It was time once again for the annual South Bay Riders trip to Stonyford for some dirt bike riding. I had been there a couple of times before, but never with this group. In fact, I had never met most of the people who would be in attendance. But my friend Bob invited me to go along and I happily accepted.

Bob and I met up Friday afternoon to caravan. I was driving my motorhome and pulling my enclosed trailer. Bob was driving his new F-250 pickup and towing his toy hauler.  I was only slightly familiar with the route, but Bob's friend Tyler, who was riding with him, knew it fairly well. Between us, we'd find our way, for sure.

The drive was pretty uneventful. We arrived late Friday afternoon, but still had some daylight to get all set up. About 15-20 South Bay Riders had arrived earlier in the day and already had a roaring campfire going. That was a good thing, since it was already starting to get really cold. We hung out and chatted for a bit, then went to Bob's trailer, where he cooked the first night's dinner. My friend Alicia had ridden with me, so it was me, Alicia, Bob, Tyler, and Tyler's 15-year old daughter, Shannon. After dinner, we went back out to the campfire, consumed some malt beverages, and went to bed early in anticipation of a long day of riding on Saturday.

Saturday morning, we split into two major groups, based on riding skill and experience. Normally I would have gone with the advanced group, but Tyler, Bob, Alicia, and Shannon were all riding in the "newbie" group, so I went with them instead. Unfortunately, Stonyford doesn't have a lot of terrain that's suitable for true newbies, so the least experienced of our group were having some difficulties making it up some of the trails. They were getting there, but it was slow going, at best.  I decided to ride ahead a little bit and then come back for them after a while. I assured them that I would stop and wait for them if I was going to turn off the main trail. All agreed that was a good plan.

After that, things get a little fuzzy for me. The way the story was told to me (since I have no memory of the day from this point on), is that the rest of the group came upon me, stopped on the side of the trail, with my bike on the kickstand. When they got to me, I was complaining of pain in my shoulder and asking the same questions (What happened?, Did anybody see? ) repeatedly. While they were talking to me another group of riders came along that included a doctor. After a quick evaluation, he determined that I had a concussion and was in need of medical attention. Another member of that group named Eric volunteered to take me back to camp on the rear rack of his utility quad with Alicia sitting behind me to keep me from falling off. 

When we got back to camp, the rangers had already been notified and had called for a REACH helicopter to pick me up and transport me to Enloe Medical Center in Chico. The helicopter arrived shortly, I was loaded in, and I took off.  A couple of the riders in our group went back up the trail to retrieve my bike and Alicia's, since we had both ridden down on the back of Eric's quad.

At the hospital, it was determined that I did indeed have a concussion as well as a broken clavicle (collarbone) and 3 broken ribs. As soon as I was coherent (or at least I thought I was), I called my wife, Chris, to let her know I was in the hospital, only to find ot that Alicia had already notified her and she was on her way (a 3-hour drive). She spent the night in the hospital with me and I was released Sunday morning.

Obviously, I was concerned about how my bike, motorhome, etc. were going to get home, but my friends took care of that, too. Tyler drove Bob's truck and trailer, while Bob drove mine. From what I hear, they both did a fantastic job, even though the road in and out of Stonyford can be pretty tricky even in a small vehicle. It was quite a relief for me when Chris and I caught up to them on I-5 on the way home, after they had safely driven the hazardous part of the trip. We met them at my house that night and they stayed for a few minutes to see how I was doing before they headed home.

 This whole experience just reinforced to me how wonderful it is to have friends and family (and even strangers!) who care about me. I can't imagine what I would have done without them. 

Thank you again to everybody. I'll see you out there again, I promise. And next time, the beer is on me! 

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