If Your Bike Falls Down a Cliff, How Do You Get it Back???

So I've been on some nasty single track in my day, and some of this single track has a dropoff on one side such that I call it a "no shit trail" because you are puckered so tight.

My questions is this: If you do make a mistake, and the bike falls down into a ravine, how do you get it back out? Someone told me once that you are required to pay for the government to use a helicopter to get it out. I wonder if this has happened to anyone here...

Just curious...

You attend a Trials clinic, learn to appreciate steepness, get your ass down the cliff, start your bike, and ride back up said cliff you originally sent the bike down.

Strong friends, ropes, and a crapload of beer.

Hahaha! Right? I wish. Sometimes I wish they made a street legal trials bike with a big enough tank to go all these places...

Winch it back up?

http://www.warn.com/atv/winches/XT17_portable.shtml

I helped recover a V-Storm sidecar rig that went 30 feet down a 45 degree embankment.

Oops,


Clearing brush,




BMW rig with winch,


Ural as an anchor for a rope puller.


Starting the pull, winch doing most of the work, rope puller keeping it going in the right direction.


Made it to the top,


Rider and rig ok,



And best line of the day,
"I have service, should I call AAA?"

Did a quick search and didn't find it - but I remember seeing an amazing story w/ pics here that showed a guy taking his bike apart, hauling the pieces up the hill and then putting it all back together again and riding away!

My wife went over a 30' cliff once on an old quad I used to have. I was able to find a slightly easier place to ride back up to the trail.

I've used a Z Drag system of ropes, prussic and small pulleys to rescue a snowmobile from down in a creek. It's a pretty simple setup assuming you have an anchor point. Web search will come up with lots of info.

I've never been in that situation myself thankfully but I know one inmate here who told the story of him parking his XR650 waaaay down a steep rocky slope. After all else he had failed he spent a day disassembling the bike into pieces, carrying them up the slope and then reassembling it again!

That's a great "ride report" !

I read the full ride report story over in the hack section. Sucks that the guys rig went over theedge but all in all a good story.

Well mine is just a little Wr250R and no Ural sidecar, and having a winch onboard seems a bit, well, "heavy"... :)

I'm just surprised it doesn't happen more often, given some of the precarious trails I've seen.

There's always this video I found:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVUo0qXClw4

And this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXiqgD5EKeA

Both of these guys got so friggin lucky...

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rwhpI6sG12Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1DnDCWvVEag" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

http://www.pugetsoundsafety.com/main.php?task=products&cmd=main#cat=23&pid=73

Ive been riding singletrack since I was about 15 or so,the whole "going over the edge" while riding narrow trail cut into a sidehill doesnt happen much unless a guy is new at it,and gets target fixation on the downhill side.
You WILL go where you look just like always.

Gotta concentrate on the trail ahead and Dont lean to the downhill side or put that foot out no matter what,it gets ugly quick if you do.

A newb went over the edge the other weekend,a couple of us had tow straps so we tied em together and 6 or 7 of us hauled it straight up more then 15'.

He said he just started staring over the edge,his foot came out and he went for a fast ride straight down with the bike on top of him,I watched it and was relieved when he got up and was ok.

Its a mental thing riding those kinds of trails more then anything.

Use a block and tackle, they have worked for hundreds of years.

Those are both really smart videos,1st one the guy is hauling ass like hes in a race....right next to a huge cliff while riding through rocks.
Avoidable? If he had gone with the bike,that would be that.

Next video he rides right over a blind hill where there was nothing but a cliff,coulda been 100' drop for all he knew.
Smart? Look before you leap.

Both good lessons

And who will carry that on a singletrack bike?
In 35 years of trail riding I would have needed it once so far.
But it would work great if you had it.

The kit I linked weighs less than 3 pounds and can be used for numerous things other than bike recovery...