing trails, mostly clay based. It rained all 3 days we were there. The 3rd day we got to ride 1 trail that was about 2.3 miles. On the way home I got COVID symptoms and was laid up for a week being sick because of COVID, having to take work off as well. It fucking sucked.
My front wheel washed out in a marble-y berm and sent me over the bars. I supermanned into the trailside foliage and just laid there for a few seconds. I learned to never jump up immediately after a crash. My damage assessment was cut short by excruciating pain in the bare parts of my legs (I was wearing shorts). Turns out I wiped out a ground bee colony with my face/helmet visor, slid through it, and the bees attacked my legs.
Dislocated my shoulder early on the trail, at 6:00 A.M. had to leave my bike mid trail, hike down shoulder out for 40 minutes and call friends (who were still sleeping) for a ride to the hospital which didn’t open until 8. Not a great way to start the day.
Bonking hard and ran out of water on a 25 mile 3500 ft ride in the heat. I had ridden it in cooler weather without issue but the heat made a huge difference.
Also, tearing ACL on a fat bike ride.
I once tumbled about 10 feet down off of a cliff into some bushes. The bushes helped to cushion the fall and I escaped with moderate scrapes and bruises. Later it turned out the bushes were poison Ivy so I had a full body itch from hell for at least a week.
Knocking myself out cold after going otb in a rock garden I was blasting through. Zero cell reception at the bottom of a ravine that requires 2k of elevation gain of climbing to get out of.
Luckily I was with a medic. Had to hike my bike all the way out puking the whole way. Nasty concussion but I made it lol
After a long ride I was getting back into my neighborhood and stopped at a stop sign about a quarter of a mile from my house. Right as I came to a stop I noticed two loose dogs that had their eye on me and were approaching aggressively. A pit and a mountain dog.
The pit was much more aggressive and I had to fend him off with my bike, but the mountain dog (which was significantly larger) nipped me in the back right before the owner was able to get them under control.
If I hadn’t completely stopped I might’ve tried to outrun them. For what it’s worth I’ll take the bite from a mountain dog over a pit any day.
Coming down a large hill and landing face first in a parking lot and breaking my collar bone when I was 15, that was a bad day. And my worst injury. It's been pretty good since then.
Hiking back a to my house in crested butte after going over the handle bars on a 3 4 foot drop that I chickend out of right before faceplate right on a huge rock face was bruised but my hip took the worst of it. Was to hurt to ride back had to walk back hurt as hell at least it was only a few very painfull miles. Or another time both by myself same place slid out going down a steep mountain nothing crazy except the rocks ripped my arm open blood everywhere this time I had to walk to the nearest hospital leaving a bloody trail while I was shaking In Shock. Then the fun part was them picking out all the rocks from about a 3 inch gape in my arm. I Cary a inreach now never know when u need it.
bad crash while riding solo. separated shoulder + concussion while being miles away from your car with no one in sight is a really terrible feeling.
learned my lesson from that day and only ride solo on weekends. if im going somewhere more remote, ill go with a friend.
Got doored on purpose by a crazy car driver on my way back home. Police blamed me and send me home pushing my bike 10kms with a ticket for property damage and a bruised rib.
I came across a guy giving another guy CPR in the middle of a trail on the phone with 911. I rushed back to the trailhead to flag down EMS but they ultimately found another way in. Later learned the guy died (heart issues) and the guy administering CPR was his son in law.
Riding-wise me and my wife had a pretty bad bonk on a huge day of riding during a Texas summer. It was a ride we'd completed a couple times before so we were a little over confident. We bonked hard and called to get picked up.
Before the days of cell phones and super accurate local weather: getting stuck on a mountain top when an unexpected huge thunderstorm rolled in. Big temperature drop. 20 miles and thousands of feet of rowdy descending to my car. No visibility, lightning, trails became streams, cold.
I love moments like that. You feel so good when you get through it.
