squid vicious
nomnomnomnom
I crashed at thunder hill a couple of weeks ago setting up for T9. The actual cause of the crash is still speculation. This not about what i did or didn't do prior to crashing, this about what i recall immediately after being tossed off the highside.
It happened really fast...i was on the bike setting up for a turn, then i was over it looking down and flailing.
Then everything slowed down. I heard the bike hit the ground before i did. In my peripheral i could tell it was behind me, I remember being worried it would tumble over me. I hit the ground in a very controlled fashion, a few years of martial arts meant flying and landing were familiar feelings. I did a good job of spreading the impact against padded areas, however the difference between landing squarely on a mat and landing on pavement with an 80+ mph horizontal momentum would soon become relevant.
As i slid on my back and side, my feet ahead of me, the first thing i noticed was the heat. The coefficient of friction of leather against asphault is enormous. I had time to think, "jesus it's eaten through my leathers already..." and immediately abandoned the thought of what would be eaten next. I also had time to watch my tumbling bike head straight toward the back of Adam's bike. He was still braking, it wasn't.
Several crunches were to follow. The first would be my bike colliding with his. The next would be my boot catching under my sliding self. This sent me tumbling forward into a summer sault too fast to see or do anything about. The next crunch was my left hand/arm hitting the pavement with little more than centripital force controlling it's extension. I didnt hear any of the bones break, but i knew. The next was the crunch of my helmet hitting the ground face first. That was when i realized the severity of what was happening.
My next thoughts were someone elses words: First "tuck." I pulled my head, arms, and legs in as I had broken enough of them already. As the t-shirt reads: sky ground sky ground sky ground sky ground.....
Next came some words of wisdom I'd heard somewhere, "when you're done sliding, count to 5...because you're probably not done yet."
I got all the way to 15.
In the end, the worst of the damage was a broken arm, wrist, and hand due simply to impact. my leathers hadn't eaten through. In fact they won't even need repairs. The helmet is retired. No concussion, no neck injury, no rash, no blood. Adam was bruised and sore and a hell of a nice guy for not just kicking my ass right then and there. As i understand it he got his bike out for another session that day.
Arai Quantum II
Spidi R2 1pc
T-pro back protector
Held "Steve" sport touring gloves
Alpinestar SMX boots
It happened really fast...i was on the bike setting up for a turn, then i was over it looking down and flailing.
Then everything slowed down. I heard the bike hit the ground before i did. In my peripheral i could tell it was behind me, I remember being worried it would tumble over me. I hit the ground in a very controlled fashion, a few years of martial arts meant flying and landing were familiar feelings. I did a good job of spreading the impact against padded areas, however the difference between landing squarely on a mat and landing on pavement with an 80+ mph horizontal momentum would soon become relevant.
As i slid on my back and side, my feet ahead of me, the first thing i noticed was the heat. The coefficient of friction of leather against asphault is enormous. I had time to think, "jesus it's eaten through my leathers already..." and immediately abandoned the thought of what would be eaten next. I also had time to watch my tumbling bike head straight toward the back of Adam's bike. He was still braking, it wasn't.
Several crunches were to follow. The first would be my bike colliding with his. The next would be my boot catching under my sliding self. This sent me tumbling forward into a summer sault too fast to see or do anything about. The next crunch was my left hand/arm hitting the pavement with little more than centripital force controlling it's extension. I didnt hear any of the bones break, but i knew. The next was the crunch of my helmet hitting the ground face first. That was when i realized the severity of what was happening.
My next thoughts were someone elses words: First "tuck." I pulled my head, arms, and legs in as I had broken enough of them already. As the t-shirt reads: sky ground sky ground sky ground sky ground.....
Next came some words of wisdom I'd heard somewhere, "when you're done sliding, count to 5...because you're probably not done yet."
I got all the way to 15.
In the end, the worst of the damage was a broken arm, wrist, and hand due simply to impact. my leathers hadn't eaten through. In fact they won't even need repairs. The helmet is retired. No concussion, no neck injury, no rash, no blood. Adam was bruised and sore and a hell of a nice guy for not just kicking my ass right then and there. As i understand it he got his bike out for another session that day.
Arai Quantum II
Spidi R2 1pc
T-pro back protector
Held "Steve" sport touring gloves
Alpinestar SMX boots