{"id":1809417,"date":"2026-03-05T19:32:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T16:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1809417"},"modified":"2026-03-05T19:32:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T16:32:00","slug":"volunteer-mtb-trail-builder-in-colorado-attacked-crushed-by-cow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1809417","title":{"rendered":"Volunteer MTB trail builder in Colorado attacked, crushed by cow"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dan Wegelin. Photo: COPMOBA.org<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When we head out into the mountains to ride, we know that injury is always a risk. But digging trail? Less so.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, a freak accident left\u00a0Delta Area Mountain Bikers<\/a> (DAMB) board member Dan Wegelin in the ICU with multiple fractures and internal damage following a day of trail work.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, February 26, 2026, Wegelin was working on trails in Delta\u2019s Confluence Park when a cow escaped from a nearby sale yard. According to reports<\/a>, Wegelin saw the cow \u201cabout the same time that he saw a friend with young children nearby. Wegelin called out to warn the man to get the children away; the cow reportedly turned her attention to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt looked angry, it was drooling \u2014 it just started running for me as fast as it could,\u201d Wegelin said in an interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The cow charged, knocking him down a 10-foot embankment. \u201cThe cow also fell down the hill, landing on Dan,\u201d\u00a0wrote Wegelin\u2019s sister, Paula Feeback,\u00a0on GoFundMe<\/a>. \u201cIt further injured him when it tried to stand up but was unable to. It laid on him for a little while and finally rolled off of him. Dan was finally able to crawl away from the cow and collapsed by his truck.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dan was transported to the local hospital by ambulance, but was later transferred to the Intensive Care Unit at St. Mary\u2019s Hospital in Grand Junction due to the extent of his injuries. \u201cHe has a collapsed lung, a pneumothorax, 4 vertebral fractures, crushed ribs, bilateral shoulder injuries, broken fingers, additional knee injuries, a broken clavicle, and numerous cuts and abrasions,\u201d wrote Feeback.<\/p>\n

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Despite the freak injury, Wegelin remains in good spirits.\u00a0\u201cThe circumstances were just strange, but I\u2019m not upset about it or bitter about it,\u201d Wegelin told Western Slope Now. \u201cI just want to get back to my family. My family\u2019s cared for me since I\u2019ve been in here, and I\u2019ve been just wrapped in a blanket of care.\u201d<\/p>\n

This avid volunteer was just trying to build trails, help improve his community, and protect nearby kids when this freak accident happened. I can\u2019t think of a more deserving man to support. A GoFundMe has been launched to help Wegelin and his family through this difficult time, and it has raised $17,431 as of press time. Click here to help them meet their $50,000 fundraising goal<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!–<\/p>\n

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Colorado<\/a><\/div>\n
Delta, CO, is planning an all-new trail system with up to 100 miles of singletrack<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Montana<\/a><\/div>\n
Grizzly Bear Kills Woman on Bikepacking Trip in Montana<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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British Columbia<\/a><\/div>\n
Biker survives mountain lion attack in Squamish after 20-minute standoff<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Utah<\/a><\/div>\n
8 mountain bikers brutally injured during Red Bull Rampage 2025<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Dan Wegelin. Photo: COPMOBA.org When we head out into the mountains to ride, we know that injury is always a risk. But digging trail? Less so. Unfortunately, a freak accident left\u00a0Delta Area Mountain Bikers (DAMB) board member Dan Wegelin in the ICU with multiple fractures and internal damage following a day of trail work. On […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,274],"class_list":["post-1809417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-singletracks-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1809417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1809417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1809417\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1809417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1809417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1809417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}