Monday, October 30

Guardian Angels

Sorry Dave. Stole your title because it got me thinking...

This was supposed to be the gear review but it's not. That is coming but probably not until tonight for 2 reasons. One - I wanted to give initial reviews of all my new crap and two, I wanted to give some long term reviews of previous gear. That ended up being more time intensive than I first planned. Oh and DaveH went down hard. That makes three reasons. Shut up, I know I said two. I lied.

While at the pretty sweet sounding 50/50 race in Grand Junction, DaveH went down at about 25mph on a rocky descent. He ended up breaking his collarbone in about 6 places among other injuries. He's going to be okay thankfully but it's a good reminder to us all. This sport is dangerous and sometimes you are really "out there" when you stack. We've all had those almost crash moments where your heart is through your chest and we've all had those big crashes that we were lucky to walk away from with only a few new scratches on man and machine. Do you carry a first aid kit with you when you're out solo or with a few friends? Do you know what first aid to perform on a fellow rider or when the best course of action is a hospital NOW? I've been with more than a couple friends who crashed hard over the years and have done so myself as well. The more out there I get in these endurance events the more discriminating look I've been taking at everything from my first aid kit to my downhilling risks.

So go ride and keep focused on the task at hand but when you're taking some time off or when the weather makes you choose the trainer, spend some time thinking about the "what if's" and how you will be prepared to handle them. Your loved ones will thank you. Didn't mean to come off preachy, just got me thinking about how to stay safer out there. Heal up soon Dave. Next season will be waiting when you're better.

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