D
DarkNinja75
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I won't be riding for a few months.
I was behind a black vehicle going about 35 in a 40 zone. I was on an extremely wide two-lane road (5 or 6 cars can fit side-by-side), with only a small segment where you can't pass (and that's going over an out-of-use railroad). I looked ahead, didn't see any cars coming, and sped up to about 55 to pass. Once the turn straightened out I saw a truck coming at me and thought it was close, so I sped up further to 70 to finish my pass sooner (since I was already mostly past the car I didn't try slowing down). I checked my mirror to make sure I was far enough past the car to get over, glanced back at the truck coming at me, checked my mirror again and saw the car in it, so I swerved back into my lane. Unfotunately, I swerved too hard. I thought, I'm not gonna make it. So I slammed on my brakes, trying to slow down as much as I could for the imminent impact of hitting the curb I was headed for.
I don't remember hitting it, but I remember lying on the ground on my right shoulder and sliding through the grass. I was telling myself to breathe since I had the air knocked out of me. Then I remember hearing myself moaning. I tried to move my legs and I could, and that was all I really cared about. After that I tried to stay still, wincing at the tremendous pain in my lower back. Three people came over to me, one man prayed for me, another was my friend, and another was the director of the school board of the district I attend.
Fortunately for me, I crashed about 300 yards from a fire station, and they showed up in no time. Then the ambulance showed up, followed by the police. And I was rushed to the hospital, about 10 minutes away. No painkillers. They didn't give me anything for the pain until I had been lying in the ER for about 20 minutes. That wasn't fun. The only thing that bugged me (besides the pain) was the police asking me questions when I could still barely take deep enough breaths to breathe.
They did some x-rays, did a CT scan, and found out I had 4 minor fractures and 1 major one in my lumbar region of my spine. But they were on the inside. I also had one minor rib fracture; 6 fracture total. Surgery wasn't needed. I'm in a brace for 3 months, enjoying my percocet (sp?).
Every time before I get on a bike, I ask myself, "If I crashed today, how much would I want to get hurt?" So I always ride in full gear. I'm glad I do. My dad was saying, "Your helmet hardly has a scratch on it. You can just fix it and use it again." But I'm saying I've done my research, and that's a used helmet, so I'm buying a new one. The gloves, boots, and jacket I was wearing are all still in perfect shape. My jeans are only torn because they cut them off in the emergency room. They cut off my orange vest at the site, along with my sweatshirt and t-shirt underneath. The only visible injury I sustained was a minor scrape on the top of my wrist in an area my jacket didn't quite cover.
For about a day I assumed I flew through the air and broke my back landing. Then my dad told me how the bike looked, and the windshield has been obliterated. I'm betting I flew off over the handle bars and broke the windshield with my stomache, which also knocked the air out of me and knocked me out. Hitting the ground woke me up again. It seems that my abs played a pivotal role in protecting my back.
Another thing about where I landed; it hadn't been tilled. My sister went back a few days later and said that dirt was plenty hard. Not to mention that it has tall reeds standing in it everywhere, implying it hasn't been touched in a while. But it's still smoother to slide on than cement.
I've definitely learned a lot from that crash. For one thing, I'll probably never pass a car in a single-lane road again while on my bike. I didn't think much of it at the time because I always pass on that road in my car since it's so wide and usually empty. Luck wasn't with me that time. I've also been looking for jackets with stomache pads, but I've yet to see such a thing. I'll probably buy a separate vest with stomache pads to put on over or under my jacket.
My biggest mistake was trying to pass in that turn in the first place, even though the road markers say you can. My second mistake is thinking that oncoming truck was going to hit me. Given the width of the road and of my bike, I could've stayed in the opposite lane and the driver could have moved over a little and I would have had plenty of clearance.
And the bike; it seems more like costmetic damage than anything else. It apparantly flipped end-over-end. The front fender and headlight region is mangled and the tail-light is gone. And underneath it there's a dent in one of the headers (or whatever they're called on motorcycles). The left handle-bar broke off too. The forks might also be bent. All the fluids drained out when it crashed. But based on appearances, it looks fixable. Given the circumstances, it turned out pretty well.
Basically, I'm just not going to do anything stupid like that again.
I just got home today after crashing Thursday, but I'll put pics of the bike up soon.
