Miles Todd Crash Video

yeah definitly dont know how that guy made it through that fall. I know that if he would have had more speed and chose a better line he would have made it.

check out the pics on the website -- guy was riding a hardtail 1-speed (nice sycip). it's hard to tell from the video/photos, but i'm not sure how much of a better line was possible. in any case, these were experienced and capable riders, and none of them actually rode that particular section. from the photos, it looks like a step of a foot or so onto off-camber, loose dirt with total exposure. not a good recipe for success.

OUUUCCCHHHH!!!!!!

Man I watched that a few times, and I can't say it any better than Thom...OUCH! is right.

la la la la ouch.

Damn!!! He's still alive?? That was downhilling with no bike :| Childrens, always where your helmet!

Just stumbled across this site (thanks to a friend). Yeah, I'm still alive. In fact, I raced a 24 hour race with the two other guys in the video just six weeks later.
Yeah, a little more speed would probably have done it, but there really was no line selection error- just too little momentum and commitment.
Part of the story about that chunk of trail that may be worth mentioning- I'd ridden it at least a dozen times over the years, but balked when I came up on it that time. If you watch the video, you'll see I'm in front, and carrying decent speed. Eric (right behind me) is surprised when I pull up to a sudden stop (shouting "whoa whoa whoa"). It had been a rainy winter, and that section had eroded pretty badly. Now, most people I have ever ridden that trail with had ALWAYS chosen to walk that particular section, but not me. Anyhow, I stopped because it looked a lot uglier than it had in the past. A quick evaluation made me think that it was still rideable, so I chose to give it a go.

Take a moment to look at the video of the rest of the ride at http://www.mtbbill.com/videos/CarrizoGorgeWeb.mpg

miles

I actually showed this video during the helmet safety portion of a bike safety class I do for kids and parents. The fact that he took that violent of a fall and did not get any serious brain injuries or skull fractures is incredible. It hopefully is an eye opener for the "I hate wearing a bike helmet crowd"! P.S. Glad your still around to ride another day Miles. Where was the biking along railroad footage taken?

Well, the helmet has a pretty good dent in it, so it certainly did its job. Also, though, the Ultimate Directions backpack I was wearing helped quite a bit, and spared me any spinal injuries...
If the helmet were more impressively damaged I'd send it to you for your class- I strongly support helmet use, especially in kids. As it is, it really doesn't look like much happened.
The place where the crash occurred is in a place called Carrizo Gorge. The trestle in the other video is the longest curved wooden trestle in the world- train buffs come from all over to check it out. Look up Carrizo Gorge at wikipedia- it is an amazing story.

miles

Appreciate the info about your helmet damage. I guess the backpack worked like an airbag. Thanks again Miles!

I think I actually caught this on one of those extreme video shows too. Amazing he made it.