Just seen this on the Swinley FB page. Very sad news indeed, much respect for the guys who tried to help him:
[url=
As someone who regularly rides solo, can't help but think there but for the grace of God....
Links are not working.
Edited to fix the link hopefully.
Very sad 🙁 did a quick pink loop this morning. What happened? (for those not on facething)
"closed group"
Sad news indeed. Some good advice
http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/mountain-biker-dies-after-suffering-6429870
That's an old link. A brief summary is that 4pm today some riders happened across a guy in a bad way on red 25, looks like he had gone down face first. Gave CPR for 20 mins until paramedics arrived, but sadly after an hour the rider was pronounced dead. Horrific news. Thoughts with all involved.
Ah sorry, closed FB group.
Appears the guy was riding solo & hit a tree on Red 25 - for those not familiar with Swinley it's not a technically difficult section but very fast & jumpy.
Sounds like a group of riders following gave CPR & handed over to paramedics but unfortunately he couldn't be saved.
I'll certainly be taking that section a lot slower next tine around.
Nairnster.
That link is from December 2013.
Sad news. Makes you think that riding alone is adding an extra element of risk.
I am pretty certain I know what tree too after coming close many times. Very sad 🙁
Terrible news.
Thoughts are with his family,sad.
The article in the link is dated 2013. I remember that as a load of riders (including me) joined a big group ride.
Whatever happened happened. Life sucks sometimes.
Rip fella
Ah my mistake. That was the top result when i sesrched for death at Swinley today.
Andylc - do you mean Nainster's link above? That was an older incident from last year where a guy died from a heart attack.
Today's incident was result of a crash
I just realised that and changed my post. Certainly makes you think about solo riding, which I do a lot of and don't hold back any more than if I'm out with others.
So sorry to read about this. It's a sport not without its dangers. Thoughts are with his friends and family
Rip
I arrived after to find the forensic team there, trail closed. I'd seen a few people there tonight who ride alone like me who I seem to bump to to regularly.
Thoughts are with those involved.
Very sad. We had a similar thing a couple of years ago up here, local guy went out for his regular solo ride, crashed on a descent and broke his neck. Found by some walkers.
It is indeed sad, but many more people die from sitting on the couch doing nothing.
Makes you think that riding alone is adding an extra element of risk.
Certainly makes you think about solo riding,
From what was reported here I don't see that riding solo actually increased his risk at all. Sadly if you hit a tree hard enough to kill you then unless your best mates are neurosurgeons and anaethsetists they are unlikely to be able to save you. The risk from riding solo is you hurt yourself and then lie in agony for hours or choke on your own tongue waiting to be found, it certainly doesn't SOUND like that was the case on this tragic occasion. Keep in perspective that fatal MTB accidents are very rare, and I've certainly seen crashes between friends riding together that would never have happened solo.
One from This is Reading's FB page:
[i]Swinley Forest, Crowthorne
We have heard reports of a serious accident that happened today (Saturday July 25) at 4pm in Swinley Forest, Crowthorne.
A person, riding a mountain bike was involved in a fatal accident. People at the scene called 999 and forest rangers were also alerted.
The Thames Valley air ambulance and South Central Ambulance crews attended the scene with police officers from Thames Valley police.
Part of Swinley Forest has been cordoned off awaiting investigation into the cause of the accident.
Ambulance crews and doctor attended to the person at the scene but was later pronounced dead. The police have not yet named the rider but it is thought family members have been notified.[/i]
RIP.
Friends can assist if its concussion, a break or a cardiac.
If its in England etc you are never alone though.
When I go to the Alps I always go for a wander alone across border/using the lifts to wander. If I spongle myself -Im an adult.
If its in England etc you are never alone though
You don't need to be alone for that long and it's still quite easy in fairy well used areas to be out of sight and invisible to passers by if you leave the trail.
So sad.
I pretty much always ride solo around Swinley, but I'm never alone - even on an after work ride in the middle of winter there's somebody around.
Big thanks to the guys who stopped.
RIP 🙁
I use gpx tracking app so my other half can see where my phone is when I'm out on a ride. Looks like it wouldn't help this guy, but it is useful.
scott - what app is it? Is there a windows app that does this?