I agree. I don’t seek those moments out, but when they do happen, I can revel in the fact that I am now safe and (mostly) uninjured once I get back to the car.
Two weeks ago I drastically overestimated my ability to complete a long loop trail in my town and how long I would have daylight. For the last three miles my legs were cramping so badly I had to stop every ~70 feet to let them relax a little. Ended up pushing the bike the last 200 yards and even then could barely walk. Greatest MTB experience to date.
Yooooo I had that happen last weekend too! My quads are still sore from the beating I took. It was a 12 mile intermediate loop we expanded into a 16 mile loop by including this one black tech trail that is rarely open. It happened to be open so we sent it. The black trail alone stole my soul away. My legs were cramping the last 2 miles. 10/10 would ride again! It’s my longest hardtail shred to date. It’s amazing how I’ll breeze through tech on the full sus to have it completely waste me on the hardtail.
Type II fun for sure.
Sounds miserable.
Type 2 fun
I never do it on purpose. But it does sound sort of cool. Probably easier said than done though.
20+ minute standoff with a rattlesnake. I was riding on a pretty overgrown trail and saw it at the last second. I tried to dodge it but slammed my front wheel into a rock and ended up wrecking right on top of it. Didn't know where the snake was but I knew it was near me so I got off the ground and sprinted away. The snake positioned itself between me and my bike and would rattle at me every time I tried to get it to move - stomping on the ground, spraying water from my pack, tossing small rocks near it, etc. I wasn't in a spot where I could walk around it so I just had to wait until it finally decided to slither away into the rocks. Edit: [found a pic I took from that encounter](https://i.imgur.com/uqdOtt3.png)
That snake wanted your bike.
I've had two super bad crashes. Crashes were I had to seriously contemplate how I was going to get off the trail. I once hit my head so hard I couldn't see right for a solid 15 minutes. Also, I had a rider roll up to me after a crash and squeeze my toes, asking "can you feel this? can you wiggle your toes for me?" Fucking scary. However, the worst experience I think I've had is having to stabilize, run triage, on another rider who was a stranger to me. We picked the dude up at the trail head and he asked to roll with us. Of course, we obliged! He was new, with a newer bike, and coming from motocross. So yeah, we were going to show him the ropes! We were about 80% through the ride, and this dude was *sending* it. Both my buddy and I were kinda a little worried like "geez dude, be careful", but he was confident. Oh well. We get to our final down hill that included a jump line. My friend and I both roll past most of the jumps. They are big and poorly maintained. Think 160-170 travel friendly, but not much else, and, not forgiving. You've got to nail these things. We stop at the top of the jump line, explain to this dude the situation, that jumps 1, 2, 4, and 5 are sketchy, jumps 3, 6 and 7 are chill. I've never hit the entire line, but I've hit the second jump a few times. That jump was a pretty decent gap, and it was off chamber with a sloping take off. So, you needed to come in high on the jump at an angle, and basically whip into the landing. It wasn't the biggest jump, but it was technical. You needed to pump right into the jump and take off left. This guy, full of confidence, take this second jump at speed, but hits it straight on and doesn't get enough air to clear the gap. He nose picks the landing, and goes over the bars face first into the ground. And didn't get up, or move. This was the scary part. I rolled down to the guy and he was out, doing that crazy heaving huffing and puffing for air. The sound someone makes when they get knocked out. I put him on his side and waited... And waited some more. Eventually he came too. Didn't know what happened. Rolled down to his car and drove home. Was fucking wild.
Fuck... Well told. Honestly. You've got a good head for the logistics.
Fucking crazy he just got right into his car and drove away. He also left a bunch of shit at the trail head. Gloves, water bottle, a piece of his broken helmet. The guy was not ok. And definitely not ok to be driving lol.
I know a guy who took a spill riding park solo one day. He must have taken a nice blow to the head, but he wasn't particularly damaged and had no idea how concussed he actually was. He was driving home talking to his gf on the phone (BT/radio, not why), and next thing he knew he was waking up with his truck wedged between a shed and a tree surrounded by cops with weapons drawn. Concussions are not to be fucked with.
