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  • Assessing the risks / mitigating the damage. (Big OTBs @BPW)
  • bigblackshed
    Full Member

    Couple of weeks ago I had a BIG off at Bike Park Wales. Went up to Merthyr with a riding mate for a days mincing on the mild stuff. It’s been a couple of years but I was surprised at how worn the blue trails were.

    We did Melted Welly / Blue Belle / Norkle, followed by Terry’s Belly / Popity Ping / Terry’s Belly. We were both really surprised at the state of Terry’s Belly considering that it’s supposed to be a flowing blue. No top dressing on it, lots of patches where the fist sized stones had come out of the surface and were laying on the trail. We both felt the sting of it, my mate on his rigid plus, me on a 120mm hardtail. After lunch we went back down Norkle to the uplift, then did the top of Terry’s Belly and sessioned Popity Ping and did a bit of video.

    We then rode back up to the top and found that Sixtapod was now open. Time was getting on, about 4:30, so we thought we might just catch the caf before closing time. Top bit of Sixtapod I was flowing, little bits of air, I’m not much of a jumper, slight pause just before the trees. Into the woods, couple of berms, roll the small doubles. Bang, OTBs.

    I landed head first, then hands, then right shoulder. No idea how. I was a mess. My mate stopped and helped untangle me from my bike. Luck would have it that we had just passed some friends on the open section at the top. They stopped and helped too. I was now unable to move, I’d managed to crawl off the trail prior. An ambulance was called and two attempts at contacting the Trail Centre before finally getting through. This was about 4:35. Luckily my helpers consisted of a Physiotherapist and a GP.

    Fast Responder Paramedic, then an ambulance, then it was decided on Mounting Rescue to get me off the hill on a spinal board and inflatable mattress. It was about 500m carry for the mountain rescue team to the ambulance, that’s as near as they could get, and that was over very rough terrain.

    Ambulance ride to Merthyr hospital, into A&E Resuscitate. They cut my riding gear off me, head and spinal CT scans and x-rays galore. I was finally released from the spinal board at 11:30 that evening. It took 2 hours to get me to the ambulance. I then spent two days in hospital with the orthopaedic team waiting for the radiology team to do more scans and x-rays. I was discharged on the Friday evening. I’d crashed on Wednesday afternoon.

    Lots of cuts, grazes, and bruises. Fractured right scapula, thankfully not on the joint area, fractured left ring finger, I’m in plaster for at least a month, and still having investigations in to my right hand and wrist. Worst case is scaphoid fracture, best case ligaments.

    I’m truly thankful for all the help I received from friends and the professionals. What I’ve come to realise is that even an innocuous bit of simple trail can result in big consequences if it goes wrong. The staff at BPW were almost out of the door and on their way home. Without them the paramedics and mountain rescue teams would have had a whole lot of trouble even finding us.

    Since I’ve been home, and following lots of conversations with friends and my riding mate, there’s a bit of my “risk assessor” background that keeps niggling away at me. Even though we were at a “Bike Park”, paid for entry and rules and regulations, there is no way of telling who is still on the hill, who’s gone home, who has had a fall and not been found. There’s a sign in procedure, nothing to sign out. I’m not blaming the staff or BPW for what happened to me, that is all very much my own responsibility, but it’s only a matter of time before something horrible goes wrong and someone is missed.

    As my mate was loading my car up and preparing to leave, he spotted 3 bikers riding into the park out of hours. There was no back up for them.

    We’ve discussed various things, may be a transponder of some sort, similar to those used at XC races with the ability to time your runs, logs you in at the gate of the trail and out at the end. With the bonus of “official timing”. If the transponder isn’t returned then it’s not too hard to track someone down to at least one trail.

    Whilst I was in hospital there was someone in the next room who had come in from BPW with a ruptured spleen! The staff estimated 3-4 casualties from BPW each week, those are the ones admitted, not just the walking wounded.

    Have some pictures:

    weeksy
    Full Member

    And that’s why so many wear FF and full body armour, even on the blues.

    It’s also why so many ride enduroy geometry full size bikes.

    Gws fella

    jimdubleyou
    Full Member

    Some (newer?) Garmins have incident detection – which fires off a text if finds something (need a smart phone for that to work).

