| Author | Message | ||
     Arcticktm |
After 24 years of street riding, I finally hit the pavement 2 weeks ago on June 5th. Been out of work and in/out of hospital since then, so not on Badweb. Was leading some visitors through some local roads in WNC (Ellijay, Speedwell, 107, 281 to Wolf Mtn for those that know them). Beautiful day, riding well, Uly was feeling GREAT! Not totally sure what happened, but on a not very sharp uphill LH corner, I suddenly lost the front end and went down on left side HARD. All I can come up with is that I was too worried about the guys behind me (not all were great riders), and entered the curve too fast, and then hit the front brake way too hard. Never had an issue with that before, bit it is all I can think of. Hit the pavement hard on left side shoulder and slid quite a ways on pavement before sliding more in the 20-30ft grass edge of the road (which is rare around here, so I was lucky). Stopped 2-3 ft from the guardrail. My full gear saved my hide, but not my bones. I broke my left collarbone into 4 pieces. I broke 8 ribs on my left side. It was very hard to breathe while waiting for the ambulance to get to that remote location. Local volunteer first responders were there in 10 min though, and were great. It was a long ambulance ride to Mission Hospital in Asheville, as I didn't want to go to the small local hospital in case I had internal injuries. My God the pain! Had surgery last week to put the collarbone back together with metal. Still hurts to breathe deep, and cannot sleep in any position except bolt upright. I feel the broken ribs moving around all the time. 1st time crash. 1st time in hospital overnight. 1st time for surgery. Major pride buster. Could have been so much worse, though. Now for the pro-Buell part. that damn bike was ridden away from the crash just fine by another rider! Looking it over, here is all that was damaged in a 40-45mph crash: -handlebars bent badly -left side saddle bag scuffed badly and bracket bent (this saved my leg and the bike) -left mirror scuffed minor -left edge of flyscreen scuffed -lower left knob of Palmer windscreen ground down quite a bit -frame protecting puck slightly scuffed -Dark Horse fork slider scratched a bit Everyone was amazed how well the Buell took the wreck. It is clearly much tougher than I am. I will be out of action for about 8 weeks, so plenty of time to re-evaluate and think about what my mistake was. As for gear: -New HJC Sy MAx II several abraded and saved my head -Hard armour on Tecnik jacket saved me abrasions, though I broke all those bones -New Sidi boots saved left toes -Mesh First Gear saved my left knee (wore through mesh but my replacement armour stopped it from getting my knee. The right leg zipper blew open, so my right knee got slight rash. -Jacket was short, so it pulled up and I got a small rash on my left hip. Mostly healed already. -New Held gloves saved my right hand by looking at the abrasions on the metal studs they use on the palm. Not a fun experience, but I was still very fortunate. Riding partners, EMT's and co-workers have all been phenomenal in helping me recover. Hope to be riding again mid-August, but too soon to tell. Ride safe. Safer than me, anyway... Jim (Message edited by ArcticKTM on June 25, 2011) | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Glad you lived through your lay-down. Each day you'll feel a smidgen better. Tough break. You'll heal completely and have one hell of a story to tell. Never heard of anyone having 8 ribs broken, holy smokes, ouch! (Message edited by electraglider_1997 on June 25, 2011) | ||
| Rdkingryder |
Glad your taking it well. Your gear did the job and not much gear will protect you from broken bones unless your riding in a Buick. Speedy recovery. | ||
| Whatever |
Well that just sucks!  I am really glad you had all your gear on. I too am shocked at the damage to your bones at 45 miles per hour. I have hit the brakes hard on the XB twice when I went through stop signs (both times leading a ride and both times at Homecoming) and if I didn't let go immediately, would have gone endo. Glad the Uly fared pretty well too. Feel better soon!  | ||
| Arcticktm |
I'm not actually sure what the speed was, since I don't pay much attention to that when riding in curves. 40-45mph is what one of my fellow riders told the EMT's and State Trooper that eventually showed up, and I was in no position to argue. They had the helicopter on call for me for a while, but I told them I did not want that. Just after telling them that, the helicopter was (unfortunately) needed for another accident in the mountains where the person was apparently unconscious. There were a lot of wrecks that Saturday in WNC for some reason. | ||
| Whatever |
Yeah... I am sure you were not looking at the speedo in a turn, I never do... that part of the world also attracts some rolling hazards (clueless riders from out of state)... like I saw when there was an accident on the BRP last month. When you heal up we will have to get a ride together to celebrate! I am in eastern or central NC depending on the day. | ||
| Arcticktm |
Sounds good. I live near Hendersonville and work near Asheville. Wife has already promised not to ask me not to ride. Even my 5 yr old is OK with it, as he told me he thinks it will be a long time before I crash again! | ||
| Whatever |
Good family... they sound like keepers to me...  | ||
| Arcticktm |
You've got that right. I'm staying put! | ||
| Etennuly |
