Mark Weir fights tree. Tree wins. Updated!

Update: You’ll have heard by now that Mark Weir was crushed by a falling tree. Now, here’s his heartfelt letter of thanks to all of the people who’ve wished him well:

Wanted to say THANKS to all you guys for all the support. The motivation it has brought i could not of done without you.

Wanted to see if i could have some of this posted to say thanks to everyone for the support. If its to cheesy sorry, those pain killers make me loopy.

(Mark has heard that he won’t have to have surgery on his pelvis)

This is best news i have heard all week.

The Doc said the most worrisome thing was that i don’t fall again for at least 6 weeks. I have a fracture that goes into spinal canal posteriorly and falling again would be really bad to say the least. He said i can anticipate 8-12 weeks of gradually decreasing pain. But no outside activity for 6-8 weeks to lessen the chance of me hitting the dirt.

I’m lucky to have such good friends that did not drop me while hiking me off the mnt, if they did this story might not have such a happy ending.

The way we moved the tree might have been poorly thought out, thinking that man power over comes safety came at a price. Im glad the price was not to heavy and i was the only one that physically felt the pain. I felt that because i had been moving and cutting trees off trails for years and years that i was smart enough to anticipate the future. I was wrong and i apologize to my friends for putting us all at risk. I ride bikes for a living, and just because i am in the trees all day does not mean I’m a professional tree removal specialist. Lesson learned never to be repeated.

Thanks you to everyone that has sent me kind words of encouragement. At times it has brought me to tears, but sometimes it’s made me laugh and that was real painful but worth it. My wife reads me the comments from people and its hard to hear. feeling that what ever i have done during my time with this sport could not deserve this much love and support. You all have made me want to make sure i strive to be a better person talking about off the bike mostly.

Thanks to my good buddies that pulled my body off the hill and all the medical staff.

Thanks to my Family for so much support and my wife who has to be an angel sent just for me.

Cant wait to be back in the trees and riding again. I’ll see you all real soon.

And here’s the original story:

As reported on Wilderness Trail Bikes‘ blog, Mark Weir was severely injured at the weekend while clearing trees from the trails on his Novato, California ranch.

As the blog says: “What started out like any other Saturday, complete with shuttles and riding with buddies out at the Ranch, ended with a bam and a crunch like something out of a Roadrunner cartoon when Mark Weir and four friends attempted to clear a downed tree limb that had fallen across one of the trails in a previous storm. As a result, Weir sustained a broken sacrum and fractured his pelvis in three places.”

“We were doing our typical flop the branch off the trail by walking it up and pushing it over off the steep trail,” Weir explained.

But no one expected what happened next. After standing the branch upright in an attempt to push it off the trail, it “stalled out.” Then with one final push, the 20-foot tree limb fell with the thickest, supporting end landing and pinning Weir to the ground at the waist. “Like the Wile E. Coyote, I ran in the tree’s shadow ’till it smashed me to the ground,” he said.

Weir’s pelvis was broken in three places and it took the ingenuity of his riding pals, including enduro-racer Ben Cruz, to gingerly carry Weir down from out of the trees on a home-made backboard made from a bit of plywood, to the point where the Novato Fire Department could get him stabilised and off to hospital. He’s now back home, under orders to have six to eight weeks of bed rest.

We contacted Mark last night and got a suitably Mark Weir response. “Who the **** gets hit by a tree? Rednecks and dumbasses. For me, not sure there is a difference. But what I do know is I’ll never be in this position again. Never felt so useless.”

While it obviously curtails any current plans to race the EWS and other events this spring, it seems that Mark will mend with rest and we look forward to seeing him up and around soon. We’ll let you know how he gets on and we’ve passed on many get well soon wishes his way.

More news as it happens on: wtb.com/blogs/wtb