superdave013
11-09-2006, 10:22 AM
lol, And the motorway is not even that hard. But still, riding a moto on that trail is a big no no. Dude is lucky that it's been warm up there lately. Even more lucky that a big cat didn't come by and woof him down.
Stranded motorcyclist tells of night spent in the forest
Buena Park man recovering after fall down ravine
By KIMBERLY EDDS
The Orange County Register
Dennis Chesebro spent Monday night shivering at the bottom of a rocky ravine in the Cleveland National Forest. His right leg dangled lifelessly from his knee, a mass of torn ligaments ripped and twisted by rocks and brush as he plunged from the trail above.
The 47-year-old cosmetics manufacturer willed himself to ignore the throbbing in his leg. His face was scratched and scraped. His throat was raw from hours spent screaming for help. He looked up the steep canyon wall and saw his Honda 650 off-road motorcycle, with his helmet strapped to the back, dangling over the side.
His wife, Kay, would be getting worried. He was just going for a ride, he had told her. Kay had warned him not to buy the bike: He was getting too old for that kind of thing. But at 47 he still had a lot exploring to do, he told her. And on Monday he had set his sights on Santiago Motorway.
"Trail" is a misnomer: Narrow and covered with rocks and chaparral, it is usually tackled by only advanced mountain bikers, and even those are few and far between.
Chesebro's motorcycle gave out somewhere on his way down the motorway. He took off his helmet and began walking, making his way along the brush-covered path. About 4 p.m. the rocks and dirt gave way. The 270-pound Chesebro grabbed at the wall with the work gloves he was wearing, but he slid down the length of the ravine, bouncing 90 feet to the bottom.
"It all happened so fast. I didn't even have time to think," Chesebro said.
He yelled, and he yelled. No one heard him. He tried his cell phone. There was no signal.
"I know I shouldn't have been out there alone," he said. It was getting dark and cold. In a long-sleeve T-shirt and jeans, he shuddered through the night.
Morning came, and the canyon began to heat up. No one was coming to help. Using his motorcycle kneepads and a couple of sticks, Chesebro tried to make a brace for his leg. He started crawling up the canyon, backing up slowly.
"I knew I had to do it," Chesebro said. "I just kept going." Inches at a time he made it up the canyon, dragging his injured leg behind him.
A few feet below the top he stopped. He couldn't make it anymore. And then, two heads appeared mountain bikers peeking over the rock slide at the top.
"He looked like he was just taking a break," climber Eric Foltz of Lake Forest said.
"Hey, are you OK?" Foltz yelled down.
"I'm OK, except for my busted leg," Chesebro yelled back. Foltz, 43, and his brother-in-law Jim Helsel, 38, of Laguna Niguel rushed into the ravine.
CThey handed over their camelback water bags, and Chesebro drained them. Helsel rushed to a house down Santiago Canyon Road to call for help.
Foltz tried to keep the injured man talking. Chesebro spoke about his wife and tried to get rid of the motorcycle that had put him at the bottom the ravine.
"He told me: 'It's yours. It's yours. I'll sign it over to you tomorrow," Foltz said. "But I just kept telling him, 'No, you'll be back out there."
More than 20 hours after Chesebro tumbled down the canyon, firefighters airlifted him to West Anaheim Medical Center.
With doctors working to reconstruct his damaged leg, Chesebro is hanging up his helmet.
Stranded motorcyclist tells of night spent in the forest
Buena Park man recovering after fall down ravine
By KIMBERLY EDDS
The Orange County Register
Dennis Chesebro spent Monday night shivering at the bottom of a rocky ravine in the Cleveland National Forest. His right leg dangled lifelessly from his knee, a mass of torn ligaments ripped and twisted by rocks and brush as he plunged from the trail above.
The 47-year-old cosmetics manufacturer willed himself to ignore the throbbing in his leg. His face was scratched and scraped. His throat was raw from hours spent screaming for help. He looked up the steep canyon wall and saw his Honda 650 off-road motorcycle, with his helmet strapped to the back, dangling over the side.
His wife, Kay, would be getting worried. He was just going for a ride, he had told her. Kay had warned him not to buy the bike: He was getting too old for that kind of thing. But at 47 he still had a lot exploring to do, he told her. And on Monday he had set his sights on Santiago Motorway.
"Trail" is a misnomer: Narrow and covered with rocks and chaparral, it is usually tackled by only advanced mountain bikers, and even those are few and far between.
Chesebro's motorcycle gave out somewhere on his way down the motorway. He took off his helmet and began walking, making his way along the brush-covered path. About 4 p.m. the rocks and dirt gave way. The 270-pound Chesebro grabbed at the wall with the work gloves he was wearing, but he slid down the length of the ravine, bouncing 90 feet to the bottom.
"It all happened so fast. I didn't even have time to think," Chesebro said.
He yelled, and he yelled. No one heard him. He tried his cell phone. There was no signal.
"I know I shouldn't have been out there alone," he said. It was getting dark and cold. In a long-sleeve T-shirt and jeans, he shuddered through the night.
Morning came, and the canyon began to heat up. No one was coming to help. Using his motorcycle kneepads and a couple of sticks, Chesebro tried to make a brace for his leg. He started crawling up the canyon, backing up slowly.
"I knew I had to do it," Chesebro said. "I just kept going." Inches at a time he made it up the canyon, dragging his injured leg behind him.
A few feet below the top he stopped. He couldn't make it anymore. And then, two heads appeared mountain bikers peeking over the rock slide at the top.
"He looked like he was just taking a break," climber Eric Foltz of Lake Forest said.
"Hey, are you OK?" Foltz yelled down.
"I'm OK, except for my busted leg," Chesebro yelled back. Foltz, 43, and his brother-in-law Jim Helsel, 38, of Laguna Niguel rushed into the ravine.
CThey handed over their camelback water bags, and Chesebro drained them. Helsel rushed to a house down Santiago Canyon Road to call for help.
Foltz tried to keep the injured man talking. Chesebro spoke about his wife and tried to get rid of the motorcycle that had put him at the bottom the ravine.
"He told me: 'It's yours. It's yours. I'll sign it over to you tomorrow," Foltz said. "But I just kept telling him, 'No, you'll be back out there."
More than 20 hours after Chesebro tumbled down the canyon, firefighters airlifted him to West Anaheim Medical Center.
With doctors working to reconstruct his damaged leg, Chesebro is hanging up his helmet.