Tragic death at Swinley today

RIP good mate. You went on ahead, but you’ve always waited for me; so we will meet again at the trail’s end.

Lovely words at the end. It’s a hard thing to lose a good friend unexpectedly, hits you hard. Hope you get over the grief soon, but that the good memories remain forever. All the best pal.

All very sad news. My thoughts are with ripmk and Marks family. Sounds like he was just doing what we all do but had worse luck

Lots of useful comments on here. I’ll reply to one of them

Still find it hard getting my head around someone dying at Swinley from crashing, but I’ve seen a few offs there and I guess it takes a series of very unlikely factors all combining at once to turn a normal scrape-your-arm crash into something fatal.

I think its easy to underestimate what its like to be stopped from high speed by hitting a tree. I was in the process of gracefully falling to the ground when a tree rudely got in the way. It was barely a glancing blow but it was an eye opener as to what a full speed hit would be like

Looking back at my own riding (my skills aren’t great) I’m sure I’ve been closer to serious injury on swoopy and fast then rocky and technical. Purely because I’m so much slower on the rocky bits

Other people have already said this better than me. Lovely words at the end. Very sorry that you have lost someone very important to you. Thanks for coming on here to let us know.

Great words there, again thoughts with all his family and friends.

Very sad and great words.
I don’t know when I will get back to swinley but when I do I will spare a thought for Mark.

It’s the JRA that can catch anyone out, I’ve had tumbles on seemingly simple sections, just takes an awkward fall.

RIP fella.

I came back to this thread a couple of hours after I first read ripmk’s post as I was that affected by it. The last paragraph is really the most moving thing I have read in a very long time.

Take care ripmk.

Touching words, very well said. You and all concerned have my absolute and deepest sympathies.

RIP Mark. Next time I ride through Red 25 you will be in my thoughts.

@ripmk, thanks for taking the time in sharing that with us.

Thank you all for your support and comments. Mark’s family and friends have been very touched by the strong sense of community spirit shown by all the riders that have posted and by the fantastic show of support from around 120 riders turning up for the memorial ride today. The minute silence followed by a round of spontaneous applause at the accident site was a fitting tribute to a great man. It makes me proud to be part of such a fantastic group of people.

We especially liked the single poppy held on the tree with an elastic band: simple, resourceful and touching – a lovely tribute, the picture from a group of riders was nice too, thanks to all for those.

It may be a while before the fun returns to my riding, and even then I may always be a bit more cautious, but I will always have Mark riding with me in spirit.

Many thanks and keep having fun, but be safe doing it.

CH.

I just thought I would give some closure. Mark’s family, ex-Army colleagues and friends gathered en mass to give him a wonderfully touching and fitting send off yesterday that celebrated his life and achievements. He was obviously loved and respected by so many and it was an honour to have been a part of his life story.

Thanks for the update CH.

I’ll certainly pay my respects on my next visit to R25.

Thanks Spacemonkey, it’s appreciated.

Be safe.

Rode Swinley this morning. Stopped at the top of Red 25 before the fast, jumpy bit. Me and my mate had a chat and a think about Mike. Being where something terrible happened certainly made it very real. Ride safely, everyone.

Rode Swinley this morning. Paused at the top of R25, much like Dom, and reflected on Mark’s passing. Very sad, especially as that section really is so benign. Puts things into perspective. Thought the tyre was a nice touch.

Stay safe everyone.

@ripmk – whilst it is indeed tough to lose a friend, the fact that they were your friend means that you have many happy memories to reflect upon. Think back and remember all of those comedy falls, inept attempts at clearing an obstacle, and all the awful jokes – nobody can take those away from you.

Dom: thanks for the thoughts. Space monkey: the tyre is my doing, he used to ride on that type. Added a photo of Mark and I after a muddy ride on the old trails this afternoon as we took a mutual non-riding friend to see the spot. It is relatively benign but trees are hard whatever speed you hit them so it was an unlucky twist of fate. I know he was pushing on that bit to improve his time. I will always ride it at 90% now – just in case. Belugabob: Thanks mate, nice sentiment and we do have some great memories to fall back on and so does his family (some of which came to light at his wake) so yes the good times will help us heal.

A nice touch is that the mbr editor has dedicated this month’s mag to Mark and Will Olsen who died a week later from a similar accident in Colorado during the world enduro series. A nice tribute to both men.

CH.

I rode Swinley today, and forgot all about this thread

But went past his memorial on Red 25 today, caught it out of the corner of my eye & gave him a notional ‘doff as I remembered why/who