February 24, 2002
My most recent adventure:
Friday night I revalved my front forks with a valve kit from Moto-Pro. My 2001 KTM 300 was giving me some shock through the front forks. I was having a lot of trouble through sand washes with square edged bumps. The front end was transferring a jolt to my forearms and causing early arm pump. Buying the Moto-Pro Ultramax valve kit like this was very inexpensive and easy to install. All I had to do was install the recommended shim stacks and reassemble the front forks.
Other maintenance I performed was on Wednesday and Friday evenings. This included change out front and rear tires, change air filter, easy out broken sub frame bolt, reset rear shock sag, replace front brake pads, repack wheel bearings and replace goggle lens. I was doing all this work in preparation for the first desert race of the year, the Oreana 100.
Well you cannot revalve your front forks and just go to a race thinking all is well. I decided to test these new settings out at Pleasant Valley or Unpleasant Valley depending upon your outlook on things. In this area, many riders, have been injured and at least one was killed. Why is Pleasant Valley so dangerous? I know why.
1. The area is void of Vegetation and terrain looks the same with no real possibility of depth perception.
2. Riders are going in all different directions at all times.
3. There are many badger holes, ditches, rocks and berms placed in weird places. It is just like riding through a minefield.
My story: I arrived at Pleasant Valley and got ready to ride. As soon as my bike warmed up, I headed out looking for bumps to ride. I warmed up on a motocross track for about ten minutes and then started the serious hunt for the nastiest bumps at Pleasant Valley. I found the bumps and a few g-outs with no trouble and was very pleased with the performance of my front forks. Matter of fact, I do not think I have ever ridden with front suspension that worked this well before in my life. I was amazed at how well the front end worked over all the terrain I could find.
Now my rear suspension felt bad so I came in and made some adjustments to correct it and headed back out. I got a small motocross track and began racing against a guy named Don Wright. We stopped and chatted for a minute. I got an idea to go ride another track and told him to follow me there and he was interested in doing so. Off we went. I was leading and then I saw some bumps dead ahead and gassed it for more bump testing of the suspension. I was thinking wow I finally got things working great and then I saw it. A one and one half foot tall berm dead ahead and I was doing fifty miles per hour at the steepest side. I thought of two choices brake really hard and deflect off at the last second or brake really hard and gun the throttle in the hopes of topping this man made cliff. I choose the first option and slammed into the lowest point possible but was still going too fast. I went over the handlebars, impacted with the ground and then remember fighting for air. Next, I remember standing around talking to Don Wright. He was saying, "Do you realize you crashed"? I said yeah I know and it hurts badly. I began asking him many questions like why were going over here, where is my truck, what time is it and how long have I been like this. He said I was out for one and a half minutes, it had been ten minutes since I crashed and that I had asked him at least one question five times. He rode back with me and helped me load my bike.
Now it was time to go home. Before driving home, I gave myself the dilated pupil test with my Maglite. I passed the test and headed on home. I began calling all my friends and telling them no I will not need a ride to the race tomorrow and arranged to have my friend Gary Roberts meet me at home and unload my truck. I then worked up the courage to call my wife and tell her of my demise. When I got home, Gary helped get my boots off which would not have been possible without him.
Now it was time face my wife. I went in the house and she began taking my clothes off. She took one look at my neck and freaked out. There was a large amount of swelling below my Adams apple and this had me worried. She shouted, "You are going to the hospital"! I started feeling light headed and laid down for a while where I stayed until a baby sitter showed up to watch our daughter.
I was the second of three motorcycle riders to the emergency room at Saint Luke’s downtown that evening. The injuries were of the following; 1st was a head injury, 2nd (me) was with a possible Cervical spine fracture and 3rd was a young rider still wearing his gear and holding on to a broken collar bone.
We were all able to relax after six hours and a dozen x-rays, which included one return trip to radiology for more angles. The final diagnosis was Cervical Spine Strain or whiplash. It will take time but I will get better. Thank God, it was not worse because it could have been much worse. The final tally is bruising about the neck and chest, swelling around the front area of the neck, soreness in the shoulders, stunned teeth, a large bruise on my right hip, a bump on my left forearm and my right knee is swollen and slightly sprained.
Currently I am following doctor’s orders and taking Vicodin with an Ibuprofen supplement.
I am never going riding at Pleasant Valley again. My golden rule is to never crash and this might help me reach this goal if I avoid crappy places to ride.
As of 2010, I have not been back.
The end:
