ditch riding is where the sport was born and will always be a part of riding in the flats. guys that haven't done it can't really wrap their minds around what its like. From years of ditch bangin and a fairly new mountain rider I will attest that ditch riding is far more dangerous than mountain riding is. Being down in the ditch at a lower level then the road and all the approaches and such it really is treacherous. Good luck with your injuries and where the hell is Tulare?!?!?!
what do you guys think
- Thread starter travydog
- Start date
S
shortstop20
Well-known member
Tulare is south of Redfield a bit.
figures, us people in sioux falls don't ever know where anything else in the state is at
i feel for ya sumitmax it really sucks. See thats the thing around here most ditches are clean not real wide but clean, and the ones that have tree stumps we just stay out of. It wouldnt bother me to do alot of night rideing in most ditches around here. See thats where i went all wrong I thought i knew the ditches especialy a mile and half wrong. Tulare is right next to the middle of no where out here. I know for a fact that i am not very good at mt ridenen, YET. But i think alot of hte guys that have only riden the mt would have a hard time riden some ditches around here, not saying they couldt but it would be just like me heading up in the mt i would probably be stuck or hit a tree or something hahha. It is a rush to ride in the ditches tho to , you can go from nice powder to a inch of snow in a couple of miles. I have hurd alot of guys saying on here they wont ride unless there is atleast a 2 foot base. Man if we waited for that we wouldnt get to ride, as long as there is a skiff of snow were riden!!!!!
The part that bothered me is that when I smoked that rock we were riding in a ditch that we were not farmiliar with, initially we were riding in a ditch that we know very well when the cops stopped us and said that we could not ride in the ditch and to take the quickest way home or to privat land, so we did and that is where the accident happened!!!
I think I might do the same as you travydog and go get the rock and put in front of my house as a seuvineer (as if the plates and screws aren't seuvineer enough)
Luckily since the accident I have moved and now it is just a short drive to Revelstoke or Golden to do some mountain sleddin.
I think I might do the same as you travydog and go get the rock and put in front of my house as a seuvineer (as if the plates and screws aren't seuvineer enough)
Luckily since the accident I have moved and now it is just a short drive to Revelstoke or Golden to do some mountain sleddin.
update
Well the (landowners) insurance man finaly called me back last week . What he told me i had to laugh at. He said the "company" rejected my claim to pay my medical bills becuse they concide that the farmer has a rockpile about a quarter mile away and it must have fallen out of the loader while picking rock, but there just not sure so they dont want to take liabilty for it. BUT they will give me a $1000 and make me sign a waiver so i cant come back and sue them or the farmer in the future. I told the guy well you can take your thousand dollars and stick it where the sun dont shine , that was almost a insult to me. Its like here we know you have alot of medical bills but here is a 1000 for you pain and suffering that should help right. what idiots. Oh well life goes on.
Well the (landowners) insurance man finaly called me back last week . What he told me i had to laugh at. He said the "company" rejected my claim to pay my medical bills becuse they concide that the farmer has a rockpile about a quarter mile away and it must have fallen out of the loader while picking rock, but there just not sure so they dont want to take liabilty for it. BUT they will give me a $1000 and make me sign a waiver so i cant come back and sue them or the farmer in the future. I told the guy well you can take your thousand dollars and stick it where the sun dont shine , that was almost a insult to me. Its like here we know you have alot of medical bills but here is a 1000 for you pain and suffering that should help right. what idiots. Oh well life goes on.
So if you're not taking their HUSH MONEY. Will you sue them? I would just for fun. Only problem is lawyers cost money. Sounds like they may be a little nervous to me.
thats what my lawer thinks to but he says its hard to fight insurance co. and the farmer has no money. the hardest part is trying to say who put the rock there in a court of law hahhaha i know how the rock got there but no proof, the county says its not there land and the farmers insurace says its not on there land prety much hahhaha so whos land is in the bottom of the ditch is it mine or the guys down the road or whos land is it hahhaha maybe i should take a single row corn planter and farm down the center of the ditch if no one wants to own up to whos land it is i might as well make a profit on it. But the minit someone did something like that they both would be saying it is there land
more info
I have a few questions for ya travydog.