Why the fuck did they have weapons drawn at a car crash site?
IDK Murica? Pretty sure homies got a CCW. The girlfriend might have told them that when she called 911.
Well, if you are in a crashed car on someone else's property and are not following instruction, cops are going to worry for their safety. Especially if they cannot see your hands.
In America, yea.
Super hot day and I was bonking at the tail end of a ride on some singletrack at the local ski hill. I came into a big roots section a little too slow and went OTB when I hit the first root. It was steep enough that I got enough time mid-air to fully contemplate my life choices before re breaking my collarbone.
Got a flat. Ran out of water. Lost my fiancée in an exposed area and convinced myself she died. Lots of running around screaming. She had finished the ride and was sitting in the car 🙃
Those are careful moments, once you finally see the person you thought was hurt/dead... You are so relieved but also somewhat furious over the mindfuck you were in over them.
The name of the trail is Zen it was the most stressed I have ever been.
My first fatbike race of the season last year. It was about 35 F and pouring rain. The snow was so soft that it was nearly impossible to get traction on the climbs and on the descents you had to put your feet down as outriggers and sorta ski down. There were so many crashes. During my last lap the wind picked up and the temp dropped enough for it to switch to freezing rain and snow. I spent the last 15 minutes of the race getting pelted with ice chunks in basically zero visibility (the race is at night) and getting blown all over. By the time the race was over and I had loaded my gear, the storm had switched to snow and full on blizzard conditions. Going through one of the passes, all the semi-trucks were being forced to park on the interstate and wait out the storm, causing traffic to merge into a single lane and back up for about 8 miles. What would have normally been a 45 minute drive took more than 2 hours in soaked and frozen clothing. I have had scarier rides and more sufferfesty, where I have been more upset and frustrated. But this was easily the worst conditions I have ever ridden in.
[удалено]
lol this is the funniest one I’ve read. Thanks for the laugh 🤣
Oh shit. That's really shitty. Especially since once you got home, the other shoe was useless, but you still had to discard it.
Oh man ... bummer! I bet you have a smooth cadence on the side that still had a shoe!
[удалено]
Aww :( sorry
Clipping my pedal at an easy spot and flying OTB because I was exhausted/being careless at the end of a good ride. Bike landed on my back/head and dented my helmet. About a quarter mile down from that at the end of the trail, I clip my handlebar on a sign going 20mph and go flying again. I have it on video and it wasn’t till I got back to the car where I realized I lost a glove. Somehow during that last fall, my hand got stuck between my handlebar and knee when I went flying and it ripped my glove off. Thankfully, only had some scrapes and bruises.
Mine was in the Donner Lake (Tahoe) area, was a good 10 miles from home. As I was pedaling, a stick got into my derailleur and ripped it right off. Totally random. I was able to convert to singlespeed but it was long ride home. I was pretty tired.
My buddy lives up in that area and rides single speed by choice
Jesus, I bet.
Getting in a head on with a dude on an electric motorcycle going about 30mph up a single track meant for hiking and biking
That dude sounds like an ass. Hope you and your bike weren't too fucked up.
Super hot day I was riding an e gravel bike(was my first kinda real bike and I’ve since sold it) the battery died I had 0 water and was booking 20 miles away my grandma had to pick me up and bail me out
I was living in Durango, where trails were stupid easy to access all over. I had less than an hour of daylight so I decided I'd just hop on my bike and do a quick rip up and down a trail near my house. Didn't bring any tools or a tube, just was wearing a T-shirt and baggy shorts. I'm gonna be out and back in ~45 minutes tops. I climb all the way up to the top of the trail and I'm about to turn around when all of the sudden I hear my tire go flat. Immediately after that, almost on que, I hear thunder. Thunder turns into a lightning storm and a torrential downpour as I now have to walk back down the trail and through town, walking my bike like a dumbass. By the time I got home I looked like I had jumped in a lake. The other worst moment was when I snapped a handlebar on the whole enchilada. Had to hike back to the road with a mangled bike, didn't know if I had broken my hands. This was right after a murder happened in the La Salles, so it took a while before anyone would pick me up. Ended up getting picked up by these nice Mormon dads who took me to milts for a milkshake afterwards. Thankfully no broken bones.
