Gruesome crash has not stopped rider

Kevin Myatt says he has not been put off by his crashes. Photo / APN

It took less than three weeks for Kevin Myatt to get back on his bike after an accident - but the gruesome incident is still being talked about months later.

The Rotorua mountainbiker made headlines around the world in April after a crash left a bike brake lever embedded in his hand.

He needed 15 stitches and despite the horrific-looking photos he was left with no significant long-lasting problems.

"Everything works great," Mr Myatt said.

"There was only a nick on a tendon. I get a small sensation when I bang it but apart from that, I'm good as gold."

He's had a lot of mileage from the crash. He won a new full-face helmet from a bike website and last week the photo was selected by a radio station as one of the most gruesome - resulting in a $500 payout.

Photos were sent around the world and appeared on mountainbiking websites.

The crash happened on the Dragonstail track in Whakarewarewa forest on April 1.

Mr Myatt had taken a week off work for a gardening project but decided to head to the forest for "a bit of a play".

After riding some trails he decided to head home, cutting through Dragonstail on the way out.

"I was trying to build up a bit of speed before some jumps but I dropped my chain and the force of losing resistance threw me forward over the [handle]bars," he said in April.

"It was very, very quick. I was sliding along the ground, looked back and saw the lever had gone through the bottom of my hand."

His brake lever slid up his arm, cutting it open, then pierced the skin on his wrist before resurfacing.

He said the first thing that hit him was the realisation it was close to an artery.

He grabbed hold of his wrist to stem the flow of blood and yelled at his riding companions to call for an ambulance.

His brake lever survived the crash.

"I'm still using the same brakes," he said.

"My wife cleaned them up and they were back on the bike before I could ride. I had to connect them one-handed.

"I was back riding within three weeks, as soon as the stitches were out.

"When you're so used to doing something you don't think about crashing.

"People always ask if having that accident put me off but when you're out there you switch off."

He said he had had another crash on the same track riding with the same companions since the April accident but without injury.

Mr Myatt has been riding mountainbikes for 17 years and in that time has suffered a broken wrist and had his shoulder rebuilt. But none of it has put him off.

"I'll be riding as much as possible over the holidays."

- APN