There has been some talk around our house about a ride this summer called the (WABDR) Washington Backcountry Discovery Route http://www.wabdr.com/ . The ride is 600 miles of dirt from Stevenson, Wa to the Canadian boarder north of Omak. We have even been to 2 classes on the ride but we're not sure if we had the skills to do it.
I guess the only way to get ready for a ride this is to practice. The plan was to go to Belfair, wa and ride a 4x4 loop for jeeps. http://www.nwjeepn.com/Maps/Tahuya.pdf . This ride was wide and rough, full of water, rocks and hills. We discovered right away it was going to be a great place to improve our skills.
The ride takes you to a remote location near the south tip of the hood canal, way back in the woods. We talk while we ride with helmet intercoms and decided to make our way out of this track and onto some flat terrain. On our way down a hill I heard her hit the ground pretty hard. I was in front and didn't see it happen. I stopped and ran up to her and found her pinned under the bike with the bike resting on her right leg and foot. After getting her gear off we started to slide her out from under the bike and get a look at the damage. She said it felt like her big toe had been torn off?!? and her ankle/leg felt messed up too. She was in a lot of pain.
My riding coat has armor in it to keep me safe in the event of a crash and this armor is somewhat rigged but bends to your body when it's warm. We decided to ride out but we were about a mile back in the woods in some really steep terrain. I took my jacket and made a splint around her foot and held it in place with a bungy cord so it wouldn't flop around while we rode.
Once the foot was secure we got her up and onto the bike. I rode her on the back of my bike to the main road then about 4 miles towards the closest town. NO cell coverage where we were. We came across a county worker along the roadside and asked him for directions to the nearest ER. 15 miles away! That wasn't an option for us on the bike so we decided to unload her on the roadside and the county worker called for an ambulance on his radio.
10 minutes they arrived and loaded her in the big red box. They were not medics so they had to stop in town to get another guy to give her an IV and pain meds. They were unable to get her boot off and she was really in a lot of pain. I could see the fear in their eyes, lol. There was no way she was gonna let them touch her leg.
I met a nice Police man there and he really wanted to give me a ticket for something until I told him she crashed off road. He changed his toon pretty fast and offered me a ride back to the woods to recover her bike. He and I went to the bike while Wendy and her new fireman friends went to Bremerton for some Hospital action.
Her bike safe in the QFC parkinglot in Belfair I made my way to Harrison Medical center to see how things were going with the foot. She was in a room and the boot was still on. She had the whole place scared to touch her. I think they were in some back room doing "rock - paper - scissors" to see who was gonna do it. Finally they cut it off and WOW that didn't look good.
Her big toe was dislocated to the outside and top. Nasty! After the x-ray it also looked like a couple small breaks including her #2 toe.
7 hours later! They decided to shoot her foot full of drugs and "attempt" to put the toe back in place. 2 doctors on the foot and I was holding down the rest of her. What a trooper! That was a nasty event to be awake for but after 5 minutes they had it back in place. I almost blew chow myself and it wasn't even my foot. Sorry baby.
1st thing she asked me at the Hospital..."is my bike ok"? How can you not be in love with a girl like that?
We are home now and the bikes are in the garage. I will take her to a Orthopedic Dr. today and they will take a look at things and decide if more work needs to be done.
Damage
- Dislocated BIG Toe
- #2 toe broken
- chunk of bone floating
- Broken windshield
- broken brake lever
- Broken brush guard
- 1 pair boots toast
- 1 pair of socks finished
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