Only ever ride alone. Tend to ride where I have no signal. Wife has nearly called 999 on a number of occasions when I've been longer than expected as she's convinced herself that I might have had a cardiac out on the trails.
RIP - I lost another MTB friend on Friday too - so RIP to both
Don't want to derail thread, but
Only ever ride alone. Tend to ride where I have no signal.
+1 I ride to relax and get away from other issues. Like training for an ultra run, a key element is the peace and time on your own. Everyone needs it IMO
Some of the trees at Swinley scare me too. Terrible story.
Very sad.
Recent events have made me think again about my personal safety and that of others whilst out riding. It's going to be different for everybody but the personal conclusion I came to was that life would be too dull not to do everything with an element of risk but to appreciate that the risk for the same style of obstacle changes depending on circumstances. Riding the Golspie black on your own on a wet mid week day from an empty car park could mean a long wait for help. Maybe not so much in Swinley but as this incident proves that maybe doesn't always make much odds.
I' doubt it is relevant here (this being Swinley) but I do worry sometimes that the bigger more capable bikes we have these day have led to "average" riders with average skills (arguably no better than 15 years ago) taking on bigger and gnarlier stuff at greater speed to get the same rush experienced on short travel bikes previously. When it's all going well it's ace, but the consequences ramp up too.
Handybendyhendo - it is just called gpx phone tracker. I have it on android, and Nat has it on her iPhone. We track each other when we go for solo rides.
Disclaimer - do not use this app if you are planning to cheat on your partner!
Convert - I actually think swinley can be more dangerous as it is so tame. It is very easy to fly around it at high speed with more serious consequences if you hit a tree, or hit one of those rollable kickers at speed in a bad position and go otb. I see a lot of people sat on their high saddles, hitting those and just about staying on the bike. if it was more technical, people might slow down a bit and ride more in their abilities.
😀
Have just downloaded FollowMee
Will see how useful it is......
Covert agreed. Swinley has a bit of a tame rep being in the middle of Bracknell. No "proper" hills. But let's take red 15 / 25 as an example.... They are fast runs... Very fast. No matter how good you are or think you are... One day you could just pick a bad line and hit a tree doing 30mph plus.
Same as last two dh sections of blue. So easy to weight the bike wrong and end up on your face.
I ride Swinley daily. Just been out this morning to red 25 to have a bit of quiet time. Car park empty and I did not pass a single soul on the way there. I passed one chap (with a lefty) on way back.
It can be remote.... Not that remote but you could be lying by the side of the trail for quite a while.
I always ride solo these days. Riding buddies drift away and I like my own time. I use a simple app called hereiam developed I think by a chap on here....
I log a few key sections round Swinley and my Mrs gets a text (signal is sketchy but they seem to get out eventially)
This is the one:
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The wife and I have life360 on our phones, but when I am out of range she can't get a fix on me as I need to have a signal or data for it to work. I'd imagine all other tracking apps have the same issue.
handybendyhendo - Member
scott - what app is it? Is there a windows app that does this?
Endomondo does live tracking for friends and family to follow. Can export gpx from Endomondo after if you want to use in other services.
Likewise Garmins that have Bluetooth like the Edge 510/810 can pair with their phone app and do live tracking, although they don't do the app for Windows. Plus it likely will drain the battery in both Garmin and phone a bit having Bluetooth active.
I have found Hereiamnow for windows......will try that too.
Agree with Don on the Swinley comments regarding it being easy to go at a speed level above your skill level.......I go every now and then and whilst I like to push it.......I am wary of sections that I don't know that well.........
A gps spot (various versions to choose from) is the best solution, especially if you adventure away from guaranteed telephone signal. Also not reliant on your partner/parent/trusted tracker recipient acting on the information and doing the right thing. Just press SOS on land or on the water and the correct emergency agency will know about it. Also a method of sending an "I'm OK" text to loved ones when you are but they might be worried about you even when not in range of telephone signal.
OK - I have Endomondo so will take a look at that too......
Just for Mrs peace of mind really......especially when I am miles away......
Very sad - deepest sympathy to his family.
Not the time for speculation but hopefully there'll be some form of analysis to identify if there's a requirement for any changes to either trail design or rider behaviour? I'm thinking of something similar to what happens in the climbing world (informally in this country more formally in the US) to work out whether it was a single "unlucky" freak incident or something that we can all learn from.
