Bike accessories for a safer ride
Friday, October 30, 2009 - 19:49
in Earth & Climate
It could have been a tragedy last November when Pedro Carrasco tumbled 150 feet off a dirt trail and down a remote 8,000-foot mountain during Costa Rica's La Ruta de los Conquistadores, a four-day, Pacific-to-Atlantic trek known as one of the world's toughest mountain-bike races. He was out of sight, freezing, had a broken hip and couldn't cry for help because of a broken jaw. But Carrasco lay within reach of his handlebars, upon which he'd installed a horn to scare cows, pumas and monkeys out of his way. About midnight, after seven hours in and out of consciousness, he was located by a rescue team that heard his desperate honking in the black, moonless night.