Wednesday night Skid and I set out from the Summit parking lot to ride South Fork.  I had received a text from Kris Nosack that he and his wife Jolene would be starting a little earlier from Timpanooeke and would try to hook up with us.

I was fidgeting with a new bike, and the ride was interrupted several times by me messing with adjusting shock pressure, seat height, etc.  As we finished the last big climb before downhill, we came upon a bunch of motorcycles in the trail, and I saw Kris standing there.  A few seconds later I noticed Jolene lying on the ground.  Kris informed me that she had just broken her leg.

Remarkably calm, Jolene just mentioned that her leg hurt, and not to touch it.  In the multiple attempts we made to splint the leg,  I noticed that when we picked it up off the ground the foot dangled, from just above the ankle.

It was gross.

Luckily the moto guys that stopped had a cell phone that had a signal.  They called in Search and Rescue, and were able give them GPS coordinates from a passing mountain biker with a Garmin.

Once Jolene knew S&R was coming she was content to stop trying to splint anything and wait for better trained help.  Probably a wise decision.  The mothering instinct in her came out though, when she insisted that Skid and I start down the trail so we wouldn’t be caught in the dark.

I took it as I sign that she didn’t think I was being as funny as I thought I was and followed her instructions.

I zipped down LDCSF and opted to climb the road since it was now very dark.  At the summit I came across this.

Each of those cars represents a responder for the Search and Rescue.  There was an ambulance, a fire truck and several county sheriff vehicles.  After talking with them a bit, I headed down the canyon.

It would be a couple hours before they actually got her off the moutain.  Involving a morphine IV, an air cast, and modified wheelbarrow.

Once at the hospital, the real fun began.  She spent the morning after in surgery having bionic implants. At least that’s what I choose to believe.  Truth of it is, she now has a lot of metal in her leg.  She broke her Tibia, and did horrible things to her Fibula.

It just goes to show how easily things can go wrong even on trails that you know like the back of your hand.

Big props to the moto guys with AT&T service or it might have been a much longer night.  They also made a trip down to get blankets and stuff when Jolene started to get cold.  Very cool guys, and much more helpful than Skid and I.

Good Luck to  Jolene (and Kris), and a speedy recovery.