Is it just me who rides a little bit more within myself when I'm out on my own?
We got to section 25 just after the accident he was already being attended to by a few people, there was nothing we could do. RIP
RIP to him. Sad day for his family and those involved.
Not the time for speculation but hopefully there'll be some form of analysis to identify if there's a requirement for any changes to either trail design or rider behaviour? I'm thinking of something similar to what happens in the climbing world (informally in this country more formally in the US) to work out whether it was a single "unlucky" freak incident or something that we can all learn from.
These occurrences seem very rare infact i've not heard of one, so lets not get too excited.
Could be anything and shouldn't speculate at this stage. It's not certain whether it's medical or crash related even. Besides, you can kill yourself just tripping up in a car park and hitting your head.
Deepest sympathies to the family, friends and the guys who found the person who apparently did CPR while the ambulances arrived. Must be quite a shock for them also.
If this is where I think it is, there was a near fatal accident at the same place just after it opened. A female from the BOB club, crashed with fractured bones, punctured lung etc, she was lucky to survive.
Same place, Natrix. The trail was heavily modified after that crash in 2013 and they'll probably need to look at it again. I saw the lady concerned earlier this week and she's doing great ~ back out and riding again; maybe just a little slower 😉
As Pook said: I'm more cautious on my own, more so somewhere remote. If something bad happens, well I was out in the fresh air having fun in a pleasant location.
Teamhurtmore +1
I ride solo for sanity to get away from the day job.
Sometimes I'll stop mid-forest and listen/pause and think.
The benefits outweigh the risks. I also relax more so can ride quicker/smoother which is better than what others might think/trying to keep ahead etc. Eff that.
Condolences to the family 🙁 Never good to hear about these things.
If something bad happens, well I was out in the fresh air having fun in a pleasant location.
+1 on that sentiment.
One or two pieces of trail I ride have high consequences. Eg if I was to have brake failure there's no run out and it would be a long fall. My sister knows one of them and really worries about me when I'm on that route. But then it's part of the appeal.
Yes very sad. RIP brother! Only thing I can say is that if I was to go I could only wish it was doing something I love.
I came across the police lines and the female cop filled me in on the accident. Not nice thing to break up your ride. I have read allot of the posts about solo riding etc and to be honest I dont think it would have made any difference with this chap if he was with a group. Also being the UK there are allot of riders so solo at swinley isn't in my view risky. I come from Aus and have lived in NZ and some of those rides I would very much recommend not riding solo as it can be hours before you see another rider allot of the time.
Swinley compared to what I use to ride in NZ really is super easy. Where it happened is not difficult for the average rider its just a matter of taking it at speed that you are in control. That being said sometimes freak things happen ... who knows it could have been a mech failure. All sports are dangerous and its a risk we take.
I ride alone most of the time, and was riding alone when I had my biggest crash which put me in hospital for a couple of nights - not that quiet a trail and I would have been found, but maybe not for a while - as it was I was walking wounded and staggered to the nearest house which wasn't far away. I also go up mountains by myself, most recently I was at the top at 8pm, having done some hands on rock bits on the way up and down - as always when I do that sort of thing I was carrying enough to survive a night, but no use if I was unconscious. Life is for living though, would be a lot poorer for not doing these things and for me the risks are well worth it.
[quote=scott_mcavennie2 ]Disclaimer - do not [b]take your phone with you when you[/b] use this app if you are planning to cheat on your partner!
Fixed 😉
Really sad news. RIP, thoughts to the lads family and freinds.
Cheers for the advice on the app. I've told the mrs to download it. I'm out on my own at Lee Quarry tomorrow morning and I'm certain this will be in the back of my mind.
Re cheating- she'll question why Im always sat in a coffee shop or TKMaxx 😀
On recent solo night rides I always say where and when to expect a checkin call
Biggest crash I ever had was at Swinley, it can be deceptively dangerous in sections, although we obviously need to wait to see what the cause of death was, RIP.
Very sad to read this, I ride solo quiet often - given the choice of a solo ride or no ride its me and my iPod every time.
Most of the time I ride 8/10ths of my usual comfortable pace, but I've also been known to break some Strava PBs on a solo.
