On the afternoon of March 27th, rangers responded to a report of a serious mountain bike injury on the White Rim Trail. The patient, a 60-year-old retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, was on his fourth day of cycling and was just north of Musselman Arch when the accident occurred on a slightly downhill section of the road. His companions reported that he went into a ditch, which folded the front wheel of the bicycle and sent him headfirst into the ground. He was wearing a helmet, which was heavily damaged in the crash, but sustained serious injuries to his neck and spine and reported no sensation or movement in his lower extremities. A member of his party drove to the top of the Shafer Trail and contacted the Island in the Sky entrance station. Rangers, Grand County emergency medical service personnel, and a St. Mary?s Life Flight helicopter responded. The man was assessed, treated, packaged and flown to St. Mary?s hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado. His condition is not presently known.