1 when did the rock get moved? I understand it would be most likely aproximate but was it in the fall or after the sled season started???
2 how much snow cover was there???
3 did the rock block access to said farmers field???
4 Is there a posted sled speed limit???
5 were ther any other contributing factors??? (Drugs booze weather ect)???
hope you are feeling better
DOC OUT
"Love your enemies!!! While you are hating them, they are out dancing"
I have a few questions for ya travydog.
1 when did the rock get moved? I understand it would be most likely aproximate but was it in the fall or after the sled season started???
2 how much snow cover was there???
3 did the rock block access to said farmers field???
4 Is there a posted sled speed limit???
5 were ther any other contributing factors??? (Drugs booze weather ect)???
hope you are feeling better
DOC OUT
"Love your enemies!!! While you are hating them, they are out dancing"
I have a few questions for ya travydog.
1 when did the rock get moved? I understand it would be most likely aproximate but was it in the fall or after the sled season started??? oct or november before snow flew
2 how much snow cover was there???mabey 6 inches to a foot
3 did the rock block access to said farmers field??? yes it did, i have hurd that he put it there because hunters were suposadly going into his feild
4 Is there a posted sled speed limit??? not posted but it is 55 the speed of the road
5 were ther any other contributing factors??? (Drugs booze weather ect)???nope
1 when did the rock get moved? I understand it would be most likely aproximate but was it in the fall or after the sled season started??? oct or november before snow flew
2 how much snow cover was there???mabey 6 inches to a foot
3 did the rock block access to said farmers field??? yes it did, i have hurd that he put it there because hunters were suposadly going into his feild
4 Is there a posted sled speed limit??? not posted but it is 55 the speed of the road
5 were ther any other contributing factors??? (Drugs booze weather ect)???nope
Imho
IMHO
The farmer did not put the stone there to hurt you or anyone else it sounds to me like he was trying to protect his fields from motor vehicles.
I have seen sleds do damage to fields with low snow (NOT IMPLIING YOU WERE RIDING IN THE FIELD)
IT also sounds like you were travaling too fast for conditions.
I see that there is a lot of "ditch banging" in the Dakotas. Is this becuase there is alot of private land that is not open to sleds??? If so do you think a farmer getting sued for protecting his crop land will get even more private land closed???
I am truly sorry for your misfortune but In the end we all are ultamatly responsable for our own safety and our own actions.
In some regards this is a great lesson for all of us to survey where we are riding before hitting it a top speed you never know if there is a new fence a tree across the trail a ditch a rock ect.
take care
DOC
IMHO
The farmer did not put the stone there to hurt you or anyone else it sounds to me like he was trying to protect his fields from motor vehicles.
I have seen sleds do damage to fields with low snow (NOT IMPLIING YOU WERE RIDING IN THE FIELD)
IT also sounds like you were travaling too fast for conditions.
I see that there is a lot of "ditch banging" in the Dakotas. Is this becuase there is alot of private land that is not open to sleds??? If so do you think a farmer getting sued for protecting his crop land will get even more private land closed???
I am truly sorry for your misfortune but In the end we all are ultamatly responsable for our own safety and our own actions.
In some regards this is a great lesson for all of us to survey where we are riding before hitting it a top speed you never know if there is a new fence a tree across the trail a ditch a rock ect.
take care
DOC
travydog, sorry to hear about your situation. I to am a flatlander and have had three come offs due to hazards in the flatlands,trail going thru field hit a plowed road- back injury, trail going thru field hit the top of a hidden rock was ejected and broke my leg, trail running in ditch, came off road approach was not ejected but tore a muscle in my back. I wish westerners could understand, some of the best riding Ive had is ditch banging after a major dumping. As much as you would like to retaliate that would only bring you down to his level and does nothing to help to promote land use which is allready hard enough for us flattys. I hope every thing goes good with the leg, I was down for about 8 months with my injury and still ride a little gun shy which is a good thing.