Wowouchies! That sucks! OK, eight weeks. Just in time for the WV Buell Rally?  I can certainly understand a no for the rally, with all of your down time and such. Hope you heal fast and completely. Oh.....limit the laughing  .....and don't sneeze ! | ||
| Two_seasons |
Glad you came through it. 8 ribs broke, sounds to me like you hit the h-bars really hard. I broke two ribs a couple of years ago and could hardly breathe, so you're in great pain. Heal fast. Younger the better for that. And yeah, sneezing is not a good thing. | ||
| Milt |
One rib is enough to make your life miserable. I'm just glad that you will recover. | ||
| Preybird1 |
8 ribs!! Ouch!! I once got really drunk and spilled my drink then.....I slipped in it and fell and cracked 2 ribs on the microwave stand and man it hurt like hell for weeks. I hope you heal fast and be careful. | ||
| Arcticktm |
Sneezing is a definite NO. Good point on the handlebars. I might have hit them, but there is no impact spot on my side. I cracked a couple on the other side years ago in a dirt bike incident, and I can tell you that more is definitely worse, but any rib break sucks. I suppose it's hard for them to heal when you are constantly expanding them and moving around each time you breathe. There is a chance to make the last WVa Rally, but it will be a tough call with all the other things I will be getting behind on the next several weeks (family and work). If I am smart I'll start ordering parts soon, though, so they will be here when I am able to start the wrenching. | ||
| Dynasport |
Sorry to hear about your get off. A couple of years ago I had my first accident as well. I never was sure exactly what I did wrong either aside from not realizing I needed to stop before I had to go hard on the brakes. Still, I have braked hard many other times when I didn't go down. I hope you feel better soon. Ribs and collarbone. I hear both are very painful. | ||
| Rotzaruck |
Sneezing is a definite NO }And moving, and coughing, and breathing........... 3 or 4 hurt something fierce! 8 geeeez! Glad you are here telling the tale! Heal quick man you got a bike to fix! Rotzaruck! | ||
| Etennuly |
When I did my get off at the '07 Road America spectacle, I broke two ribs and cracked four more. The ribs failed because it was my fiftieth birthday, being overweight, and brain damaged.....I thought I was going to tuck and roll! I realized half way into it....I can't tuck! Every thing for me went into super slow motion. I felt my left arm/elbow strike the pavement. I then felt and saw a slow motion vision of CSI Las Vegas in my mind, as the elbow came into contact with my ribs stressing them one at a time to the point of cracking. The two that broke got re-separated about three weeks into healing nicely, by a powerful unexpected sneeze. I was driving my pickup and that made me pull off the road for about a fifteen minute recovery from the pain. | ||
| 04buell |
Glad you are alive and well to tell the tale! Isn't ATTGATT something? Thats what I like about Buell riders. They are smart like that! (About wearing gear, I mean). I cannot imagine breaking all those ribs. I am glad I have bones like sponge! Carol | ||
| Syonyk |
Keep the helmet & torn up gear around to demonstrate just how much damage they take - or maybe offer to donate them to your local cycle shop so they can leave them hanging out. Modern gear is just amazing. Glad you're OK! | ||
| Daves |
Glad you are ok! Crashing is over rated. | ||
| Brumbear |
Glad you made it sorry to hear about the broken bones. PERC-O-SET PERC-O-SET VIC-O-DIN VIC-O-DIN IF they can't help it OXY can!!!!!!!!! | ||
| 01x1buell |
i have not crashed yet and i hope it is a while before i do( hopefully not tomorrow) and yes percocet does help alot i have broken many bones on quads and dirtbikes.. i love those pills..  | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Glad you are OK!.. Heal quick and hope to see you in August.... | ||
| Mark_weiss |
Broken collarbone? You could be a Moto GP rider! Good to hear that you are healing up well. Make sure that the first ride is a short one. It really sucks to get out there and realize that you really can't make it back home. | ||
| Jlnance |
Ouch  I hope you heal quickly! | ||
| Pauley2000 |
Good Luck! Keep Riding! -p | ||
| Blake |
I can definitely sympathize. Only seven completely broken ribs, but add a punctured lung and pneumothorax to the list.  The thought of sneezing terrified me. Amazingly my body seemed to understand the consequences and all sneezes were quelled before full launch. Must have been the adrenaline rush as my nose started to tickle in pre-sneeze mode. | ||
| Blake |
When a major cold front looms, I know well in advance. | ||
| Whisperstealth |
>>>When a major cold front looms, I know well in advance. Ditto! Crashing suck's Yo! It really, really, really sucks when it hurts so bad you cry while trying to go to #2, the meds have made you constipated, and because both your shoulders are broke, a hot twenty-something PT has to doing the wiping... A lesson in humility for sure. Oh, and for me, I refused the Oxy. And the morphine. Tried to go without anything, but when they started fitting the turtle shell on me, it was game over, I caved. Percoset, and Norco's is what I ended up taking. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I hated the narcs as well... they made me constipated and paranoid. Not a good combination, I preferred the pain (which was substantial). Until I needed the root canal. Then I wanted either narcs, or a bullet. OOOOWWWWWW |