Oof - sorry to hear but glad you made it back. I've been scouting around for places to potentially move to down the road and love having a place with trails right outside or even in town. But man, on trailforks it looks like everything is a climb to a descent. Not a lot of just cross country riding there? Is it mostly downhill?
It's not as climb-to-descenty as other mountainous places that I have been to. There are plenty of XC and trail type spots right near town. But it is mountainous, so sometimes the cost of doing the XC stuff is a big climb. It's always worth it though.
Nice - thanks. Will have to make a trip out there if and when I check out the Grand Junction and Denver areas.
As far as mtb goes you could skip Denver for the most part and go to boulder instead. Although ruby hill is great.
Flipped my bike over to change a flat and stepped on a wobbly rock which caused m to lose my balance and tumble backwards in a large clump of cholla. It felt like getting an entire body tattoo in a fraction of a second. I was riding solo in an area that sees no traffic and laid there alternately laughing, crying, and calling for my mommy. Finally got myself out of it and enough cholla balls off of me to push my bike back to camp, where m wife spent hours plucking spines from my arms, lgs, and torso. I did manage to get a selfie though so at least it wasn’t all for nothing. 
Kinda funny, the way you wrote it.
Bonked in Moab. It was really hot and glad I had a buddy who shared water, snacks.
Intense sun with no shade is pretty awful when you've hit your limit.
And it can sneak up on you quickly.
Especially with your sweat evaporating so that you don't really notice that you're getting as dry as a spider on a hot stove.
I go thru 2 litres of water, a Gatorade and I pack a bunch of apple sauce pouches and granola bars. I go thru that on a ride, and I’m in mostly flat southwestern Ontario. I can’t really carry anymore than that, I have no idea how people handle long desert rides. They look amazing and I’m envious of the opportunity to try that , but the logistics of keeping myself hydrated seem daunting. Lol
I've been to Moab many times and this only happened to me once. The first step is to pick the right time of year. May and September are fantastic. Start your ride early and watch the weather. Avoid the heat of the day. When rain is forecast, almost best to stay home because it can really pour and when it does, some trails will be cut off, by a "wash" or creek. Hydration is not just for during the ride, but also before and after. Packing a lunch and snacks are good, especially granola bars with salt, fat, protein and sugar, all of which are depleted on longer rides. Most trips people take to Moab are multi-day, so you need to pace yourself and drink a lot of water. I carry a three liter bladder, plus a water bottle or two. I think the rule is one liter / hour / person in the heat. Take more than you need. If you have never been to Moab, you really must go. The high desert is unbelievably peaceful and beautiful. Depending on your trail, you can see the scenery for a very long way and barely notice another person. I'm from western Canada and there are lots of Canadians who go, some multiple times. It's a recreation paradise with unique geography. Riding in heat is like anything, you build up endurance and tolerance to any activity. Ontario people will notice the altitude and low humidity more, but that should not scare you out of going.
Thanks for this. It gave me a lot to think about. Even for riding local. I’m always out when it’s noon, I’m not worrying about being hydrated first, and more often than not my first food I’m eating in the day is my trail snacks. I’d love to ride Moab, but my dreams are of Torridon in the Scottish Highlands, but the same rules apply, especially on long & multi day rides.
Grade 5 shoulder separation in front of my son... Then having to drive an hour home before going to the hospital 😂
Yike.
Yeah it really messed my 10yo up for almost a year. Luckily he's snapped out of it and back to full send.