I've just been debating the pros and cons of it with my wife, although I didn't catch the date on the link so we were talking about heart attacks - I decided the pros outweighed the cons, riding makes it less likely for me to have a heart attack in later life, partly because of the general fitness and partly because it's how I deal with stress in my life - I'm not sure if what happened to this poor chap with change my mind - I went down hard a couple of years ago, out of mobile range but thankfully riding with a mate - I can't be sure, but I think it took 25 mins for him to get to the ranger station, another 30 or so for them to get back to me and 30 more for the paramedics to reach us, too much tree cover for a heli.
Even though I was at Afan, on a warm sunny weekend day, it was only when I had been patched up and getting into the Ambo when the next set of riders came along - close to 2 hours after I crashed I'd guess.
Certainly made me think.
Message from his wife on FB,
I just wanted to tell you a bit about Mark he did 22 years in the army being sent to Iraq and other god awful places he was a proud man an amazing husband and father we have been together 27 years I have truly lost my soul mate but your words have helped me to know he was not alone and everything that could be done was done xx"
Anna Kingston.
🙁 Incredibly sad.
Survives 22 years in the Mob and a bloody tree gets him. Life really does troll us sometimes. 🙁
Horrendous to hear and read of this, RIP our biking brother.
I've been riding Swinley for over 15 years now and more recently, usually, solo and this is quite a sobering call. Thanks for the app suggestions, will be looking at those.
And when I am there this week I will halt and take a few minutes silence and reflection for our brother on Red 25. Respect and hugs to all.
He sounds very much a better man than I was or can be. For **** sake. 🙁
Yep.
I'll be down there before long & will take a time out in deference to this man.
There but for the grace of God as it were.
RIP..
Tragic 🙁
RIP buddy.
Thoughts with family and loved ones.
The Rider who died Saturday 25th July 2015 was Mark Kingston. I have been in contact with Marks wife Anna today who has asked me to fill you all in. Below is a section of a message I received today from Anna I can't think of anything else to say.
"I just wanted to tell you a bit about Mark he did 22 years in the army being sent to Iraq and other god awful places he was a proud man an amazing husband and father we have been together 27 years I have truly lost my soul mate but your words have helped me to know he was not alone and everything that could be done was done xx"
Anna Kingston.
I saw the lady concerned earlier this week and she's doing great ~ back out and riding again
Thanks for the update Reluctant
Reluctant & Natrix - also had a good chat with the lady you mention last week, and brilliant to see her out riding again and enjoying it so much again!
Terrible news though for Mark Kingston. 🙁
Is it just me who rides a little bit more within myself when I'm out on my own?
Nope
Have seen too much carnage around Cannock with people wrapped around trees bust up pretty bad and paramedics in attendance
Stopped on Saturday to let a couple of lads through and like the motorway when you stop you realise how fast people are going. And yet we're all just bags of blood and jelly and those fricken trees don't move
Not the time for speculation but hopefully there'll be some form of analysis to identify if there's a requirement for any changes to either trail design or rider behaviour? I'm thinking of something similar to what happens in the climbing world (informally in this country more formally in the US) to work out whether it was a single "unlucky" freak incident or something that we can all learn from.
On the one hand I fundamentally disagree, the trail is what it is, if there was a 3ft drop, you could do yourself some serious harm, but that doesn't mean all drop off should be at jogging pace and <8". It's always rider error, the trail is what it is.
OTOH that section and a lot of others on the Red have some fairly widely spaced decent sized rollers which give you a choice, either ride the trail at a speed where wheels remain on the ground or you ride each one like a small tabletop (this is how 99% probably ride them) or ride it at the speed allowed by all the other features (i.e. corners) and they become quite large jumps between them.
Unfortunately this has lead to a number of people nose diving horribly into the next roller. This may or may not have happened this time, but on red25 it would seem the obvious thing to crash on.
My personal opinion is that the grading system is a bit off at Swinley. There's a few Blue sections which definitely feel more like Red, and the spacing of the rollers on a lot of Red means the penalty for above average speed is coming up short on what could be described as the 'pro line'* landing, not a flat landing which you'd expect.
*99.5 percentile.
Stopped on Saturday to let a couple of lads through and like the motorway when you stop you realise how fast people are going.
