Sun. Morning 11am. Its a beautiful 73F day in Central Texas. My two kids Jenn and Josh are with me
as we pull up to the trailhead. As I'm getting my daughters bike ready Josh quickly readies his and
starts warming up. I notice out of the corner of my eye as he starts jumping a small hump close by
and riding up and down some steep stuff. I think he was showing off in front of his sister. I told
him on the way down to watch his descents and speed and not get to crazy. We start off down the road
since I wanted my daughter (14yrs.) to get used to shifting and braking since she hasn't been on a
bike for a while. I planned a fairly easy route with a couple of camel humps on it. Josh is mashing
up front and Jenn is behind me. We get on the trail and not far ahead is the first jump. This can be
easily traversed if you take it slow. It starts off mostly level with a slight hump then drops
gradually about 5 foot. You can get big air if you hit it fast. With Josh in front I crest the
camel's hump and see him there laying on the ground making this repetitive hideous noise. I tell him
to get up and quite messing around thinking he was trying to psyc. out his sister. Further
inspection revealed blood coming out his ear and eyes rolled behind his lids. My heart sank and the
adrenalin kicked in. I quickly dismounted and started talking to him. He was incoherent. Jenn seeing
everything starts to throw up off to the side. His eyes came back to normal and he started to move.
He still didn't know where he was. He started asking what happened. After further inspection I see
the blood in his ear is only from scratches. He said he couldn't see. I tried to get him to remain
calm asking where else it hurt. He said his neck and back. I could only see scrapes and dirt but no
ugly bumps or dislocations. Getting him to be still would prove impossible as he got up and tried to
walk. His biggest complaint was that it was hard to breath. I asked again where his worst pain was
and he said his ear. A local stopped to assist and I road about
1/4 mi. to get the truck and I prayed on the way. He was talking more when I got back and said he
wanted to walk in. We started to the truck and he got short of breath again so we put him on the
bike and pushed him in. I didn't like moving him but he seemed to be coming around a lot better.
We went to the ER and took x-rays of the neck and back just to be sure. The doc said no
concussion or spinal problems, no broken bones. He got the wind knocked out of him pretty good
and landed sideways on his head and shoulder. I'll imagine he will be pretty sore for the next
few days. I've never been fond of getting air on jumps or humps. One of our local racers just got
a Grade 3 separation for exactly the same reason. I need to explain XC riding a little better to
my son who must have been hearing "Extreem Mtb." I think he was showing off for his sister but
shhh don't tell her.
I think his sister might be traumatized for life on her return to Mtbing. Lets hope not.
Cleanbean and Jumpingbean and Jennbean