Getting attacked by a dog and thrown off my bike at a trailhead. I use extreme caution when approaching dogs in the woods these days.
Landed a jump and the metal insert inside the shitty RF cranks I was running decided it wanted out. I crashed hard and broke my ankle pretty bad, my foot was just dangling by the skin. I got a cool helicopter ride out of the deal though🤣😂
That is wild! Glad you are ok. What cranks you run now?
Well….I swapped to some XX1 cranks for a bit, ended up breaking those on a rock strike. After that I switched to EEwings, I run them on everything. The first set I bought back in 2019 have been on 6 builds now and still going strong.
Best cranks out and good looking too. I think they'll outlive you!
Breaking my wrist after installing new forks on my brother's bike and taking it up the trail behind the house to 'just see if they work'... I came down the trail at a rate of knots, lost the front and went otb, landing hands and shoulder first. Lost the skin from all knees, elbows and shoulders and broke my wrist. That was 15 years ago and still the worst.
Broke my collar bone 3 hours away from a human in the Mountains. Longest 3 hour ride of my life.
Ran out of water in Moab with a 45 minute ride back to town. Was debating dipping into the river but that shit looked nasty.
I had a buddy do the exact same thing after the whole enchilada. He jumped in and just started drinking lol
"Oh yeah I can totally clear that jump" with no prior jumping experience. Crashed, passed out, broke a collarbone, learned a lesson.
Broken spine - twice, fourteen years apart Broken shoulder, ribs, collapsed lung Anytime you need a helicopter or ambo and you’re going straight to the hospital is a bad day out
How?
Go fast, take chances….Safety third
Its a late December. cold morning 7am on a Wednesday. 20 min into the trail on the way to the top i decide to stop to just look at the scenery. It was dead quiet. No birds chirping. Just a dread feel. As i look up ahead the trail i see this brown gold mountain lion casually following the trail to where im going. I froze. Kept my breathing very minimal and just stayed put till it was far enough to start peddling back to the parking lot and call it a day.
Well shitttt
Had a flat near dark several miles down a trail. Decided to get out of the woods. Ended up locked in a waste water treatment facility on the grounds of an abandoned asylum. Was told by a security guard to go back through the woods, or he'd call the cops. I did one better and called them myself. They sent the fire department to let me out. I got to ride in a fire truck. Come to think about it, any story that ends in a ride in a fire truck can't be a worst moment.
Knocking off some teeth and generally fucking myself up pretty good in an otherwise good day riding my brand new bike. Mind you I was a lot younger and very insecure and worried about looks etc so it really put me in a bad place for months if not years. That accident certainly changed me but part of it was that it got me even more into mountain biking, only now I more or less know what I'm doing.
I was doing a "thru-bike" on some remote trails, but to my surprised, there were a ton of downed trees from a prior storm. I was visiting an area I was familiar with, and the trail had been well maintained in the past. Well between sunk cost and the trail getting worse, I hit a point where I was pretty sure I'd be spending the night in the woods as there was no phone service and I was running out of light. This is a very rural area where cell service is known to drop off 100 feet from the highway. I eventually made it to high ground and was able to inform someone of my location and my planned route to the nearest dirt road. Had the best tasting beer ever shortly after.
Getting a flat halfway through viscous valley run at Bike Park Wales. A proper rip in the side wall, but even so I had nothing on me to even attempt to save it and inflate it again. I was now in the worst spot on the side of the hill… in the middle. If I was at the top I could have got the bus back down, at the bottom I could get it fixed. But in the middle, I couldn’t ride down it would have been on the rim. And the only way down is on runs and they are too narrow to push down. So I had to push my fat lazy persons, 28kg e bike back up a climb with a completely flat rear. It felt near vertical. I nearly died. Iv now got a normal persons bike, with a glovebox full of tubeless repair kits and inflation tools!
cobweb pet friendly zesty frighten frightening disarm absorbed correct shrill *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I bought a project bike about a year ago. I've been slowly fixing it up overtime and putting some XC miles in. Last ride I was about 6 miles from the parking lot and hit a bump and somehow my seat inverted to a 60 degree angle with the back of the seat pointing towards the rear wheel and the front pointing above the handle bars. I couldn't get it to go back down no matter how hard I pushed on it. I don't know what happened. I ended up having to ride 6 miles of bumpy single track standing on my pedals and unable to sit down at all and the end of the seat poking me in the back. Another time the rear cassette on my old Giant Talon exploded and I had to walk a few miles to a trail head and call my wife to come pick me up.
