Windrider
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I KNEW I shoulda turned left at Albuquerque!!!
Posts: 34
Leesburg, Virginia, USA
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Here's a breakdown of what happened in the wreck:
My riding partner was about 200 yds. behind me. He came around a curve and was sure I was dead. He saw me flying in the air. I think I slid on gravel, but the trooper didn't see any. She said I wasn't speeding nor being reckless.
The road's speed limit was 55, but the curve had a safety rating of 25 mph. It was a down-hill, left-hand curve and I was braking from 35-40. I figure I was doing about 35 when I crossed over the single yellow line at the edge of the road, and went into a ditch about 2-3 feet deep. I was focused on a culvert running under a gravel driveway at the apex of the curve, and that's where the bike came to rest. I think maybe I needed to have kept my eyes in motion, sweeping through the curve.
There were a lot of factors that added up here:
- The road surface was sort of grooved and was causing the bike to wobble a little, like riding on a mesh bridge or when a tire is starting to go flat. I had had a flat in the rear tire a few weeks prior while riding and was kind of uneasy. - I had worked a lot of days in a row and while I felt well rested, I may not have been. the wreck happened about 1/2 an hour into the ride, about 10:30 am. - When I locked onto the culvert, I also noticed I was leaning over the double yellow line. I started to drift toward center, in case there were and on-coming cars and just kind of started heading straight at the culvert. - I found myself fighting to get the bike back into the turn, panic had started to set in and I forgot to counter-steer.
My line of memory is, seeing the front tire going over the line, into the ditch and thinking "!@#$...this is gonna suck!" to - eyes focusing on gravel coming to a stop an inch away on the OTHER side of my visor and thinking "Thank !@#$! I'm not wearing my skid lid."
I managed to roll over on my back and get my helmet off my head before the pain set in. Then I discovered I couldn't use my arms to sit up. I looked myself over best as I could, and didn't see any blood anywhere so I laid back down. The guy in whose driveway I landed was an ex O.R. orderly, and was working in his front yard. He was there in moments, saying all the right things.
Other the the few moments of trauma blackout containing the impact and 20 yard flight off the bike, I experienced no real loss of consciousness or dizziness. I had a little scratch on my nose where my visor collapsed on one hinge and smacked into my nose, and a few sratches on my left shoulder. It seems I landed on my head and left shoulder, upside down about 4-5" above the steel culvert running under the guy's gravel driveway, and flopped over on my stomach and slid to a stop.
The result of all that is I broke my right wrist, my left hand, my upper humorus on the left side and I'm pretty sure a rib on the upper right side of my back. Both forearms were in casts and my left arm was in a sling.
I used some voice dictation software for sending e-mails and voice-activated my computer.
The back of my helmet was destroyed and the windshield on my bike was shattered. I've got the bike back, and there seems to be no frame damage. It needs new handlebars and mirrors, the plastic thingy around the headlight is all cracked and I need to replace a couple of turn signals.
This really the first time I've written the whole string of events down. I'm a little exhausted mentally!
All in all, I feel lucky. The Dr.s and physical therapy folks say I'll get 100% range of motion back.
I hope reading all this helps!
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