    If you’re a Strava premium user, you can do a similar thing with their Beacon feature.

    It definitely keeps the Mrs from worrying on my commute.

    Hope you mend well.

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    P-Jay
    Free Member

    Ouch, glad it’s not a life changing injury.

    I go there a bit and living fairly close and knowing a lot of riders mean you hear a lot about the day to day shenanigans of the place.

    The blues claim a lot of the injuries, they’re wide, smooth and fast. I’ve never seen any rough trails there but they’ve recently closed Terry’s for a major rebuild so I don’t doubt it wasn’t it’s best a few weeks back and Sixapod closes all the time for work, it’s easily the busiest trail. It’s the same old tale really – it’s faster than most sections on most trails at BPW it’s faster than most other trails at other venues simply because it’s so ‘easy’ to ride and it’s the home of the less experienced riders so you find a lot of people laying bruised and battered because they’ve run out of room at speed. The “one more run” run at the end of the day is another big factor I guess.

    I know all cycle venues are subject to some kind of HSE oversight and I’d guess BPW more than the usual trail centre places – you don’t have to sign a disclaimer for Cwmcarn for example.

    Short of sending a member of staff down every trail and every sub-trail there after I’m not sure what could be done really, it would take hours and I’m not sure many of the centre staff are up to a quick run down the pro line to look for corpses. Signing out? I’m not sure that’s practical, a lot of people won’t do it, just because there’s nothing in it for them, but even the most public spirited is going to think twice about it if they’ve done 10 lifts and ended up at the end of hotsteppa – it’s a long boring climb back to the centre when you’re knackered, passing your car / van…

    I think it’s one of those times we have to rely on the individual – don’t ride alone, or if you do tell someone where you’re going and when to expect you back – just like going out to the woods for a ride.

    milky1980
    Free Member

    Glad you’re reasonably ok!

    Merthyr A&E gets a lot of riders weekly, they certainly noticed the increase in admissions when it opened!

    RE the checking out at the end of the day. I was up there in winter with a mate and he had a puncture on the last run of the day while we were doing Trey’s Belly. By the time we’d given up on sorting it (tubeless wouldn’t seal) and and rolled down to the bottom it was nearly pitch black and the centre staff were locking up! Surely our two cars in the car park were a clue there were still riders on the hill? Up until then I’d always presumed they swept the trails with a rider like they do in the Alpine resorts at close of play, obviously not! It’s for that reason I now avoid the last run of the day so that if I do fall off there will be another rider on their way down behind me.

    As for the Blues getting rough? They get a lot of use so that’s understandable. I have noticed that after each one is closed for maintenance they do seem to be getting much more ‘jumpy’ in nature, much easier to stack it at low speeds now. I know they’ve added Blue+ to their grading but it does seem like they’re letting the trails evolve above their grading in parts.

    russyh
    Free Member

    Sorry to hear that you took such a hit. Sounds like you did a good job on yourself!!

    As for the comments, I guess BPW is no different from any other trail centre? I ride in the evenings at the FOD all through the year and am very aware im on my own if it goes wrong. Luckily im always with a riding buddy

    fergal
    Free Member

    You are over thinking it, just get out and ride or take up knitting, there are far more serious past times out there, if you don’t have the skill to ride fast.. be cautious and ride within your ability, understanding and accepting risk, is all part of participating in adrenaline sports.

    antares
    Free Member

    maxtorque
    Full Member

    Mountain biking and crashing go hand in hand, but luckily, most of the time, except for a few cuts and bruises we get away with it.

    However, after what sounds like a fairly serious trip to hospital it may be worth revisiting your crash and trying to work out what happened and why.

    There are, of course, always those freak crashes, that happen no matter what, and if yours was one of those, then sorry, there is probably nothing you can do to avoid another. But generally, those freak crashes are actually fairly rare.

    So, why did you crash? Tired at the end of the day? Trying something you don’t have the skill set for? Going too fast due to overconfidence (again, typical end of the day kinda thing)?

