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Lost MTBr in Carbon Cyn

6K views 54 replies 26 participants last post by  slowrider 
#1 ·
#2 ·
Yikes... I hate reading about this kind of thing.

I bought one of those crash sensors that are supposed to notify people in case you take a tumble and don't get up, but quickly realized it's utterly worthless without cell signal. So a pointless purchase on my part.

So I got one of those hardcore GPS rescue beacons, the only limitation of which is it requires an unobstructed view of the sky to work at its most powerful. It will work if you're under tree cover, just not as optimally.

BUT, it doesn't auto activate if you render yourself unconscious or if you're having a heart attack. I guess there's nothing you can really do to 100% protect yourself, except take precautions and hope for the best!

Here's hoping they find him in good time and in good health.
 
#4 ·
I ride here weekly and was out there yesterday helping with the search for a while. It hits home when you see the search and rescue folks out on the trail and can see the helicopters going by. There is no cell service in many parts of this area. I was thinking of getting a Garmin inReach and this has confirmed my thinking (ordered today). I do not always ride with someone so it's cheap insurance in case something goes wrong. The wife will feel better too as inReach sends a GPS location regardless of cell service. The ability to send and receive txt messages is assuring too.
 
#9 ·
I found out about this on my way into the park this morning when I got turned around by one of the local sheriffs. I'm curious what exactly happened to this guy. I've ridden Raptor Ridge for many years. It's not a hard trail in the slightest. The article mentions trauma and that he was found off the trail. It's pretty overgrown out there right now. It's actually kind of hard to get off of the trail in that area.
 
#12 ·
Wow very sorry to hear this. I too ride Raptor Ridge and that Park all the time. Super overgrown with seven foot weeds. Although not technical there are many holes and trenches out there due to rain and with poor trail visibility it's not hard to go off line or OTB. God Speed our fellow riding partner. Another reminder it's a potentially dangerous sport we do.


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#14 ·
First of all RIP. So Sad. Prayers with the family.

If you ride in an area without cell service the best solution I have found is SPOT Gen3.
I ride Topanga/Santa Monica mountains at night alone and their is no service.
My wife can see my location at any point and if I fall and get knocked out it will ping every 10 min from that location.

I am not saying and do not know if this would have changed the outcome however they definitely would have located him within a few hours.
 
#16 ·
What a sad, sobering outcome. I hope he didn't suffer and that he did indeed "go out" doing what he loved quickly.

It's heartbreaking to read these stories because it can literally happen to any one of us on any day on any trail.

Stay safe out there and keep this man and his family in your thoughts.
 
#19 ·
Wow, this really hits home. I'm also from Long Beach and I could almost swear this guys went to the same LA Fitness gym I go to... over at the traffic circle. RIP. Now it makes me think what precautionary tech I should get myself when I hit a trail.... especially since I got back into it after a few years off.
 
#21 ·
I hate when articles like this say the person was an "experienced mountain biker"... I have been riding for about 20 years now and would consider myself experienced, but i still fall on occasion, miss a turn, get an unexpected flat, etc... There are a number of things experience will not be able to prevent you from falling off the bike.

Always ride with another person, or spend the money on one of those GPS trackers that will alert someone if it senses a fall.

This is so sad.
 
#32 ·
Very sorry to hear this.

Hopefully, we will get more information so we can assess how best to prevent a repeat. Being an experienced rider does not always with being experienced when things go wrong.
There is no possible way to prevent these types of things from happening again. Mountain biking is an inherently risky sport and us human types are always pushing ourselves to get better. It's just what we do. Otherwise, we'd all still deriding on flat dirt trails somewhere instead of actually MOUNTAIN biking.

Likewise, as Klurejr pointed out, you never know what's going to cause a crash. I've been riding for 30 years in some form and ride every manner of trails, including gingerly picking my way down double blacks. However, both my MTB injuries have been at my closest "local" riding spot on relatively easy trails. My only severe injury, a fractured neck, came when I went OTB while rolling a drop at literally **walking speed**. I should have just shot off the drop but was cautious and it backfired. You just never know.
 
#31 ·
Sad news, RIP Sokha.
I read that he had signs of trauma but no details until after an autopsy can be performed, curious about what hazards he faced. As others have said it could have been any of us and he was the unfortunate one. This sort of story hits me hard because I work weekends and have for the most part weekdays off, making it difficult to find riding partners with similar availability, so I ride alone a lot, including Chino Hills 3 days after this unfortunate incident. I ride cautiously but we have to accept some risk to exercise our passions. Sokha will guide and protect us in peace, I'm sure most of us will think of him whenever we ride Fault line.
 
#35 ·
Saw a post elsewhere and he was quite a ways off trail. Perhaps he got off course with all the 12' mustard out there. Once off trail, throw out all the rules....rocks, cliffs, trees, holes, ruts...you name it, objects that aren't usually in the middle of a well traveled float ST.
 
#37 ·
It be s still green which means it is still growing. Not gonna burn in its current state. Clear it now and it's just gonna grow again. Give it a couple weeks to start dying, then blow it out.
 
#38 ·
I'm still curious to know what went wrong, but haven't read anything new. I tried to look up some coroner information but no new information came back. Told my wife of this over dinner and now she doesn't want me to ride solo anymore. So it's all the more reason for me to find out what happened so I can ease her worries
 
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