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i understand where your comeing from, but if it was me or anyone else around here we would have either 1. just put the fence back up that was taken down for the farmer to get in and out. or 2 put the rock in line with the fence not out in the middle of the ditch. our group was never going to go into this farmers feild it is a crp feild not a crop land feild. we were going from one guys ground over to my familys ground that is a couple of miles away. There were two guys infront of me that didnt even see the rock they were just a little farther up on the ditch edge. And actually every year we go around and ask the local farmers that woulnt be rideing with us and get permision to ride and hunt cyotes on the land and we have them sighn a book from the state game fish and parks so we and the gfp have permision. I dont know the state code but i have looked it up and on a ungroomed ditch you are required to ride in the right hand ditch and the speed limit is 55 just like a if you were in a vehicle. Maybey i was going to fast or not who knows i really dont know how fast i was going i wasnt looking at my speedo. If it was a tree or somehting like that i would understand that and let it roll off my back like water and go on with life, no big deal. There is noone in the community that likes this famly they are shisters and the only reason they farm the little that they do is for the insurance they put the crops in late dont harvest them till snow flies, and when they thought they would put there land in crp they didnt do a thing with it and it got over run with cannadian thistles and they got there payments taken away from them. I didnt like them before this all happend but now i will never have a thing to do with them. He had the balls to ask me how i was doing and after i said i was getting better he said that he knew what i was going threw because his knee hurt all winter. I wanted to so baddy either smoke him or yell at him but i just kept on walking. I should have survayed the land more and from now on i will, but i assumed that since it was a mile from my house i thought it was safe. The thing you have to realize that the road i live on is 10 miles inbetween to highways and it is my house one otehr hous in that 10 mile streach. in the section i live in there is only one other house there is alot of land inbetween farm houses alot of the sections of land around here only have on farmstead on them, and most of the time we ride there is a bunch of us and we only go on the land of the people that are with us we dont go on others land, and how bad do sleds really hurt the land around here not a ioda of harm by spring you cant tell there ever was a sled around. The reason i was told by many was that it was because of pheasnt hunters not sled that were on his land, and truthfully i have never seen anyone on his land besides him, and with the flatland around here you can see. But anyway I am going to let it go and go on with my life I have a new sled and am looking forward to this winter to get out there and ride again.
The farmer did not put the stone there to hurt you or anyone else it sounds to me like he was trying to protect his fields from motor vehicles.
I have seen sleds do damage to fields with low snow (NOT IMPLIING YOU WERE RIDING IN THE FIELD)
IT also sounds like you were travaling too fast for conditions.
I see that there is a lot of "ditch banging" in the Dakotas. Is this becuase there is alot of private land that is not open to sleds??? If so do you think a farmer getting sued for protecting his crop land will get even more private land closed???
I am truly sorry for your misfortune but In the end we all are ultamatly responsable for our own safety and our own actions.
In some regards this is a great lesson for all of us to survey where we are riding before hitting it a top speed you never know if there is a new fence a tree across the trail a ditch a rock ect.
take care
DOC[/QUOTE]
The farmer did not put the stone there to hurt you or anyone else it sounds to me like he was trying to protect his fields from motor vehicles.
I have seen sleds do damage to fields with low snow (NOT IMPLIING YOU WERE RIDING IN THE FIELD)
IT also sounds like you were travaling too fast for conditions.
I see that there is a lot of "ditch banging" in the Dakotas. Is this becuase there is alot of private land that is not open to sleds??? If so do you think a farmer getting sued for protecting his crop land will get even more private land closed???
I am truly sorry for your misfortune but In the end we all are ultamatly responsable for our own safety and our own actions.
In some regards this is a great lesson for all of us to survey where we are riding before hitting it a top speed you never know if there is a new fence a tree across the trail a ditch a rock ect.