    So, you can minimise crashing by

    1) Knowing your limits, and packing up one run early! (easy to say, difficult to do)
    2) Get some specific tuition (highly recommended, even if your not a full time crasher like me….. 😉
    3) Improve your observation and thinking on the bike (tends to come as your skills become more instinctive, giving you more time to think about what you are doing etc)

    And then you can mitigate the results of any crash that does occur:

    1) Buy and wear suitable protection (just because your riding a blue doesn’t mean “No pads and a half shell helmet” imo)
    2) Learn to crash – sounds silly but how you bail from the bike makes a BIG difference to the end result (i often see people OTB, right onto their face still holding the bars, brake locked on, panic on their face etc) Recognising it’s all gone petetong and getting out of there can help enormously. The problem with this one is it takes crashing to learn how to do it
    3) Up spec your bike to be capable of more before you get bucked off (generally doesn’t work, because you just ride faster / harder stuff….)

    Regarding the “not being left on the hill alone” factor, then riding at BPW, rather than some random wood in the middle of nowhere is an immediate advantage, as is riding with mates. You need to be self sufficient here, the more exposed you are on any given ride (to the risk of injury stranding you somewhere you’d rather not be stranded) the more you must plan for that eventuality to occur!

    chakaping
    Free Member

    Healing vibes, sounds like a nasty one.

    As Pjay says – Relying on riders to “clock out” would lead to endless false alarms. Getting staff to “sweep” the tracks would add a lot of man hours to the wage bill, for negligible benefit.

    I have to agree that it’s a case for personal responsibility.

    BPW contributing towards getting mobile reception on the hill might be the best safety measure?

    zilog6128
    Full Member

    My personal rule (same as when skiing/boarding) is that when I think I’ve got one more run left in me, that’s when to call it quits for the day. Takes a bit of discipline though 🙂

    Also not wearing a FF at BPW is madness IMO, unless you’re just bimbling down the trails. As said above the blues are the fastest therefore amongst the most dangerous IMO in terms of severity if you do crash. I’ve been loads and never needed my FF lid until last time when I came off on BlueBelle at high speed and landed on my face! I cannot tell you how glad I was to be wearing it then!

    +1 on personal responsibility. Any other solution just isn’t workable. Healing vibes OP!

    Hob-Nob
    Free Member

    Short of sending a member of staff down every trail and every sub-trail there after I’m not sure what could be done really, it would take hours and I’m not sure many of the centre staff are up to a quick run down the pro line to look for corpses.

    This is exactly what they do @ Whistler.

    The lift shuts, and they have sweeper runs by the public – you each pick a trail and take the corresponding lanyard, hop on the (closed to the public) lift and go do a cruising run down, just surveying for people who may have spanked themselves.

    Drop the lanyard off, they know the trail is clear. Obviously not totally fool proof if someone has spooned themselves good & proper off the track, deep into the woods, but you have to make a decision to which level are people going to check.

    the00
    Free Member

    OP – I totally agree. Your accident and injuries sound fairly awful. GWS.

    I’ve visited BPW once, 2 months ago, and was shocked at the lack of organisation and ownership of the area. I don’t want to be malicious, because I think the concept is awesome and I want the place to succeed. There are many changes needed to bring it up to scratch.

    For example, on none of the info boards do they say what to do in an emergency. Call 999 is obvious, but nothing about how to contact the centre. I had to Google it from the hillside, and then got the answer phone on multiple attempts. In the end I rode down the hill because someone else had come to look after the knocked out stranger I came across.

    the00
    Free Member

    Also, changing room and showers. Not essential, but pretty obvious requirement unless you prefer people wiping down with paper towels in the (two trap) toilets. There were a few hundred riders on the Saturday I visited.

    the00
    Free Member

    The lack of landscaping at the car park makes the whole place look rubbish. No footpath from car park to cafe for example.

    the00
    Free Member

    Going for my second visit on Friday, so it clearly isn’t the end of the world for me, yet.

    I agree about the lack of risk assessment and adequate risk mitigation, and it really gets my goat to see a great concept so poorly carried through. The whole experience could be better, and considerably safer for everyone.

    igm
    Full Member

    If you’re paying, then how about a sticker / RFI thing like you get on sportives?

    String a few sensors down the trails and you know where people have passed through.

    And it would allow for official times – though I’m not sure how H&S that is.

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    This is exactly what they do @ Whistler.

    The lift shuts, and they have sweeper runs by the public – you each pick a trail and take the corresponding lanyard, hop on the (closed to the public) lift and go do a cruising run down, just surveying for people who may have spanked themselves.

