A small group of us (Clay, Lane, my friend Pat and I) went over on a Saturday morning in August looking forward to the day and the trail ahead. I think each of us had our own expectations about what the ride would look like and be like. My friend Pat really didn't know what to expect. The Monarch Crest trail ride is a long 30 mile ride with some beautiful scenery and a lot of high altitude that literally sucks the wind out of you.
The trail and the ride was far better and easier for me than on my previous trip two years prior. Not that I'm advocating that it is an easy trail, just easier now that I'm a better and stronger rider.
We had a small RMB club between the four of us. Clay and Lane went blasting along on their Slayers, I cruised on my Element and Pat gave it his all on his Fusion. We moved along fairly well and got to the Marshall Pass road and stopped for lunch. It was then that Clay noticed that the carbon seat stay on my Element was broken. I figured my day of riding was pretty much over at that point. With some remarkable ingenuity, a sturdy stick of wood, duct tape, hockey tape and zip ties, Clay created a splint (see the picture below) to hold the seat stay in place well enough to get me down the mountain. Much thanks and many kudos go to Clay for such an awesome job of bicycle repair.
The splinted bike took me across and down the mountain like a champ. Little did we know at the time that that was the first casualty of the trip.
As we ripped down the Silver Creek trail back towards Poncha Springs, Lane lost his balance a bit and peg-legged a bit to keep himself on his bike and from a serious wipe out. In doing so, he hurt his knee. Turned out later that he actually fractured his leg just below the knee. Casualty number two.
A little while later, we got to the junction where Silver Creek trail intersects with the Rainbow Trail. We all pulled up to discuss riding down Silver Creek trail which turns into a 4WD road, or taking the Rainbow Trail down. For various reasons, and for better or worse, we decided to take the Rainbow Trail down to Highway 285. Clay and Lane led out, I followed them and Pat followed me. We went along for perhaps a mile, crossing a couple streams and climbing over some rocky outcroppings. Clay pulled up to wait for us to get back together as had been the routine throughout the day. Lane was pretty much behind him and I caught up in less than a minute. Pat didn't come. We waited for a few more minutes, and I decided to go back and look for him. I found Pat and his bike about 8-10 feet down the a steep hill on the side of the trail.
Some other riders had just come upon him a minute before. Pat was sitting up, but was holding his right arm and was in excruciating pain. His bike had a taco'd front wheel. With the help of several other riders that had come down the trail including a nurse, we made sling for Pat's arm and got him up the hill to the trail.
Clay had come back by then and we decided he and Lane should go get our trucks to get Pat down the rest of the way. Three of the other riders that had stopped to help, helped get Pat and his bike back to the Silver Creek trail where we could get the trucks up to. I'm thankful for their help. Casualty number three - Pat's broken arm; four - the front wheel of his bike.
The rest of the day involved waiting for Clay and Lane to get to where we were waiting and getting down to Salida to the hospital to get X-rays Pat's arm, then home.
It was an adventurous and interesting day; definitely not what any of us would have expected.
Maybe we can try it again next year without the casualties.
P.S. An interesting side note - the bike that Pat rode is the same bike I rode on the Monarch Crest trail when I rode it two years ago. I taco'd the front wheel on that trip too. I don't think we'll take that bike back to that trail again.
