Accidents Do Happen
Getting up in the hills is even better when you can get off the pavement.
We were doing some dual sport riding on a rough dirt road above Boulder, Ron, Jacque, and me, when Ron got to thinking something was wrong. He was in the lead, I was second, and he hadn’t seen Jacque in his mirror for too long. We stopped to let her catch up.
This was Jacque’s first time on dirt, so it was natural that she should take it easy, even possibly take a tumble. Taking a tumble is usually no big deal when you’re dirt-biking; I probably dumped the bike three times the first time I ever did it.
Ron didn’t wait too long to head back to find her. I sat there for maybe five minutes more and then I headed back, too. Along the way I encountered a mountain biker who called out to me that Ron had asked him to tell me to come on back.
Jacque didn’t just take a tumble, she was hurt. Thanks to target fixation, she had gone right into a deep rut she wanted to avoid, and then the skid plate on the underside of her bike caught on a protruding rock. She lost it and her momentum threw her against a boulder, with her knee taking the main force of the impact. Jacque was in serious pain.
Fortunately, we were on this particular road because it’s close to where Ron lives, so he headed to his place to get help. I stayed with Jacque to do whatever I could for her. Now, I’ve never had any first aid training, so I wasn’t the best guy to have there, but Jacque is a nurse, so she called the shots. First she swung around so she could lie back on the ground and elevate her injured leg on the boulder. I pulled out my sweatshirt to give her something under her head.
Figuring that a distraction from her pain would be a good thing, I started jabbering. I’m normally a pretty quiet guy but I just started telling her stories, not apropos of anything. After a few minutes she interrupted me.
“Do you know first aid?â€
“No, not really.â€
“OK, well, I’m going into shock and I may pass out. If I do, here’s what you need to do.â€
And she gave me instructions. I listened carefully. There’s something about “I’m going into shock and I may pass out†that really gets your attention.
Then I went back to jabbering and telling stories.
It all ended well. Ron got back and he got Jacque to the hospital. It had seemed likely that there were broken bones, but the X-rays said no. And then, talk about getting right back on the horse after falling off, Ron told me a couple weeks later that Jacque was doing fine and had gone out and bought herself a new dual sport bike. It turns out that she was having the absolute time of her life, right up until she met Mr. Boulder.
As for me, I’m thinking first aid training might be a good idea.
Biker Quote for Today
Here’s to the women who make other women wish they could ride, too.
Tags: women motorcyclists