    Drop the lanyard off, they know the trail is clear. Obviously not totally fool proof if someone has spooned themselves good & proper off the track, deep into the woods, but you have to make a decision to which level are people going to check.

    This is a really good idea. One bus-full would cover all the trails and I’m sure plenty would be up for a final slow run, get a chance to look at the trail properly for once!

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    The blues are definitely the more dangerous trails, they’re so fast but seemingly easy and if you’re tired (particularly core strength fatigue) it doesn’t take much to send you flying.

    They’ve just started resurfacing Terry’s Belly, hundreds of tons of rock!

    RustySpanner
    Full Member

    Woah, healing vibes mate.

    Try and be positive, what are the odds on it happening twice?

    Being serious, I’ve friends and family who are or were pretty seriously into climbing, long distance walking, mountaineering, running, swimming, motorcycling, MTB, skiing etc.

    Still reckon MTB has the best risk/reward/still being around ratio long term.

    chakaping
    Free Member

    Still reckon MTB has the best risk/reward ratio long term.

    True dat.

    We were having a similar discussion the other day, after the subject of mountaineering came up somehow.

    For the buzz it offers at relatively low risk levels, MTB has to be unbeatable.

    bullroar
    Free Member

    Thanks for sharing, hopefully you’ll make a full and speedy recovery. Some good points for everyone to take note of, including BPW. I love the place and get there 3 or 4 times a year. However, I am unconvinced the culture is quite right with respect to safety. I got tuned in the hard way when the start to Viscous Valley got changed and was poorly signed; hurt a bit but I got off lightly compared to others.

    It is all well and good signing the disclaimer (all about rider responsibility) and being given an emergency number on a bit of paper which is soon lost. And in any event what is the point if it goes to answer phone? There is nothing to say what BPW will do in an emergency, what the accident policy is or at least nothing I have seen or been told. For balance, I have seen the drivers getting walked wounded back down the hill during the day.

    Comparing BPW to an hour up the local woods isn’t really a valid comparison; as far as I can see I have a contract with BPW and they have a duty of care.
    In common with other riders I assumed at the end of the day there was a sweep or similar to check everyone was down safe. I’d like to think that were the case but I have suspected not for some time. I think that is poor practice and poorer still that it is not publicly stated, I have often been on the last bus and never been told that is the case. I also find it a bit surprising they don’t even check the car park at the end of the day.

    I’m all in favour of self reliance and no fan of form filling, intrusive H&S nonsense but I’m not sure the balance is right. I’d loved to be wrong on that

    flashinthepan
    Free Member

    Excuse my ignorance (I’ve never been to BPW) but don’t you pay for the use of the trail at BPW – i.e. you’ll have to pay even if you don’t bring a car

    Surely this changes their responsibilities compared with somewhere like Swinley or CYB where the only payment is for parking

    bullroar
    Free Member

    Yes, you pay to enter the park and ride. You pay extra for the uplift service.

    Nobeerinthefridge
    Free Member

    If you go out on any hill, whether you pay for it or not, on your mountain bike, you and your riding buddies are responsible for yourselves and should know how to get safely off the hill in the event of an accident.

    There are apps for your phone that can pin point exactly where you are on an OS map that would help even the most unprepared people. Just because we are in bike parks or trail centres does not take the responsibility away from us.

    Tom_W1987
    Free Member

    We’ve discussed various things, may be a transponder of some sort, similar to those used at XC races with the ability to time your runs, logs you in at the gate of the trail and out at the end. With the bonus of “official timing”. If the transponder isn’t returned then it’s not too hard to track someone down to at least one trail.

    http://site.icedot.org/site/crash-sensor/

    Need a phone signal of course, unless you can rig one up to a Satellite phone.

    wrecker
    Free Member

    For example, on none of the info boards do they say what to do in an emergency.

    Is it not on the disclaimer/sign in? It is at Antur, but I haven’t been to BPW for so long that I can’t remember.

    DT78
    Free Member

    That fourth photo. Is that the reapers hand? If so lucky escape. Healing vibes.

