By Jennifer Squires
Monterey County Herald

APTOS, Calif. — An evening bike ride in the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park turned perilous for a local couple Monday when the woman rode off an 80-foot cliff and her husband plummeted nearly as far trying to rescue her.

Both suffered life-threatening injuries, but were listed as stable at Regional Medical Center in San Jose on Tuesday afternoon, according to State Parks supervising ranger Bill Wolcott.

State Parks rangers say the mountain biking accident is one of the worst in recent memory.

The riders injured Monday, who are both in their 50s, suffered possible back fractures when they fell from the Aptos Creek Fire Road into the creek bed, fire officials said. The woman broke ribs and her nose; the man suffered a broken hip and a dislocated or broken shoulder.

Authorities, who have been unable to interview the couple yet, are trying to piece together how the accident happened.

"Some witnesses said they'd seen them up at Sandpoint Overlook within an hour" of when the riders were found, Wolcott said.

Apparently, the woman rode off the cliff and the man thought he could slide down to reach her, but he ended up falling as well, according to fire officials. It's unknown what time the pair actually fell, but Wolcott estimated it was near dusk.

"Around 8 p.m. an off-duty park employee was riding his bike in Nisene and he heard cries for help and located the two patients down in the creek bed," Wolcott said. "He went and summoned help and emergency crews from State Parks, Cal Fire and Aptos/La Selva Fire District responded."

The mountain bikers went down about three miles from the kiosk at the entrance of the park and, once they were discovered, people hiking nearby gathered to help. Two bystanders, including a Santa Cruz city park ranger, hiked up the creek bed from the Mill Pond Trail to provide first aid to the couple while they waited for rescuers.

Fire crews and State Parks rangers used a pulley system and a basket to haul the couple up the cliff.

The woman was pulled out around 10 p.m. and the man about an hour later, according to Wolcott. Both were flown from Seacliff State Beach to Regional Medical Center for treatment, he said.

State Parks rangers are called out to two or three mountain biking crashes in the county each month, authorities said, although they estimate more riders are hurt on local trails.

"I'm sure that for every accident that we actually respond to I'm sure there's probably three or four more where people take care of themselves," Wolcott said.

Keith Bontrager, 52, a world-class mountain bike racer who lives in Santa Cruz, said "Crashing is part of cycling. If you ride a lot, you're going to crash."

The area where the couple crashed is not a particularly bad spot for riders, authorities said, but accidents happen on most local trails and fire roads that are open to bikes.

"The highest concentration of mountain biking in the county would be at Wilder Ranch, then Nisene Marks," Wolcott said, adding a lot of riders also go down in the Soquel Demonstration Forest, just beyond Nisene Marks.

Changing trail conditions, mechanical failures and the time of day are big factors in mountain biking accidents, authorities said. Darkness comes significantly earlier in Nisene Marks because of the steep ravines and heavy foliage, and it's unknown if the mountain bikers were using lights.

Bontrager, who laughed when asked if he'd crashed before, said mountain bikers go down for a variety of reasons.

"It depends on the rider," Bontrager said, emphasizing he didn't know the details of Monday's crash. "If it's an experienced rider it can be a misjudgment and you don't make it, but that doesn't happen very often. ... If it's a novice rider, they can just get in over their heads."

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