# Nassahegan, Burlington, CT - 7/20/08



## Greg (Jul 20, 2008)

It was me, Brian, Tim and his two friends (Chris and Chris) on this ride. It started out great - leaving the lot a bit before 8 am. We hit the Scoville twisities and then headed down into Session Woods. Crossed E. Chippens and then hit "B" street. MR. evil took a nice OTB taking the impact with his wrist and shoulder on a tree. Shook it off quickly.

We then headed around the southern end of Sessions and started to head back. About 3/4 of the way into this stretch, Chris and Chris took the lead. The first Chris cleared a techy rock drop that I normally walk down. Chris #2 hesitated a bit and OTB'd taking the impact to his arm and chest onto a rock. He yelled out and was visibly in a lot of pain. We all thought broken ribs as he was having trouble breathing. The other Chris and I rode out to the lot to get their car as the others walked out and we met them on E. Chippens. They split to hit a hospital in Mass closer to their home. Keep us posted on how he's doing, Tim.

Well, that was a major bummer. Brian and I decided to finish out the ride taking the northern loop up the ridge, across Cornwall and then 69 and paralleled 69 back.

A great ride, but the injury sucked.  I'll upload a track later.


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## MR. evil (Jul 20, 2008)

Still not update on Red's condition (Chris #2). His wife met us at her parents house who just happen to live down the street from my house. She took him to the Hospital from there. he was felling a little better on the drive back, the advil was starting to kick in. I doubt he broke and ribs, but he may have cracked some or tore some cartilage. My wrist and ankle are bugging me a bit and I have a good size scape / bruise on my shoulder / chest from were that tree was kind enough to stop me. That was a big tree!


Up until the crash Chris and Red were loving the ride. They are both up for a re-do once Red is all healed up.


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## Greg (Jul 20, 2008)

MR. evil said:


> Up until the crash Chris and Red were loving the ride. They are both up for a re-do once Red is all healed up.



Good! Adding the northern loop put us at 9.6 miles and while it was challenging today given the heat/humidity, but it is an epic route. I just wish that accident didn't happen so you guys could have finished out the ride with us. Any time you want to re-do, let me know. Here's the track on Crankfire:

http://www.crankfire.com/trails/data.php?dataid=432


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## bvibert (Jul 20, 2008)

*Nassahegan, Burlington CT - 7/20/08*

Good ride, but a little bitter sweet with a possible broken rib in the beginning part of the ride.

Pulled into a practically empty Lamson's corner right at 7:30am to see Greg already all suited up and ready to rock and roll.  I got a VM from Tim while I was getting ready stating that him and his two buddies would be a few minutes late.  After they got there and got ready we rolled out of the parking lot a bit before 8 I guess.  Started on the typical warm-up lap of the twisties just north of Scoville  Greg set a fast pace through there that had me pushing to keep up.  We then crossed Scoville to hit up the stuff on the south side towards Sessions.  I let the whole group ahead of me at that point and they pulled pretty far ahead.  I was struggling, wondering if I'd be able to finish up the ride, particularly if the pace kept up.  We crossed E. Chippens and hit up B street, which was fun, but I spent most of the time just trying to keep up.  We then when right and started looping back north on one of the blue trails.  Either the pace slowed at this point or I was finally starting to find my groove as I was having a much easier time keeping up.  Unfortunately that wouldn't last, probably half way back to E. Chippens one of Tim's buddies, Red, crashed hard on a technical rock face.  I didn't see it happen, but I could tell from the yell accompanying the fall that it wasn't going to be good.  By the time I rolled up he had gotten to his feet, but was obviously in pain.  Greg and Tim's other buddy rode back to get the car while we walked Red out to the road.  He was definitely hurtnig, but kept wanting to ride his bike on the easier sections anyway.  We got to the road and starting riding towards where they would be coming with the car, before long we met up and they loaded up for the trek back to MA to hit an area hospital.

