Top Crashes

Or at least some of the crashes that make for good stories. The first crash story will set the record straight. Mark Widmer is fond of telling everyone he takes up to American Fork Canyon about a spot he likes to refer to as "Fish Landing." Jared, Steph, Mark and I were riding down Tibble. Racer may have been there as well. In one particular spot about halfway down there used to be a good log drop that made for a great jump. It's gone now, but Mark's story still remains. As Mark tells it, he, Jared, and I came onto the drop but didn't take advantage of it the first time. So, we turned our bikes around, climbed back up, and gave it a second try. Mark went before me and after he landed he looked back just in time to see my front wheel stick. The result was that I pivoted relative to the ground such that my body was nearly plumb with the ground as impacted. My helmet now acted as a pivot point and as my body rotated so did the bike. My feet were still clipped so that as I pivoted, I came to a position mirroring "rubber-side down," with my head being in contact with the ground and my tires in the air. As I continued over, my pedals disengaged in time for the momentum to throw the bike several feet air. I completed the somersault, ending up on my back while sliding. Moments later my beautiful asparagus green Ibis Mojo hit a tree several feet away and several feet in the air. Before I could sit up, Mark was there holding my head and neck. He was positive I'd broken my neck and was immobilizing it to prevent any further damage. After several minutes he let me up and we continued down the hill. Besides a broken helmet, I was fine. No concussion, not even any real soreness to speak of. Most of what Mark tells is true. But he omits one crucial part. The largest factor in me crashing was that he went off the jump awkwardly and landed awkwardly. In his attempt to correct it, Mark blocked the best jumping and landing lines, forcing me into a doubly awkard position in landing in deep loamy dirt, which resulted in the crash. But, I guess Spot-Where-I-Got-Sideways-and-Made-Fish-Crash-Spectacularly doesn't have quite the same ring as "Fish Landing."