    Tom_W1987
    Free Member

    Also not wearing a FF at BPW is madness IMO, unless you’re just bimbling down the trails. As said above the blues are the fastest therefore amongst the most dangerous IMO in terms of severity if you do crash. I’ve been loads and never needed my FF lid until last time when I came off on BlueBelle at high speed and landed on my face! I cannot tell you how glad I was to be wearing it then!

    This +1

    A lot of XC riders ride road as well – and so the attitude seems to be that “I don’t wear a full face on the road – why should I on a smooth blue”. Even just a set of goggles might have fended off the OP’s black eye. I reckon the Switchblade in Open face mode + goggles might be a really good shout, if you really don’t want a chinbar when riding blues.

    I’d also argue that you’re more likely to come off on a 120mm hardtail – these days they really just don’t compare to 130mmish, long, slack full sussers in terms of predictability – and thus safety.

    bullroar
    Free Member

    Two way street, riders have a responsibility, so does the Bike Park.

    howsyourdad1
    Free Member

    But was the bike OK?!?!?

    Healing vibes OP!

    P-Jay
    Free Member

    There’s details of the local A&E, telephone numbers etc on the boards, it’s also on the info sheet They give out when you sign in.

    They’re a bit handicapped by being ‘off grid’ – their only on-site number is a mobile with all that goes with.

    I guess no one needs to defend them, but I know from the experience that if you need help it’s best to get onto 999 and they’ll deal with the venue, I went down hard at Afan a couple of years ago, the rangers came to my aid but really the best they could do was offer first aid and open a gate for the ambo.

    flashinthepan
    Free Member

    @ Nobeerinthefridge
    Completely agree – we’re all responsible for ourselves on the trail, be it ‘natural’ or a trail centre. And of course, knowing the risks, our limits and so on.

    My point, or implied question, was: does the fact that BPW charge for the use of their trails mean they have some ‘duty of care’ over their customers?
    For example, ensuring an emergency line is manned (or what’s the point?) or taking reasonable steps to ensure nobody is left out on the trails once the park is closed?

    chipster
    Full Member

    Get well soon, OP.
    I’m going to BPW in July for the first time. I showed this thread to the wife, thinking that she’d accept my buying a full face helmet was a good idea. Nope.
    “You’re not **** going!” was what I got. 😕
    Obviously, I am still going, but what else could a 57 year old do to mitigate coming off on the blues, other than FF, knee and elbow pads?

    P-Jay
    Free Member

    Proactive protection is the key – look where you’re going, try to adjust to the extra speed and stay relaxed, I’ve got that nasty habit of riding tense when I’m starting to get out of my comfort zone, before I know it my hands are griping too hard, my arms aren’t flowing over the bumps and my calves are clamped to the seat – a sure fire way to disappear off the side of the trail ha ha.

    Just because it’s a ‘special trip’ doesn’t mean you have to ride all the blacks to ‘tick them off’ they’re not meant to be for everyone.

    If you’ve not rode many uplift days be wary of getting tried, I used to crash at the end of almost every uplift day at Cwmcarn, not badly but without the tricky business of climbing and adrenalin flowing you don’t always notice how tired you are until your hand falls from the grip or something.

    If you don’t want to splash out on a lot of protective kit you won’t use elsewhere BPW will rent you some for not much money.

    zilog6128
    Full Member

    but what else could a 57 year old do to mitigate coming off on the blues,

    chill out, enjoy the trails & ride well within your comfort level. But then where’s the fun in that? 🙂

    thestabiliser
    Free Member

    Ooooft. Will keep an eye on the classifieds, I need a cheap helmet.

    Sounds like they need to stick a few rock gardens in to keep us weekend warriors honest. (Never ridden there but feel the nature of the place would likely have me writing cheques my skills couldn’t cash. Not saying that’s what happened here btw)

    nwmlarge
    Free Member

    Chipster, get some coaching, not expensive and well worth the money

    oldfart
    Full Member

    Agreed on using the sweeper method , I was asked to do one in Whistler , in an odd way felt kind of privileged to be asked . I chose B Line , nice cruise down perfect for a mincer like me ! Empty trail nice to be of assistance . Good safety system providing non of the sweepers **** themselves !

    bullroar
    Free Member

    Chipster, don’t get the last bus!!

    Seriously, you do get tired by the end of the day and it is easy to get caught out.

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