06 May 2017 – The Red Giant

I hummed and hawed about writing up this ride, but as it will be the only one I can possibly do over the coming weeks (or maybe even months), here goes…

For quite a while, Colette’s brother, Damian, has expressed an interest in doing the Red Giant downhill mountain bike run at the Nevis Range centre near Fort William. It’s not as if Damian is a keen mountain biker or anything, it was more of a bucket list thing, like doing a bungee jump. So there was no way he was going to bother taking any lessons in advance – just give it a try and take it cautiously was the way forward.

We all found ourselves together in Fort William a few weeks ago, with mountain bikes at the ready, but there wasn’t enough time to try the Red Giant, so we tried the smaller and easier Blue Adder run instead, which is more suitable for novices. I did it with Colette first, who I thought might enjoy it. Unfortunately I was wrong – she was terrified!

When it was Damian’s turn to try it, on Colette’s mountain bike, I thought he might have had the same reaction, but no, it was more a case of: “That was fine, bring on the Red Giant!”

Fast forward then a few weeks to the 6th, and we were gathered at the gondola station at the official start of the 2017 mountain biking season. Colette was there in observing capacity only, while Damian and I bought gondola tickets and waited for our ride on a beautifully sunny spring morning. When our gondola arrived, we hung our bikes on the rack and jumped in.

On the way up…

The anticipation was high as we were elevated up the mountain. I tried to stay as calm as possible but it was difficult not to be intimidated by the sight of some of the steep, rocky track in the distance. We decided that we would definitely be walking our bikes down that part.

After disembarking, we got ourselves ready for the ride. I attached my helmet camera and pressed record, then off we went…

Damian with inspiring view, ready for the off

There was a short section of dirt track to start, with occasional rocks inset into it. Then the boardwalk began. It went on for simply ages, during which time you really had to concentrate hard on keeping the right line. Then there were the occasional rocks and drops and bits that shot you into the air. Getting airborne is not something that I’m used to, which added to the sense of being way out of my depth!

In contrast, Damian wasn’t at all worried by the boardwalk, although he didn’t like the rocks and step downs, so he stopped his bike to negotiate those.

So far, so good…

As soon as the first and biggest section of boardwalk was over, I took the chance to stop and feel terra firma again. Damian arrived feeling good, so on we went with the next part…

This section was mainly rocky path with the odd bit of boardwalk. To start with it was not too hard. There were some short drops which I decided to take on. The front end of the bike would lurch forward as the suspension compressed upon landing. I was trying to move my weight back as much as possible at the same time, but still did feel the shock moving me forward on landing. It was not enough to send me over the top but I did feel that I might have been riding my luck.

After that, we came to some seriously big slabs to climb over, which stopped us dead and we had to get off and push. I managed to get going again over the top and started following a series of red dots, which I presumed gave the best line. The last thing I can remember is launching myself over the final red dot, then the next thing I was aware of was lying flat on the ground. Something must have gone wrong inbetween…

What went wrong we will never know, as Damian was too far back to see clearly and the helmet cam wasn’t recording – I must have not pressed the button properly at the start. All I can be sure about was that I came down hard on my left side. My glasses were broken and they had embedded themselves above my left eye, cutting a loose flap of skin.

Damian helped me get over to a nearby puddle/pool to wash away some of the blood. We must both have been a little in shock to have chosen to do that rather than use our water bottles! Damian called Colette to let her know that we’d had a mishap and would be walking down the rest of the track.

We got going, slowly, when I found that my left arm was too sore to use, so I took my bike by my right hand and shuffled off downhill. After no more than a few minutes, we were joined by Dave, one of the Nevis Range staff. He got out his First Aid kit, which Damian took charge of, bandaging up my bonce to stem the flow of blood.

Dave took my bike, so I just had to concentrate on walking. That was good, as we had reached the really tricky rocky part. Another helper arrived, though I’m afraid I forgot his name. It took another 10 minutes or so to get as far down as an access road, where we waited for a truck to arrive while fearless guys on the World Cup descent were making big jumps right next to us.

Once delivered back down at Nevis Range HQ, I filled in an accident form to find out that I was the first casualty of the season, and then Colette drove me straight to the Belford hospital in Fort William. By this time, my limbs were starting to seize up, making the walk into A&E quite a slow affair. I got taken very quickly and the staff did a wonderful job of looking after me. It took six stitches and two steri-strips to close my eye wound, but that became the minor thing when an X-ray showed that I had broken my arm in two places. Damn, I thought it was just a “dead arm”.

Spot the fractures

Now I am wearing a sling full time and awaiting an appointment with the fracture clinic in Edinburgh next week. I’m guessing I will be out the game for at least 6-8 weeks, but I will have a better idea after going to the clinic.

For me, the most important thing is to learn something from the experience. Although I don’t know exactly how I managed to hit the deck, I do know that a full face helmet would have saved me from a nasty cut and needing to buy a new pair of glasses. Also, hip and shoulder protection would probably been useful as well. It makes sense, and explains why the vast majority of riders were wearing full helmets and body armour. Also, everyone else we saw were riding full suspension bikes, which soak up the bumps and are much less likely to kick you off over the handlebars. Before I do anything else like this, I will need to make sure I am better kitted out and better versed in the appropriate riding skills.

As for Damian, he is now cured of the need to do the Red Giant run. No need to come back and do the final bit – he can tick it off the bucket list and move onto the next thing!

But my last word must be to thank the guys at Nevis Range for helping me get down from the hill, and also the staff at the Belford hospital for dealing with my injuries. I’m really so grateful to you all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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