Just checked my Strava for that section at Swinley and it's getting towards 30mph top speed. I ride there mostly alone, certainly going to make me think a little more.
Massive respect to the people that stopped and helped and hope they are doing OK themselves, there's a guy on the Swinley FB thread who was pretty early to the scene and has done an amazing job of liaising with the poor guy's family and the rest of the Swinley FB group. Given the overwhelming number of responses on the FB thread, just goes to show the strength of the community.
From what was reported here I don't see that riding solo actually increased his risk at all.
From what I've read here, there isn't enough information for me to be that confident.
Sure, he may have suffered catastrophic and unsurvivable injuries in which case it's so. But if he knocked himself out, landed with a constricted airway and went into cardiac arrest in the couple of minutes between the crash and being found, then being on his own might have been the difference between survival and not.
FWIW most of my riding is solo, and I do the telling my partner where I'm going and gps tracking thing. I also ride in a less gung ho fashion (it's all relative, I'm a slow mincer in a group anyway) - I'm aware that if I knock myself out and land wrong (constricted airway) my wife raising the alert when my gps hasn't moved for a bit is only likely to result in a warmer corpse being found.
BTW, and I've thought long and hard about whether or not to add this bit and please, please, please don't make me regret this by derailing a thread: if you're knocked out and lying on the floor, there is more chance of you airway not being clear in a bike helmet than without one. [b]This is not a suggestion that helmets shouldn't be worn[/b], just something else to think about when your mate stacks it spectacularly and isn't moving afterwards - with the horrible quandary of "do I take his helmet off, what about spinal injuries?" which may need to be resolved rather quickly*
*If they're not breathing, you may well need the helmet off, risk mitigated** by supporting / immobilising the head as much as possible. If you're going to spend five minutes making that decision, you might as well not bother...
**The best way to do this is to have professional "first on scene" first aid training.
Two weeks ago I torn my ligaments/rotator cuff with one single arm movement with weights which has put me off the bike for weeks. Previous to this my last injury was when I flipped off my mountain bike at an angle into rocks (last bend of the beast where it drops)- I tried jumping it, got the front wheel washed out on preload and came off high-side (or something).
Apart from a friction burn on my forearm I got up and rode on.
A bloke I know put his foot wrong whilst walking down the stairs of his house and badly broke it- it almost needed fusing.
I don't buy that mountain biking is anymore dangerous than going to the shops. Indeed I think road cycling is hairy/very scary compared.
Most of the time I tend to ride well within my capabilities partly as I know that accidents tend to happen when you are starting to get tired, are tired from a night on the pop, dehydrated etc so I tend to ease up when riding Sat and Sun am's.
I'd like more info on what happened at Swinley. Such horrible and regrettable deaths shouldn't put anyone off. There could be other mitigating circumstances that could help us understand.
I don't buy that mountain biking is anymore dangerous than going to the shops.
As much as I applaud the attitude that we shouldn't stop doing stuff like riding bikes, that's a daft thing to say! Of course riding a bike fast off road is more dangerous than going to the shops (unless the shops in question are in Mosside!). Of my friends one is now a quadriplegic, one is currently lying in a french hospital with a broken back and another has a permanent facial disfigurement - none of them did this to themselves in Sainsburys!
If I mixed with climbers I'm sure I would have a different set of friends with different stories and again I think it's important that people do stuff like riding bikes off road but we need to acknowledge it has a risk and take that into account (a bit more than we do when we walk into WH Smiths).
I should have said mountain biking on normal UK trails......not the Alps 😀
Unless you want to throw yourself around Carrefour 😀
I should have said mountain biking on normal UK trails......not the Alps
Of the 3 I mentioned, two were indeed in the Uk - one on that notoriously dangerous south downs way!
South Downs way? 😯
South Downs way
Perhaps mountain biking is more dangerous than you think
Exactly.
RIP Mark Kingston.
Next time i ride swinley, I will stop and remember.
Our thursday night ride will think, discuss and raise a glass.
Thoughts with your family and friends.
Very sad news, my thoughts to family and friends 🙁
I think now after reading this I best put something in place for the boss to track me, as I think nothing of 5-8 hours in the peaks on my own, that said I don't go that silly when im alone for this reason