Biker tells of horror crash on notorious Peaks road
A MOTORBIKE rider says he is “thankful to be alive” after being involved in a crash on the notoriously dangerous Snake Pass route through Derbyshire.
Conner Ashley, 21, was riding towards Ladybower Reservoir “for a late breakfast” when he collided with two cars and was left lying in the road with a fractured pelvis and broken right wrist.
“It was a cracking day. it was probably about 20 degrees, the sun was shining, it was a really nice day,” said Mr Ashley.
“One moment I was cruising down the road, there was actually a photographer and he got a picture of me throwing up a ‘thumbs up,’ and then the next corner that was it, it all happened extremely fast.”
Mr Ashley, who has been riding a motorbike for the past five years, says this is the first serious collision he has been involved in. The incident caused the police to close Snake Pass for several hours.
The North West Air Ambulance and Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service also attended the scene, along with Glossop Mountain Rescue Team, who, as luck would have it, were carrying out a training exercise close by.
The incident left Mr Ashley, from Manchester, in a wheelchair but he says he was lucky to escape anything more serious.
He said both bones in his wrist broke, as well as the fractured pelvis and other scratches and bruises.
“With my wrist, I knew straight away.
One look at my wrist and I was like ‘that’s not right,’ it was horribly out of place and then as I was on the road with the mountain rescue they were doing pain checks. Once they got my pelvis I was like ‘yeah, that’s where the rest of the pain is.’
“I even said to the mountain rescue guys, ‘I hope I haven’t broken my pelvis because I know that’s a nightmare.’ At the back of my mind I knew I’d done something to it but I was hoping it wasn’t that bad.”
Mr Ashley is now facing two months at home while he waits for his pelvis and wrist to heal. The apprentice mechanic says he has not got work while he gets better but the incident has not put him off getting back on a motorbike.
“For now I’m going to be taking a step back from motorcycles, mainly how it’s affected the family with an accident of this magnitude, but I don’t think it’ll ever shy me away in the future from motorcycles.
“Obviously for me to recover it’s going to take a few months to get back to normal, and obviously I don’t think the parents really want me on bikes for the time being anyway, so it’s getting them back into the idea of it again.”
The incident, which took place on the afternoon of Sunday, September 26, has not put Mr Ashley off riding along Snake Pass.
He says he will be back on a road he has ridden on hundreds of times, but suggested the road surface will need replacing to improve safety.
Coincidentally, Snake Pass is currently closed for two weeks for resurfacing.
One look at my wrist and I was like ‘that’s not right’ it was horribly out of place.
Conner Ashley