I was behind a black vehicle going about 35 in a 40 zone. I was on an extremely wide two-lane road (5 or 6 cars can fit side-by-side), with only a small segment where you can't pass (and that's going over an out-of-use railroad). I looked ahead, didn't see any cars coming, and sped up to about 55 to pass. Once the turn straightened out I saw a truck coming at me and thought it was close, so I sped up further to 70 to finish my pass sooner (since I was already mostly past the car I didn't try slowing down). I checked my mirror to make sure I was far enough past the car to get over, glanced back at the truck coming at me, checked my mirror again and saw the car in it, so I swerved back into my lane. Unfotunately, I swerved too hard. I thought, I'm not gonna make it. So I slammed on my brakes, trying to slow down as much as I could for the imminent impact of hitting the curb I was headed for.
I don't remember hitting it, but I remember lying on the ground on my right shoulder and sliding through the grass. I was telling myself to breathe since I had the air knocked out of me. Then I remember hearing myself moaning. I tried to move my legs and I could, and that was all I really cared about. After that I tried to stay still, wincing at the tremendous pain in my lower back. Three people came over to me, one man prayed for me, another was my friend, and another was the director of the school board of the district I attend.
Fortunately for me, I crashed about 300 yards from a fire station, and they showed up in no time. Then the ambulance showed up, followed by the police. And I was rushed to the hospital, about 10 minutes away. No painkillers. They didn't give me anything for the pain until I had been lying in the ER for about 20 minutes. That wasn't fun. The only thing that bugged me (besides the pain) was the police asking me questions when I could still barely take deep enough breaths to breathe.
They did some x-rays, did a CT scan, and found out I had 4 minor fractures and 1 major one in my lumbar region of my spine. But they were on the inside. I also had one minor rib fracture; 6 fracture total. Surgery wasn't needed. I'm in a brace for 3 months, enjoying my percocet (sp?).
Every time before I get on a bike, I ask myself, "If I crashed today, how much would I want to get hurt?" So I always ride in full gear. I'm glad I do. My dad was saying, "Your helmet hardly has a scratch on it. You can just fix it and use it again." But I'm saying I've done my research, and that's a used helmet, so I'm buying a new one. The gloves, boots, and jacket I was wearing are all still in perfect shape. My jeans are only torn because they cut them off in the emergency room. They cut off my orange vest at the site, along with my sweatshirt and t-shirt underneath. The only visible injury I sustained was a minor scrape on the top of my wrist in an area my jacket didn't quite cover.
For about a day I assumed I flew through the air and broke my back landing. Then my dad told me how the bike looked, and the windshield has been obliterated. I'm betting I flew off over the handle bars and broke the windshield with my stomache, which also knocked the air out of me and knocked me out. Hitting the ground woke me up again. It seems that my abs played a pivotal role in protecting my back.
Another thing about where I landed; it hadn't been tilled. My sister went back a few days later and said that dirt was plenty hard. Not to mention that it has tall reeds standing in it everywhere, implying it hasn't been touched in a while. But it's still smoother to slide on than cement.
I've definitely learned a lot from that crash. For one thing, I'll probably never pass a car in a single-lane road again while on my bike. I didn't think much of it at the time because I always pass on that road in my car since it's so wide and usually empty. Luck wasn't with me that time. I've also been looking for jackets with stomache pads, but I've yet to see such a thing. I'll probably buy a separate vest with stomache pads to put on over or under my jacket.
My biggest mistake was trying to pass in that turn in the first place, even though the road markers say you can. My second mistake is thinking that oncoming truck was going to hit me. Given the width of the road and of my bike, I could've stayed in the opposite lane and the driver could have moved over a little and I would have had plenty of clearance.
And the bike; it seems more like costmetic damage than anything else. It apparantly flipped end-over-end. The front fender and headlight region is mangled and the tail-light is gone. And underneath it there's a dent in one of the headers (or whatever they're called on motorcycles). The left handle-bar broke off too. The forks might also be bent. All the fluids drained out when it crashed. But based on appearances, it looks fixable. Given the circumstances, it turned out pretty well.
Basically, I'm just not going to do anything stupid like that again.
I just got home today after crashing Thursday, but I'll put pics of the bike up soon.
Hope you get better, also hope you're able to saddle up again. 
