I don't care how good of a rider you are or how long you've been riding the dunes, sometimes **** happens. I've seen the wind blow so hard at florence 300yrds or dunes looks totally flat when in reality there are two 8ft windsheers and a 6ft witches eye there. The best of riders can get sandblind and not be able to distinguish terrain variations.

I hope your wife has a quick recovery and you guys get back to enjoying the dunes ASAP [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

The bottom line is that we also kill/MAIM several people per year here at lil 'ol Silver Lake sand dunes.........and I am very sorry to report that the majority of these people are not new or "inexperienced" riders. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

 

BlackBalled you are right. It is more often than not the more experienced riders that get hurt as they do things that most riders wouldnt. They are more adventurous and often like to go higher and push thier limits.
At the same time the dunes is no place for inexperience.

 

Glad the wife is OK.

I have very little experience w/dunes. My 1st time to Florence was an eye opener. I really only felt safe chugging along in 1st, or riding in an established loop or hill.

 

i have had the same situation happen to my girlfriend and myself.i was leading on a windy day and was in 1st gear going on a normally traveled sand road.it was hard for me to see and being the first in the group to experience what was ahead i wanted to be safe.i was going barely fast enough to keep from getting stuck and was periodicaaly checking on her behind me.she was getting stuck by going too slow and still managed to crash and have the bike fall on her.i felt i was leading as safe as i could ,keeping a safe pace and a safe path while checking on her as much as possible.i had mixed feelings about the dramtic experience.i wondered if there was something else i could have done to help her.then on the otherside i felt there was only so much i could do without doing the riding for her.all said and done through the experience is that i'm glad we had her fully outfitted with gear.now she has gotten past her crash and loves to ride again and i am proud of her for that.
i do feel it is a combination of responsibility between the leader and followers.leaders have their roles and followers have theirs.each are limited on what they can do.so you have to wear your gear and hope your accident doesnt over power your gear.

 

Saturday morning at St Anthony, there came the chopper, lifted one out. Don't know how bad, but not an uncommon occurence. From the years I've been duning, it seems the injuries are half from no-helmet, drinking knuckleheads, and half from real riders going just a bit too big or fast, and separating a shoulder or busting a collarbone.

Anthony dunes as many of you know are heavy with razorbacks, and once you realize this you can ride safely. I pound it into my kids, and they now are smart riders and do well in that environment. But that's taken a few a$$ chewings to get there.