Death due to internal bleeding

That is a shame. I feel for his friends and family. Riding is a dangerous sport, but really alot safer than other things, like snowboarding for instance. I can think of 3 people who died of traumatic DH injuries in my 10 years of riding and following the sport, Earthquake Jake, the fellow on Crabapple, and now this man. By comparison, 3 people died at Mt. Baker last year alone. Life is full of risks, and often it seems the most exhilarating, beautiful, and rewarding experiences carry a serious potential for injury and death. I'm not about to take up stamp collecting.

That said, I really want to ride France now. Les 2 Alpes sounds awesome. Crabapple hits are the reason I rock a 42t.

RIP

by comparison, 762 people died in cyclist/car accidents in the US during 2003.

I'll take my chances on the trails.

That said, I really want to ride France now. Les 2 Alpes sounds awesome. Crabapple hits are the reason I rock a 42t.

Hmm "Les 2 Alpes" is a funny place to ride but only for 1 or 2 days. The trails are almost the same. Fast, berm, no jumps (or just a few), no technical trails but the worst thing is braking bumps. If you ride Les 2 Alpes in july or August you have braking bumps everywhere. And it's reals braking bumps, not like the tiny braking bumps in Whistler. the trails are not maintened (or very rarely) during the riding season so I let you imagine.
For example the best trail in "Les 2 Alpes" is called the Venosc Trail. It's a 700m vertical trail in only 3 Kms. It's like straight with braking bumps, Berm, straight, berm etc etc… And the berm are all the same. When you know how to ride 1 or 2 berm, you know how to ride all the Berms of this trail.
If you want, you ca check my website at tis address to see some photos of "Les 2 Alpes resort": http://vttfreeride.blog-dracenie.org/images/2006/Freeraid/Page.html

Anyway, if you ride one day in this area, try to go in the next door resort "L'Alpe d'Huez" (only 45min drive from Les 2 Alpes). It's less artificial but the trails are awesome and you start your ride on a Glacier at 3300m high and finish at 700m high after a 22Kms downhill. I know that the guys from the WTB Santa Cruz were in L'Alpe d'Huez last summer and they like so much the riding.
Anyway if you xant to ride in france, tell me, I know very well this 2 resorts (and the South of France of course).

I can think of 3 people who died of traumatic DH injuries in my 10 years of riding and following the sport, Earthquake Jake, the fellow on Crabapple, and now this man.

Crabapple hits are the reason I rock a 42t.

there was another female DH racer that died last year. Big Bear or Mammoth? Somewhere down there. But yeah, nothing compared to Avy danger.

If you got the skills, give'r. Some people are just solid enough riders that they can minimize the risks through coordinated ejections. Not me, I think I tense up too much when things go awry

there was another female DH racer that died last year. Big Bear or Mammoth? Somewhere down there. But yeah, nothing compared to Avy danger.

If you got the skills, give'r. Some people are just solid enough riders that they can minimize the risks through coordinated ejections. Not me, I think I tense up too much when things go awry

In 2002 one guy died in "La Mouliere" on the French Riviera. The frame broke just beside the fork and the guy broke his neck. It happened during the practice session on a DH event. I can tell you that the next day for the race nobody was very very motivated :(

isn't that similar to how the guy died after crashing on Crabapple Hits? Bleeding in the brain or something like that?

Sorry to hear that - condolences to the family

I saw that happen in person….

I beleive ther was a second whislter fatiality. person died a week later from internal injuries, or so I was told

We all know the rules how to ride a bit "safer": wear proper armour, a full-face helmet, etc.

Do you think that by doing certain exercises such as those that strengthen the core area of the body the risk of an internal injury is minimized? I can recall reading an article about bender who said something similar.

i dunno if core exercises help but learning how to crash does IMO, if you can roll out you are less likely to have huge problems than if you just stop when you crash. Look at NASCAR, the crashes that kill are the ones when they hit the wall and stop

i had a close call with internal bleeding when i was 17 playing AAA midget hockey. This other guy and I hit at full speed and he got his butt end of his stick just the front of my shoulder pads. At first it just felt like i had the wind knocked out of me. Went to the bench, took a couple shiifts off, then got back out there, still didnt feel good, after the first period i decided to pack it in. I could barley bend down to untie my skates. I was just goign to go home a sleep it off but, my coach was worried cause i was losing color in my face, went to emergency and found out i had torn my spleen and had internal bleeding. they told me that if i had of just went home liek i was going i might not have woke up in the morning…..

wow, the nbr rly has a tendancy to scare me. RIP

That is a shame. I feel for his friends and family. Riding is a dangerous sport, but really alot safer than other things, like snowboarding for instance. I can think of 3 people who died of traumatic DH injuries in my 10 years of riding and following the sport, Earthquake Jake, the fellow on Crabapple, and now this man. By comparison, 3 people died at Mt. Baker last year alone. Life is full of risks, and often it seems the most exhilarating, beautiful, and rewarding experiences carry a serious potential for injury and death. I'm not about to take up stamp collecting.

That said, I really want to ride France now. Les 2 Alpes sounds awesome. Crabapple hits are the reason I rock a 42t.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_professional_cyclists_who_died_during_a_race

This is one impressive list :eek:

What i was impressed by was how few cyclist have died. That list isnt that full seeing how high the percieved danger of cycling is.