take care
DOC[/QUOTE]
I used to live in your area many years ago, enjoyed riding on the James River and did my share of ditch banging. One December myself and couple of friends decided to ride the river at night, we all worked during the day. We were the first ones out that year and we were watching carefully for obstacles in the river, rocks, fences, etc. Two of us were riding side by side at about 15 to 20 mph on the ice as I looked over at my friend beside me I saw him get jerked backwards and at the same instant I felt pressure on my neck and chest, I immediately threw my hands up and fell backwards off my old TNT F/A. We had hit an unmarked single strand of barb wire stretched across the river from bank to bank. My friend always rode with his helmet unstrapped so when his helmet hit the ice it came off and his head bounced on the ice shattering his front teeth. My jacket was ripped and my neck had a cut about 4 inches long, my zip-up collar had probably kept my throat from being cut wide open, we were very lucky. We settled with the landowners insurance company, (they came to us), for our expenses. Because of our accident and another like it hearings were held to determine if landowners could fence the James River and it was determined that the river was a navigable waterway and could only be fenced down to the vegetation line. I was sorry to hear about your accident, I hope your recovery is complete and I know from experience that it will probably affect how you ride in the future, I myself have never ridden at night since and we did not ride the river much after that, how we were never killed racing down that river in the middle of the night I will never know, and then the one night we were being careful we almost had our heads taken off. I know one thing if I was a landowner and had a fence across that river without any sort of marker, or any other dangerous obstacle, I would not be able to sleep at night. Sorry for hijacking your thread but I thought you might like to hear a similar story from your area. Here's wishing you better times in the future.
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Just a little update on my storie. I am doing good I still have to watch it when im jumping and stuff, but had a great season last year. I still have not sued the landowner for putting the rock there, He was diagnosed with lung cancer and had a lung removed(never smoked a day in his life). I figured I wouldnt add insult to his injuries. Also have a new sled this year to. In a few weeks some of us in our club are going to go just drive around this little slice of heaven we call home and check for rocks and other obsticals in the ditches so nothing like this will happen again to anyone else. That is kinda a little ritual we have started now. My knee isnt 100% but it is good enuf for a great day of rideing, just have to hit the hot tub after. I hope we all have a great season of sledding and to all be safe out there ya never know when something will happen.
I have read what happened to you. I am sorry you got injured.
You say that you can't move your knee all the way?
Where was your physical therapy while you were injured?
Even though your leg was not load bearing, I know they have some kind of exercises to move your joints so they don't freeze up.
Also, your joints don't freeze up in a month, or even 3 months. They might get stiff but they don't freeze.
You say that you can't move your knee all the way?
Where was your physical therapy while you were injured?
Even though your leg was not load bearing, I know they have some kind of exercises to move your joints so they don't freeze up.
Also, your joints don't freeze up in a month, or even 3 months. They might get stiff but they don't freeze.
B
Bkinz
Well-known member
IMHO You don't have anything to sue him for. It would be like me trying to sue the U.S. forest service for putting a rock right where I crashed and broke my collar bone this summer. Its nothing but our own fault, I ended up having to have surgery, a plate, six screws, and thousands of dollars later it is still my own fault. It sucks that you got hurt that bad, and I wish you a full recovery. But its not worth the the hassle of court, plus you said the farmer doesn't have any money. So whats the point? Take the poor old mans house?
it wasnt froze completley strait at first. I could move it about 25 degrees then they broke it loose the first time and i got it to go to about 50 degrees then on the second time they broke it loose it did end up going most of the rest of the way. I can walk and run a little and it does get better with each day but I still have to watch it a little it likes to go the other way sometimes and hyper extend but thats why I am a little more carefull and watch where I walk. The one difference in between the forest service putting the rock there and the farmer putting the rock there is that the rock in the forest probably was there forever. The rock that I hit wasnt it got put there during pheasant hunting season, and like I said I am fine with it now. Any other farmer would have just closed the gate and put the fence back up to keep hunters out, but not him. You have to know the guy. I do still hold harsh feelings against him and wouldnt walk across the street to piss on him if he was on fire but I am not going to go out of my way to talk or to do anything. I have picked up and moved on. I have a great job on the farm here and am doing good enuf to have paid my medical bills off and bought a new summit this year so what can I say. There are some blessings in disguies(spelling) like it brought my family closer and brought the community a little closer. I was the lucky one. While I was in the hospital with my broken leg a guy from a neighboring town was cought in a avalanch in the horns and paid the ultimite price. then last year a another guy hit a rock pile in the middle of the section and died. So yes I am the fortunate one here. I used to be a hot head and fly off the handle a little bit, now I am alot more mellowed out hahaha. well thank you for all the well wishes and everything and all the suport. It is greatly aprecaited. Thank You again
Travydog
Travydog
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