At that point Greg and I headed back to the cars to take a little break before heading out for the long section of the ride.  We both ate a little something and got some more fluids in before heading back out for the basic lamson loop.  I felt like I rode pretty good through most of that loop, aside from being pretty damn tired before too long.  I cleared a lot of sections that previously gave me trouble, including to two more substantial downhill sections.  We ended up completing this loop in around 1:40 which I think is a pretty good pace.

It was very humid today and pretty damn hot too.  Greg and I were both dragging by the end of the ride.  I don't think I would have wanted to go much further.

I hope the Red is ok and I hope the injury doesn't give him a tainted memory of Nass. 

EDIT: Doh, guess I took too long to type this out since Greg beat me to it.  Merging with Greg's thread.


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## Greg (Jul 20, 2008)

bvibert said:


> At that point Greg and I headed back to the cars to take a little break before heading out for the long section of the ride.  We both ate a little something and got some more fluids in before heading back out for the basic lamson loop.  I felt like I rode pretty good through most of that loop, aside from being pretty damn tired before too long.  I cleared a lot of sections that previously gave me trouble, including to two more substantial downhill sections.  We ended up completing this loop in around 1:40 which I think is a pretty good pace.
> 
> It was very humid today and pretty damn hot too.  Greg and I were both dragging by the end of the ride.  I don't think I would have wanted to go much further.
> 
> I hope the Red is ok and I hope the injury doesn't give him a tainted memory of Nass.



I was bonking out minutes into the cemetery twisties so I'm glad you lead that part cuz I would have slowed you up. I got a second wind right before the climb and basically made the whole climb in one pass, stepping out from pure exhaustion right before the top. I don't consider that clearing it so I have a goal for next time. I rode slow and steady through there which helped.

Nice job on the downhills, Brian! Especially the last techy one which you cleared, got over the bridge *and *up the rock on the other side! Sweet. I flailed the last few miles of the ride, and was spent on the last stretch, but it sure felt good to ride that whole thing. That route is a keeper!



bvibert said:


> EDIT: Doh, guess I took too long to type this out since Greg beat me to it.  Merging with Greg's thread.



What? Are your fingers tired too? I am exhausted, but it feels good.


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## o3jeff (Jul 20, 2008)

Hopefully it is nothing serious. That is my worst fear out there is getting hurt, probably a good thing I wasn't there this morning. Still looks like you got some good riding in.


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## MR. evil (Jul 20, 2008)

I just stopped by Red's inlaw who live down the road on the way home from going out to lunch with Randi. Apparently Red broke 3 ribs and might have also bruised his lung. There was some fluid around his lung and they are keeping him over night for observation. There is a concearn that his lung could colapse if not monitored. 

Red is now officailly one of the toughest SOB's that I know. 3 broken ribs and he was able to hike out of there, and wouldn't let me or Brian Carry his bike for him. If I hear anything else I will let you guys know


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## Greg (Jul 20, 2008)

MR. evil said:


> I just stopped by Red's inlaw who live down the road on the way home from going out to lunch with Randi. Apparently Red broke 3 ribs and might have also bruised his lung. There was some fluid around his lung and they are keeping him over night for observation. There is a concearn that his lung could colapse if not monitored.
> 
> Red is now officailly one of the toughest SOB's that I know. 3 broken ribs and he was able to hike out of there, and wouldn't let me or Brian Carry his bike for him. If I hear anything else I will let you guys know



Oh, man. That's terrible. It doesn't surprise me though. I think I was the only one that saw that impact and it did not look good. Tell him we are thinking about him.


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## MR. evil (Jul 20, 2008)

Greg said:


> Oh, man. That's terrible. It doesn't surprise me though. I think I was the only one that saw that impact and it did not look good. Tell him we are thinking about him.




No, Chris and I both saw it as well. It didn;t look good at all, but I thought he broke his arm or something. A broken rib is usually pretty debilitating. The way he got right up and was able to hike out made me think it was something else. He will probably be out of work this week and off a bike for several weeks.

