Encouraged by our success of Friday bike rides we took off this morning for rides closer to Steinhatchee. Tom and Steve researched both trails and attractions near our “campsite”, and discovered Steinhatchee Falls – “the widest waterfall in Florida” at 40 feet or so in width and maybe a 2-3 foot drop – reminding Scott of the Stonehenge set in Spinal Tap. We arrived mid-morning and took off on their trail which could definitely have used some maintenance. Every 30-40 feet for the first ½ mile we had to get off our bikes to walk them around an obstruction or hand them over a fallen tree. Tom was deaf to Scott’s pleas to turn back while we could, while Steve resolutely soldiered on. When Steve sprained an ankle Tom asked if it was broken. When Steve responded -no-, Tom declared “so you can keep going, right.” After an hour or so of bushwacking, we came across a dirt road and followed it to another dirt road, which intersected with the driveway to the falls. As Steve and Tom started to load the bike, Scott made the fateful decision to explore the path along the Steinhatchee river on the other side of the falls parking lot.
This path looked much better than the original one. Scott returned to his fellow OWGers, and they reassembled the bikes and we went off on the “better” trail for a ½ mile or so when it sorta ended at an intersecting creek. Tom followed a much smaller, steeper trail for a while along the creek, then declared that we should, indeed, turn around. As always Tom was in the lead. Steve was next, with Scott at the rear. Tom, always the fastest and fearless, developed a big lead and made it to Polo rapidly. Scott and Steve met a different fate.
While searching for reasons for his fall, Steve blames the lack of maneuverability of his bike, badly placed vines, and such. His fall was spectacular, bouncing first on his back, and then his helmet bounced on the trail. Then his camera on his vest carrier hit his chin opening a serious slice with an impressive amount of blood. Scott parked his bike and raced to the scene, inconsiderately asking Steve if he was alright and pulling the bike up without an adequate photo of Steve and the bike on the ground for the blog.
Missing Photo of Steve on the ground
After a few minutes the stars that Steve saw from the head blow (which would have been much worse if he wasn’t wearing a helmet) faded, and Steve got up, allowed a few impressive pictures of the wound and blood spatter, and rode his bike back to where Tom had already stowed his bike and was impatiently waiting for us to return.
After lengthy discussion on the urgency of medical care -vs- hunger, hunger won out and we went to Skullyz BBQ near the campground. We ate the excellent BBQ in the cold and wind, then returned to the campground.
Tom and Steve went on to the ER at the hospital, while Scott stayed in the camper to read and nap. Steve’s doctor put 6 stitches in to close the wound, which went clear to the chin bone. As the pain wears off Steve is noting pain in the knees, back, and jaw, and the doctor said this would be worse tomorrow. But his ankle feels fine.
