tfrazier
.040 Over
Monday I was riding home along N. Air Feild Drive (DFW). I glanced to the right to watch a big jet touch down. When I looked forward again there was a pair of bright Mercedes Kompressor tail lights stopped in front of me.
Having been very negligent about practising quick stops, my body reacted in the worst possible way. I squeezed down on the front brake and rammed my foot into that big automotive style rear brake pedal on my R3 Classic.
Needless to say the bike went into a skid with the rear tire locked up.
When the fish-tailing started I committed the next unpardonable sin by taking my foot off the rear brake pedal.
Executing a perfect high side, I flew up and over the bike, then did a swan dive face first into the concrete. From there I tumbled some 80 feet while BB (my R3) slid along a short distance on her left side, then stood up and rolled along some distance before finally falling over on the right side and sliding to a stop. She had enough pity not to run over me ---somehow.
I only know the maneuvers the bike made from witnesses; I was busy trying to get air back in my lungs and wondering if my back was broken because none of my appendages wanted to obey brain signals as I cart-wheeled to a stop on the shoulder.
It seemed like mere seconds before first responders arrived. They cut off my Tour Master Intake jacket, jeans, shirt, and gloves, duct-taped me to a sheet of plywood, loaded me on a whirly bird and flew me to the Harris Hospital Trauma center in Fort Worth.
I spent some time lying in the ER naked except for my helmet, undies, and boots. After a battery of x-rays, blood tests, and lots of poking and prodding they finally decided I would live and sent me home in a pair of paper pants and hospital gown.
The doctor was practically ecstatic that I had been wearing a helmet and at least a modicum of body armor. He told me he was glad to free up the room so fast for someone who wasn't smart enough to wear a helmet or motorcycle jacket.
I'll be posting a few pics and the entire story in a bit more entertaining fasion at 4fraziers.com soon, but I'd like to admonish everyone out there to wear the best safety gear you can afford and to practise evasive manuvers and quick stops whenever you can. I knew what not to do, but my body did it anyway because I hadn't trained it well.
BB's damage looks pretty minor, considering. I'm hoping to get her out of the shop in a week or two.
Having been very negligent about practising quick stops, my body reacted in the worst possible way. I squeezed down on the front brake and rammed my foot into that big automotive style rear brake pedal on my R3 Classic.
Needless to say the bike went into a skid with the rear tire locked up.
When the fish-tailing started I committed the next unpardonable sin by taking my foot off the rear brake pedal.
Executing a perfect high side, I flew up and over the bike, then did a swan dive face first into the concrete. From there I tumbled some 80 feet while BB (my R3) slid along a short distance on her left side, then stood up and rolled along some distance before finally falling over on the right side and sliding to a stop. She had enough pity not to run over me ---somehow.
I only know the maneuvers the bike made from witnesses; I was busy trying to get air back in my lungs and wondering if my back was broken because none of my appendages wanted to obey brain signals as I cart-wheeled to a stop on the shoulder.
It seemed like mere seconds before first responders arrived. They cut off my Tour Master Intake jacket, jeans, shirt, and gloves, duct-taped me to a sheet of plywood, loaded me on a whirly bird and flew me to the Harris Hospital Trauma center in Fort Worth.
I spent some time lying in the ER naked except for my helmet, undies, and boots. After a battery of x-rays, blood tests, and lots of poking and prodding they finally decided I would live and sent me home in a pair of paper pants and hospital gown.
The doctor was practically ecstatic that I had been wearing a helmet and at least a modicum of body armor. He told me he was glad to free up the room so fast for someone who wasn't smart enough to wear a helmet or motorcycle jacket.
I'll be posting a few pics and the entire story in a bit more entertaining fasion at 4fraziers.com soon, but I'd like to admonish everyone out there to wear the best safety gear you can afford and to practise evasive manuvers and quick stops whenever you can. I knew what not to do, but my body did it anyway because I hadn't trained it well.
BB's damage looks pretty minor, considering. I'm hoping to get her out of the shop in a week or two.