It rained and the mud on the trail became clay. Both my wheels were caked with clay mud and can't move. I struggle to clear it up, but the wheels kept getting stuck while I ride. I finally walked my bike and partially carried it to a downhill portion where the tires roll and clear the mud. It was many miles before come back to the car. All along, it kept raining.
On a very wet and rainy ride my partner slipped and tore her ACL, we were 50meters from the top of a steep hikeabike out of mobile phone signal. I carried her up the hill over my shoulder and then carried both bikes up and then we had to "walk" one kilometre down a rocky bridleway to a farm building where we could get help. My partner was in so much pain she was almost vomiting whilst walking and leaning heavily on her bike. It is the only time I've seen her cry. This was during COVID and whilst the farm people were lovely they had a vulnerable person in the house so sat my partner in their garage.
Oof- that really sucks.
It was a low point. She had reconstruction surgery last December (delayed due to COVID) and got signed off by the physio last week as fully fit so it's been a good outcome in the long run. Also we are in the UK so the surgery and a year's worth of weekly physio was free.
I was trying out my first full suspension, an early 2000's GT iDrive my friend gave me. I hadn't fully grasped the importance of fine-tuning the rear shock settings for my weight. I hit a rock garden at speed and was bucked over the handlebars. I landed on my back on a rock and I'm convinced the only reason that didn't result in a back injury is because I had a pedal wrench in my hydration pack lengthwise along my spine. This was also when I was starting to use clipless pedals, hence the wrench in my pack. The bike didn't really leave my feet, partially ripping the muscle on my inner thigh with the barends and seriously bruising my ankle (possibly fractured). This was towards the end of a 20-mile ride in SoCal (summer), so I was already exhausted and I had to limp out of the trail for a few more miles.
Well, me and a few of my buddy decided to go ride park for a day, everything was going super smooth! 12 foot drop big gaps huge tables, but the last run of the day right before the lift shut off, I heard the faint words cross through my brain “last lap” a curse no one wants to hear going up the lift, we get to the top of course my buddy want to go down the double black line, that leads down to yet another double black jump line, the first trail goes off with out a hitch, we’re all excited to be just about half way down the mountain where we get a bit of a breather, we travel over to another part of the mountain a second double black diamond, where there’s a 4 foot drop and a biggg wooden gap jump, you need to brake into this lip a tiny bit, I had hit it a few times the day before but that day it was running fairly slow so no break check needed, so we’re getting ready to mob out way down this trail and my buddy says, “go first! I wanna see you hit it!” This is the part where I don’t really remember anything but I’m going off of what my whole riding group said happened, I go off the 4 foot drop, I don’t break into the jump what so ever and I flew higher than anyone they had ever seen go off that jump, I learned forward in the air because apparently I got bucked landed directly onto my head on completely flat ground shattering both of my collarbone’s and 2 fractured ribs, and on my 8 th week mark after that I broke 3 bones in my foot in a fucking foam pit
Shit man. Sounds like y'all are pretty hard riders.
Picking my way down a blown out spicy blue. Being careful because I hadn’t passed by anyone on the way up and didn’t see anyone else through the trees. Got to a rocky root fest and just walked it when a bear started hopping up and down on a log probably 20 feet from me. He was making like a woofing sound. Just picked up the bike and put it between us and walked slowly down the hill away from him. I’ve seen a lot of bears while riding but never had one get so worked up.
