| Author | Message | ||
     Jaimec |
One year ago today I woke up in Nassau University Medical Center's orthopedic wing with a tibial plateau fracture in my left leg that I received the previous night. Some JACKASS more intent in pulling into an open gas station was completely oblivious to the fact that I was there on my BRIGHT YELLOW MOTORCYCLE, wearing a dayglo yellow helmet and covered in retroreflective materials was crossing the driveway at just that instant. The insurance company declared my 2016 Zero S to be a total loss, and I missed an entire summer of riding while my leg healed up. Technically I can have the metal in my leg removed any time after Sunday since it will have been one year since it was inserted but since I already lost an entire summer I'm going to wait till the end of September to have it removed. I have a mild nickel allergy and they used surgical steel instead of titanium. When they asked me if I had any allergies I completely forgot about the nickel allergy! Fortunately it's only a mild reaction (more annoying than anything else) | ||
| Ratbuell |
Be proud of your anniversary - it beats the hell out of the alternative! I celebrated TEN years last year, since my big get-off, air evac, surguries, implants, grafts, and therapy. Some days are good, some days are rough, some days suck...but every one is a gift. | ||
| Jaimec |
Amen, brother. But the "alternative" I had in mind was not getting hit in the first place.  (Message edited by jaimec on June 21, 2019) | ||
| Ratbuell |
Yes...but you DID get hit. Part of my therapy for years, was coming to terms that my head injuries changed who I was, on the most basic, fundamental level. For the longest time, I "had" to get the old person back. "Needed to". "Insisted". Had to pretend/force myself to behave like the accident hadn't happened. It had. And, I couldn't. Couldn't change back. Couldn't un-do what was done. Couldn't go back. Coming to terms with that took years...but once I reached that point, everything became so much better. Still different...but with a sense of normalcy, a sense of "it'll be OK, I can do this". It did happen. It sucks. But like I said - every day is a gift. What you make of them is up to you - you can be angry about the accident, cling to it, keep a dark cloud over you...or you can move forward. Having done both? My vote is "move forward and make the best of every day". But that's just me  | ||
| Court |
>>>But that's just me Don't change . . . we've grown fond of you the way you are. :-) By the way . . . if you visited the undisclosed location, at this point, you'd be shocked. | ||
| Aesquire |
You are luckily living proof that bikes are invisible. I've ranted on this before, so... Short form. Folk that don't ride or have close friends or relatives that do, simply do not see you. Not all of them are mind blind, just enough that the Left turn in front of you accident is the #1 car/bike crash in the US. They can look right at you, and you may be fooled you made eye contact with a driver, but the image that is on their retina never gets labeled as an object in their universe. At all. Give them a polygraph test and they will truthfully say they didn't see you. Accept that. Rail against their stupidity if you like, but it's a too, too common way to die, no matter your feelings on their intelligence or competence. I'm not excusing them. I don't know of any studies to correlate these many folk re: IQ, empathy, politics, or religion. They are generally sober, and competent enough to have licenses and for police at the scene to judge them normal enough to not charge them.( with stupid sometimes fatal incomprehension... What's the code for that? ) It's just simply you don't exist until the noise startles them. I am deadly serious, it's a Real Thing. I can give an example of the reverse mental phenomena. Ever get a new to you car in a brand or model you've never had before? Before, you just saw a generic car. You didn't bother with more processing. After, you see every other car on the road like yours. Where did they all come from? It's in your mind. Now, YOU see them as cars, no matter the model, because cars exist in your subjective universe. Bikes don't exist in theirs. I wonder sometimes if the bike mind blind folk would slam into a tank if one was in front of them. I've seen folk drive right through yellow caution tape. And... My Cyclone is Reactor Yellow & I wear yellow mesh armor most of the summer... And I know I'm invisible. ( not to cops. Cops see bikes & always eye track mine ) Congratulations for surviving and sympathy for the injuries. Accepting that you are broken and moving on is tough. Not giving up or giving in, mind you. Overcome and rehabilitate. I got depression when the doctor insisted I stop full contact martial arts. Heck, I kept going while he told me not to. He actually yelled at me before I accepted I was in real danger. ( mostly, fortunately, because of medication. I'm off those meds and doin PT. I'll fight again. ) The funny part is the poor shrink. Yep, went to a pro. Nice young lady, worked in a prison, started her own practice. Just could not comprehend I was bummed about not fighting. Couldn't see it was similar to a baseball player or Opera singer told they were washed up & couldn't play again. She helped me & I thanked her but I'm sure to this day I'm a mystery to her. Heck, she's not the only one who thinks I'm nuts. | ||
| Ratbuell |
By the way . . . if you visited the undisclosed location, at this point, you'd be shocked. At the risk of a hijack...does that mean the renovation has begun? | ||
| Jaimec |
I tend to forget sometimes just how invisible we can be. I was "trained" by riding a BICYCLE in New York traffic up until my early twenties. If you think you're invisible on a motorcycle, you ought to try a bicycle. Even if people see you, they assume you're either stationary or not moving all that fast. In my case, I actually SAW the driver but made a lot of incorrect assumptions. He was traveling the opposite direction but I ignored him because his blinker was not flashing and the intersection he was approaching only allowed for a right turn. By the time I tuned him out as a potential hazard, he made the snap decision to dive into the gas station just as I was passing the driveway entrance. Now you better BELIEVE I scope out driveways and moving traffic with a far more critical eye than I did that night. I guess surviving the accident and learning from it is the least I can do. That and passing along the information to hopefully forewarn others. I've posted this before but this is as good a place as any to bring this to everyone's attention again: | ||