I just want to point out that Chris and Red are REALLY good riders, and this chute that Red got hurt on was a seriously technical DH. Rocky doesn't do it justice, more like ledge covered in small boulders with a few 18" drops thrown in for good measure. He made it down almost the whole way, but didn't have enough speed to make the last drop and endo'd.


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## bvibert (Jul 20, 2008)

Wow!  I can't believe he broke 3 ribs.  I never would have guessed it was that bad with how easily (relatively) he was able to walk out and then ride his bike down the dirt road.


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## bvibert (Jul 20, 2008)

Greg said:


> I was bonking out minutes into the cemetery twisties so I'm glad you lead that part cuz I would have slowed you up. I got a second wind right before the climb and basically made the whole climb in one pass, stepping out from pure exhaustion right before the top. I don't consider that clearing it so I have a goal for next time. I rode slow and steady through there which helped.
> 
> Nice job on the downhills, Brian! Especially the last techy one which you cleared, got over the bridge *and *up the rock on the other side! Sweet. I flailed the last few miles of the ride, and was spent on the last stretch, but it sure felt good to ride that whole thing. That route is a keeper!
> 
> ...



Thanks for the kudos, you cleared some good climbs yourself.

My whole body is pretty tired, but my fingers aren't especially bad.  I'm sure, as you can imagine, that with 2 kids running around it took me a little longer than it should to write my TR.


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## powhunter (Jul 20, 2008)

Tim good thoughts for your friend!!  Hope he heals quickly and without much pain!!!

steve


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## Greg (Jul 20, 2008)

o3jeff said:


> That is my worst fear out there is getting hurt, probably a good thing I wasn't there this morning. Still looks like you got some good riding in.



It shook me a little bit. I was worried whether I would ride more conservative after seeing that. I didn't. Not that I'm that aggressive anyway, but injury is a real risk you need to accept on the MTB, I guess. I did try that little loop at the highest point we hit on the ridge and I almost OTB'd coming down. Brian was sure I was going to.

We did get a lot of good riding in, not just some. On a day like today that whole ride is pretty tough though. I definitely feel it this evening. The bed will feel good tonight.


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## MR. evil (Jul 20, 2008)

powhunter said:


> Tim good thoughts for your friend!!  Hope he heals quickly and without much pain!!!
> 
> steve




Thanks Steve. I am sure he is feeling no pain tonight.


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## Greg (Jul 20, 2008)

MR. evil said:


> Thanks Steve. I am sure he is feeling no pain tonight.



Yeah. I'm sure the endorphins and adrenaline was what got him out of the woods this morning, and the drugs I'm sure he's taking tonight will hopefully mask it. Tomorrow is going to be rough for him. Poor guy. He seemed real chill.

I should also mention that your other friend Chris stayed very calm, but didn't hesitate determining the action we had to take. I think everyone handled that situation pretty well actually.


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## bvibert (Jul 20, 2008)

Greg said:


> I think everyone handled that situation pretty well actually.



I had the same thoughts as well.  Everyone seemed to do what they needed to do and got the situation taken care of.


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## MR. evil (Jul 20, 2008)

Greg said:


> Yeah. I'm sure the endorphins and adrenaline was what got him out of the woods this morning, and the drugs I'm sure he's taking tonight will hopefully mask it. Tomorrow is going to be rough for him. Poor guy. He seemed real chill.
> 
> I should also mention that your other friend Chris stayed very calm, but didn't hesitate determining the action we had to take. I think everyone handled that situation pretty well actually.



The next week will be pretty rough for Red, I hope they give him some good drugs to take home. So keep in mind the guy just wrecked hard, broke 3 ribs& hiked out of the woods with his bike. The entire way back to MA the one thing that he was really worried about was a nurse cleaning that wound on his elbow. Becuase in his own words "that really hurts". 

Chris has been riding for a long time and has been in similar situations before with friends hurt on the trail. But all in all we handled everything really well.


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