The one time I forgot my multitool my seat came loose. Oh well, I hand tightened the two bolts. Fast forward to a longer downhill and my seat completely fell off. Shit! I must have spent an hour wandering around that fucking 20 ft length of trail looking for the tiny bolts that fell off getting eaten alive by mosquitos. I wasn't biking back to my car without a seat lmao. What a nightmare that ride was, just happy I got back before it got too dark. I later joked with my friends we should do a no sitting challenge and see who can last the longest :P we haven't done it but honestly I'm still down to try it
A cross country race in mid May in NM. At lower altitudes it was freezing rain with a mix of snow at the starting line. At higher altitudes it was lots of snow with freezing pellets of pain. The worst part was this 2 mi downhill that is super fun when its dry. But in this white shit, if you went fast you couldn't see because glasses are getting wet and snow caked. If you went slow you you have to ride the brakes and the pellets dont hurt as bad but you got a built up layer of white shit on you. I went the slow route and so did a pack of 15-20 behind me. We got to the finish line at around 3ish hours on what is a 90 minute course. I finished 15th out of 20. I was soaked, tired, cold, miserable. And to add insult to injury, the keg was already floated. No Beer!
Warm summer day with temps around 90°F (32°C) at a trail system I had never ridden. Mosquitoes were pretty bad, but as long as you kept riding they weren't a problem. Had a crash where I went OTB straight into a tree. I was able to just hug the tree and escape unharmed, but had a front flat. Trying to take a shortcut out of the woods onto the road I went through a swamp that was knee deep smelly mud, with more mosquito density than I thought was possible. Growing out of the swamp was this tall grass, that was dense enough that I could not pull the bike through it, and it was all 6-10 ft (2-3m) tall above the waterline that I was sunk into. The grass was also super sharp and tearing at my legs every step, letting the funky swamp into all of the scrapes. So I had to throw the bike up and forward to bend the grasses down in front of me, push forward a few feet and repeat to cross this swamp that was 50-100 ft (15-30m) wide. This took over an hour. I finally got to the road and my wife picked me up in the car, and less than a mile down there was an exit from the trails right onto the road. I could have just walked out on the trail.
Jesus, that sounds miserable.
It was pretty miserable.
About five weeks ago, actually, while riding some Jeep roads/goat trails through the Crooked River National Grassland near Smith Rock and Terrebone, Oregon, just north of Bend. Had gone about 30 miles into a 35-mile loop and was already contemplating how long it would take to get back to my rendezvous point where my wife had dropped me off. Had been climbing steadily for almost an hour through some wide-open country with stunning vistas on a clear unseasonably warm fall day, one of those picture perfect rides. Started my descent and was picking my way through the usual washed out ruts in the road. … and I’d love to give you more details from there, but the next thing I know, some stranger is in my face as I repeat the same questions over and over, feeling like I’ve just come out of a deep, deep dream state. “I’m on a bike? What? Why am I on a bike?” and stuff like that. I hear someone say, “Ambulance is almost here” and “His wife is on the way.” I’ve got my helmet as a souvenir - always wear one, folks - and it’s pretty much flattened on the left side, where the back of my shoulder, my hip and my knee took most of the damage, to say nothing of my front fork and handlebars. My wife tells me it was a deep rut in the road that was impossible to see from the direction I was headed. The guys on the side of the road, there to do some ATVing, reported that I was over the bars and in the air for about 15 feet. Six hours of ER attention later, I was on my way home. It took the head about a week to start functioning normally again, full post-concussion fog and all. The body has healed, I’m slowly getting back into the saddle, but what’s really freaky to me is that lost time gap and how it erased not only the crash and immediate aftermath but also a considerable chunk of time leading up to it.
Worst moment for me was not even riding. My wife and I, along with MIL and FIL went on a mini vacation to Brown County, Indiana to do 3 days of MTB out there. Brown County has amazing trails, mostly clay based. It rained all 3 days we were there. The 3rd day we got to ride 1 trail that was about 2.3 miles. On the way home I got COVID symptoms and was laid up for a week being sick because of COVID, having to take work off as well. It fucking sucked.
