Just a reminder to be careful when riding near exposure. Mountain biker dies from fall off cliff
That happened near Hood River, Oregon which is about an hour east of Portland. It’s an area that I’ve been looking at exploring for muni riding possibilities.
Riding a uni can in some ways be safer than riding a bike. But even on a uni, if you catch a pedal on a rock you can get pitched off and possibly over the edge. I’ve gone riding on trails with exposure. It’s wise to know your capabilities and remember that you aren’t invincible.
Yeah… This is why I had a not-fun ride on the Moab Amasa Back ride of 2004. Too much hairy exposure down the singletrack descent for my skill level. For Amasa Back 2005, I decided to skip the single track descent and instead bounce back down the big-ass staircase I had just worked so hard to climb. And man was it fun…
When I was in Arizona, I climbed a big hill with my two uncles and my Arizonian friend. At the very top, there was a gigantic drop straight down to the highway. It must have been over 200 feet if not higher and I was literally touching the edge. I’m a risk taker, so it wasn’t too scary, but I could definitely imagine the mangled pulp I would be if I fell off. I’ve got pics, but they’re on my laptop. I’ll get them off tonight for ya.
Although it doesn’t really count as a clif, I rode on the edge of a 2-foot wide brick wall that was 12 feet tall. It was pretty scary, and at the end I fell, but dove into the grass on the other side (see drawing). Unfortunately, the uni took a tumble off the edge, fortunately it didn’t even get a scratch; it landed right on the nice soft seat (thank god it wan’t a savage seat)!!! Here is a diagram of the hill (o yea, don’t bash me because of the terrible perportions of the wall, it’s a very rough sketch):
