As most of you regular readers will know, myself and my friends are keen mountain bikers, but today our luck caught up with us. Now I'm not saying that we're the best in the world, but we're not slow and we're not afraid of big air, but when things go wrong at these velocities they tend to go VERY wrong.Picture the scene.
Myself and the rest of The Restless Natives are waiting on the last member of our merry troupe to finish his run. Suddenly, Cletus the slack-jawed yokel and International Man Of Mystery bursts into view, travelling pretty fast.
Cue much shouting of encouragement and general peer pressure from friends.
Cletus hits the last, and very large, jump with total commitment. Cletus then finds himself with plenty of hangtime as he's approximately 8 feet in the air. Gravity finally asserts it's authority and pulls. The bike touches down, it goes one way, Cletus goes the other way.
Thump!
Silence.
When we got to him, Cletus was winded and lying in a pretzel like configuration. After some anxious moments, Cletus raises himself to a seating position, whereupon it's clear to all concerned that the Clavicle, or collar bone, has quite clearly broken.
Ouch.
I suppose all sport has it's risks, but had Cletus not had on a full-face helmet, he would surely be looking at adding a concussion, or possibly even a fractured skull to his list of injuries.
Suffice to say I paid attention and I'll be ordering one myself as soon as I'm paid.
