Photo: Dave Prall
Adventure riding has a strange relationship with risk. We prepare, carry tools, research routes, ride with friends, and do everything we can to stack the odds in our favour on adventure motorcycle rides. But every now and then, something appears that wasn’t on the map or in the plan, and it shows up faster than we can process it. In those moments, the problem isn’t just the obstacle itself, but what happens next. This story takes place on a remote stretch of Nevada’s historic Pony Express Trail, a well-known backcountry route for adventure riders—experienced riders, familiar terrain, and a route travelled for generations. It’s the kind of ride where preparation feels like it should be enough, until it isn’t, and decisions suddenly matter in ways you don’t expect when riding far from help.
Dave Prall: motovansion
This episode centers on a backcountry motorcycle ride along Nevada’s Pony Express Trail that turns into a medical and decision-making situation after a crash. Rather than focusing only on what happened, the episode examines how difficult it can be to make the right call in a remote setting, especially when there’s uncertainty about the seriousness of an injury.
The episode includes a short medical context segment with Dr. Adam Lund, an emergency physician and rider, who discusses loss of consciousness, pupil response, spinal injury uncertainty, and the “Check, Call, Care” framework.
The episode concludes with a brief follow-up segment featuring Clinton Smout, who shares practical riding techniques for handling unexpected washouts or ditches.
More DEEP TROUBLE Episodes:
Listen to captivating stories of riders who found themselves in DEEP TROUBLE. We shed light on the challenges they faced, the strategies they used and the valuable lessons they learned. Most critically, we discuss how the situation could have changed if some controllable aspects had changed. We talk about the possibilities and potential outcomes so that perhaps other riders can learn from their experiences and avoid making those mistakes that get them into DEEP TROUBLE.