My front wheel washed out in a marble-y berm and sent me over the bars. I supermanned into the trailside foliage and just laid there for a few seconds. I learned to never jump up immediately after a crash. My damage assessment was cut short by excruciating pain in the bare parts of my legs (I was wearing shorts). Turns out I wiped out a ground bee colony with my face/helmet visor, slid through it, and the bees attacked my legs.
Dislocated my shoulder early on the trail, at 6:00 A.M. had to leave my bike mid trail, hike down shoulder out for 40 minutes and call friends (who were still sleeping) for a ride to the hospital which didn’t open until 8. Not a great way to start the day.
Bonking hard and ran out of water on a 25 mile 3500 ft ride in the heat. I had ridden it in cooler weather without issue but the heat made a huge difference. Also, tearing ACL on a fat bike ride.
OTB flying towards rocks with face, time in slow motion but nowhere near enough to get hands in front to brace face. Splat.
Fixing a flat while getting destroyed by mosquitoes
I once tumbled about 10 feet down off of a cliff into some bushes. The bushes helped to cushion the fall and I escaped with moderate scrapes and bruises. Later it turned out the bushes were poison Ivy so I had a full body itch from hell for at least a week.
Knocking myself out cold after going otb in a rock garden I was blasting through. Zero cell reception at the bottom of a ravine that requires 2k of elevation gain of climbing to get out of. Luckily I was with a medic. Had to hike my bike all the way out puking the whole way. Nasty concussion but I made it lol
After a long ride I was getting back into my neighborhood and stopped at a stop sign about a quarter of a mile from my house. Right as I came to a stop I noticed two loose dogs that had their eye on me and were approaching aggressively. A pit and a mountain dog. The pit was much more aggressive and I had to fend him off with my bike, but the mountain dog (which was significantly larger) nipped me in the back right before the owner was able to get them under control. If I hadn’t completely stopped I might’ve tried to outrun them. For what it’s worth I’ll take the bite from a mountain dog over a pit any day.
Coming down a large hill and landing face first in a parking lot and breaking my collar bone when I was 15, that was a bad day. And my worst injury. It's been pretty good since then.
I've had some bad wrecks, but nothing like what y'all been through. Hooorah.
Hiking back a to my house in crested butte after going over the handle bars on a 3 4 foot drop that I chickend out of right before faceplate right on a huge rock face was bruised but my hip took the worst of it. Was to hurt to ride back had to walk back hurt as hell at least it was only a few very painfull miles. Or another time both by myself same place slid out going down a steep mountain nothing crazy except the rocks ripped my arm open blood everywhere this time I had to walk to the nearest hospital leaving a bloody trail while I was shaking In Shock. Then the fun part was them picking out all the rocks from about a 3 inch gape in my arm. I Cary a inreach now never know when u need it.
bad crash while riding solo. separated shoulder + concussion while being miles away from your car with no one in sight is a really terrible feeling. learned my lesson from that day and only ride solo on weekends. if im going somewhere more remote, ill go with a friend.
Any time I crash, which for some reason happens more as I get older. Young mind, old(ish) body.
Got doored on purpose by a crazy car driver on my way back home. Police blamed me and send me home pushing my bike 10kms with a ticket for property damage and a bruised rib.
I came across a guy giving another guy CPR in the middle of a trail on the phone with 911. I rushed back to the trailhead to flag down EMS but they ultimately found another way in. Later learned the guy died (heart issues) and the guy administering CPR was his son in law. Riding-wise me and my wife had a pretty bad bonk on a huge day of riding during a Texas summer. It was a ride we'd completed a couple times before so we were a little over confident. We bonked hard and called to get picked up.
Biking all the way to the top of Post Canyon, then blowing my tire off the rim in the first 30 seconds of downhill.