Hey everybody, another update here to let you know how my season has been. A couple weeks ago the Anthill film crew came out to Kamloops to do some shooting. We spent 4 days hiking around to my different trails and stunts to put the finishing touches on them, and to decide how the crew would film them.

We got everything ready and decided to shoot a trail that evening. This particular trail parallels a gravel road for about 150 metres. In that stretch there are three really nice burmed corners into a big step down gap that I built. We decided to film it from a truck driving on the road beside the trail. The trail was a blast to ride. Coming in hot to the three berms on my Demo 7 and ripping through them felt like the coolest run in to the big step down! The line felt so sweet. The footage looked really great too.

The next day we had another trail to shoot with a medium sized hip jump on it. It seemed like a simple line. I decided to ride the line and warm up while the cameras were getting set up. I did a few run-ins to the jump to get my speed right, and then went for it. I made a big mistake. I had forgotten to account for the fact that it was a brand new jump, and so it was still quite soft. 

The jump pulled at my tires as I went off. I was flying through the air very nose-heavy. NOT a good feeling. I held onto the bike to try and ride it out but when I landed I couldn't save it. I hit the ground hard, taking a huge impact to my head and shoulders.I rolled over at the bottom of the landing and tried to catch my breath. I knew I had crashed really hard, so I was trying to do an inventory of my body to see where I was damaged. The film crew told me I had been unconscious  for about 6 or 8 seconds and I had some pain between my shoulders. I was off to the hospital.

At the hospital they told me I had a concussion (obviously) and they said that I had broken a spinal process in my back. They told me that this bone is the part that sticks out from my vertebra that muscles attach to. It is the "bump" that you feel on your back when you feel

your spine. I had to take some time off the bike to heal up. I am pretty shaken up from my crash. The seriousness of that kind of injury is scary. The doctor told me I need to relax for a while before I can ride again, so it looks like I will have a few days fishing. I learned something valuable from my crash. I must always make sure I acknowledge every aspect and risk involved in riding a certain line, even if it seems easy compared to more difficult lines. Healing time for me, I'll let you know how it goes.

Matty