| Ourdee |
Since I was 16 and thought it would be fun to ride with the headlight turned off. I learned what invisible is. | ||
| Jaimec |
Yesterday was the anniversary of the day I received my internal "leg jewelry." Since it's been a year I can have it removed but I'm going to wait until late September. I already lost last summer to surgery; rather not lost any more time this year. | ||
| Dwardo |
I sort of feel ya. Just about exactly 3 years ago I had a brain hemorrhage (not bike related) that gave me, among other things, such severe double vision that I had to wear an eye patch for a year and a half. My vision is nearly back to normal but there is still something wrong with my depth perception. The traffic around my house is absolutely insane and just getting worse so I was afraid to try riding again. A year ago I tried riding my buddy's Harley up in rural Cecil county and it didn't go well. My balance and coordination was fine but my turn-in was terrible and I think it was my vision. So, I've been afraid to ride since. The thing to do is get the M2 running because it is so much lighter that the Harley but I'm still afraid. I'm starting to wonder if I will ride again at all and that's a bitter pill. OTOH, I am a lot more easy-going than I used to be because I had a long time to sit around and ponder the fact that things I thought were terrible really aren't that bad and I should lighten up a little. Anyway my point is that these seems to be a silver lining in just about everything. Sorry if I hijacked your thread. | ||
| Jaimec |
No worries. Maybe you don't want to jump out into traffic YET, but if you take it slow and easy your brain can adjust. I have a friend with two working eyes and no depth perception at all, yet he manages (somehow). I tried riding with one eye closed to see what it was like and quickly gave up trying. The brain is a remarkably adaptable organ, though. | ||
| Dwardo |
Yes, I am pretty sure my brain did not heal up but it just learned to focus my eyes differently. When I'm tired or look in the wrong direction I still get some double vision. Doing anything with one eye is really, really hard. Just loading the dishwasher was a challenge. So I'm really glad I've recovered to the large extent that it did. That whole thing really should have killed me. | ||
| Sifo |
I'm guessing your brain has learned to largely ignore information coming from the eye that had the patch. I wonder if wearing the patch on the other side periodically could force it to learn to pay attention to that eye again. The brain is an amazing thing, but it may not quickly react to having an eye available again, after it has been blocked from that input long enough to learn to do without it. Might need a nudge. | ||
| Dwardo |
Yes, I am pretty sure my brain did not heal up but it just learned to focus my eyes differently. When I'm tired or look in the wrong direction I still get some double vision. Doing anything with one eye is really, really hard. Just loading the dishwasher was a challenge. So I'm really glad I've recovered to the large extent that it did. That whole thing really should have killed me. | ||
| Dwardo |
Interesting idea. I will ask my neuro-opthomologist next time I see her. | ||
| Jaimec |
When I was still a kid, I used to get TERRIBLE conjunctivitis every Spring due to pollen allergies. I would have to wear an eye patch to keep me from rubbing my eye (and potentially spreading it to the other eye). Mind you, as a kid we adapt MUCH MUCH quicker and it would take a few days before I was getting around normally (albeit with limited peripheral vision on one side). I can still remember the time I removed the patch after a particularly long period of time. I almost fell down a flight of stairs because I couldn't judge where the next step really was until I closed my eye! | ||
| Etennuly |
I think that another element comes into play as to invisibility....at least in fairly smart people. They catch movement in the corner of their visual scope, their instant natural mental response is based on "will this object hurt me" . I'm sure this is why bright colors help, ya just look bigger and more menacing. I ride bikes, I drive sports cars, pickups, SUV, vans, medium big trucks and big, big trucks. On an unscientific percentage scale, the smaller the vehicle I drive, the higher incidence of people ignoring my presence and movement. I'd guess their fight or flight response is more easily triggered by the grille of a big truck than a headlight/helmet/riding gear. My Corvettes get ignored far more frequently than my van. The logic side seems pretty simple. The small vehicles ,initially seen as'it won't hurt me', requires a second thought to stop. But then add in modern distractions..... | ||
| Jaimec |
Try riding a white or light blue Harley Davidson Road King with the classic tombstone fairing. Wear a white or light blue "shorty" helmet and sunglasses, with a black, 3/4 length leather jacket and blue trousers. I'll bet dollars to doughnuts EVERYONE will see you (and slow down, too). | ||
| 86129squids |
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've always wanted to buy a decommissioned KZ1000P. Fake it out to the limit. I once knew a guy who had one, we'd hang at a local bike nite. He bought a early-mid 90's R100RS, dark green, said he loved it, but- riding the KZ, everyone got out of his way. | ||
| 1313 |
a decommissioned KZ1000P  From last week Monday from one of the motorcycle parking areas at work - ironically pretty much where I parked for around 6 years, about 10 years ago. | ||
| Jaimec |
I've seen those, and decommissioned Harley Police bikes with a decal on the windscreen that says "Be Polite." The word "Be" is rather small, and "Polite" is pretty damn big, so you KNOW what it looks like at a glance! | ||
| Ratbuell |
 It was like parting the red sea when I owned this bike. And NOBODY tailgated me. Never shoulda sold it, but a guy offered me stupid money for it...sometimes you just have to smile and say thank you. | ||
| Jaimec |
Yeah, when people say they don't see you, it's BULLSHIT. You just don't present any kind of a THREAT to them, so you don't matter. Funny how none of the bikes above have any day-glo colors on them, and likely don't have loud pipes, but EVERYBODY notices them! | ||
| Robertl |
Jaime, glad you are healed up (even if they still have to remove the hardware). Best of luck with the follow up procedure. I owned a blue spyder for a few years I bought for the ex. I have to say, people not only saw me but they also gave me space (no tailgating). It was a much different experience from a motorcycle. I do feel my high vis helmet makes a difference. |
