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I guess it was my turn to take a spill during the North Carolina shindig. This was my third trip to Asheville for WOTS and second for Hal's BBQ. This year's trip was more for the BBQ, socializing, and riding. Myself, Wingit, and jbatp92 left Birmingham Friday morning and met up with Robeth east of Rome, GA.
Scenic overlook in GA. 3 wings and jb's beautiful '07 UC
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We rolled into the Red Roof Inn around 1700, checked in, and headed for the BBQ.
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Hedo in pose and CJ cleaning, as usual.
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After the BBQ, we returned to the RRI parking lot and enjoyed meeting, talking, and telling lies.
On Saturday morning, Robeth, Wingit, and GL1800CBR1000 (now to be called Wayne), and I went for a ride through Bat Cave, Chimney Rock, and on to the BRP. The roads were wet most of the morning, but the sun had come out and started drying the surface. At the bottom of a hill, there was a bridge that crossed the lower end of Lake Tahoma. The road turned to the right prior to a straight run across the bridge. As I set up for the turn onto the bridge, I lost traction on the front, and then the rear tire. It was a strange feeling, like the handlebars were not connected to the front wheel, I could move them with no response. The bike swept out going down on the right side, pinning my right leg to the road as we slid. I was in full denial, there was no way I had dropped my bike! Then I saw the bridge side wall coming in fast. I have had incidents in life before that seemed to move in slow-motion, but this was not one of them. The wall impact was hard, fast, and loud. My right foot took a direct, flat-footed impact on the wall and something on the bike hit me on the left eye brow area, shattering the left lense in my sunglasses. The bike came back down on my leg and we continued sliding on the bridge for another 2-3 car lengths. I tried kicking the bike off of my leg during the slide, but that didn't work so well. As the slide slowed, the tires caught and the bike appears to have high-sided to a stop on it's left side, off of my leg. I did a quick assessment and found everything in working order, except for my left eye. Wayne, who is a paramedic, and Robeth, who is a dentist, evaluated me as I watched for their reaction to my eye. I could tell it wasn't good from their looks. Wingit kept me reassured that my eye looked bad, but that it could have been much worse.I was transported to Mission Hospital and was well taken care of there. Wingit, Wayne, and Robeth took care of the accident site and bike removal before coming to check on me at the hospital. I was not cited for any violations by the Trooper investigating the accident. Back at the hospital, a CT of the head showed no fractures to facial bones, and X-rays of leg and ankle were negative. The left eye brow and eyelid were lacerated by my glasses and requires 3 internal stitches and approximately 35 external. Robeth arranged transportation back to the RRI through a friend of his son.
The eye is swollen shut and I have double vision due to the sweeling when I try to open it. The vision should improve as the swelling goes down. The lower right leg has minor scrapes/rash in 3 spots and is swollen from the abuse of the bike bouncing on it. My right foot is bruised and swollen from the impact with the wall. Other than that, I am great.
The bike has a broken front wheel, forks bent back, and oil dumped either from the filter or the block, or both. Should know about the bike later this week.
I was wearing an Arai full-face helmet, but I had the shield open for airflow. If the shield had been down, the eye injuries probably would be much less severe or prevented. My Joe Rocket mesh jacket has scrubs on the right elbow and shoulder pads. Padding on the jacket was right where it needed to be. Pants were First Gear Hypertex mesh and they were scrubbed through in spots from the slide with the bike pressing down on the leg. I had planned on wearing blue jeans under my riding pants, but saw how warm it was going to be and opted for very thin Columbia Fly-Fishing pants that dry quickly in case of rain. The jeans would have made for a great second layer and I doubt I would have any abrasions with the jeans. Foot wear was Wolverine Steel Toed boots that were scraped bad but not through over the right ankle bone. Gloves never touched the ground. I am thankful I had on great riding gear.
Sorry the story is so long. Please ride careful and wear protective clothing. I know I will learn to ride with my faceshield closed from now on. I was fortunate to be riding with some great guys who really took care of me when I needed it. And in a Forrest Gump kinda way, I'm sorry a had a wreck on your ride! I can't thank Jim, Bob, and Wayne enough for all that they did for me. They are another example of the wonderful people you meet on this board. Thank you for all the calls, e-mails, and PM's. I appreciate all the well wishes and prayers. I am going to be OK, and I hope our other members who have had accidents recently get well soon, also.
Here is a link to my photobucket album with pics Jim took with my camera and his. I did not post any of my lacerations, but if you want to see my beautiful mug, let me know! :wink:
http://s21.photobucket.com/albums/b280/dicepilot/wots06/?start=0
Scenic overlook in GA. 3 wings and jb's beautiful '07 UC
We rolled into the Red Roof Inn around 1700, checked in, and headed for the BBQ.
Hedo in pose and CJ cleaning, as usual.
More representatives from Alabama
After the BBQ, we returned to the RRI parking lot and enjoyed meeting, talking, and telling lies.
On Saturday morning, Robeth, Wingit, and GL1800CBR1000 (now to be called Wayne), and I went for a ride through Bat Cave, Chimney Rock, and on to the BRP. The roads were wet most of the morning, but the sun had come out and started drying the surface. At the bottom of a hill, there was a bridge that crossed the lower end of Lake Tahoma. The road turned to the right prior to a straight run across the bridge. As I set up for the turn onto the bridge, I lost traction on the front, and then the rear tire. It was a strange feeling, like the handlebars were not connected to the front wheel, I could move them with no response. The bike swept out going down on the right side, pinning my right leg to the road as we slid. I was in full denial, there was no way I had dropped my bike! Then I saw the bridge side wall coming in fast. I have had incidents in life before that seemed to move in slow-motion, but this was not one of them. The wall impact was hard, fast, and loud. My right foot took a direct, flat-footed impact on the wall and something on the bike hit me on the left eye brow area, shattering the left lense in my sunglasses. The bike came back down on my leg and we continued sliding on the bridge for another 2-3 car lengths. I tried kicking the bike off of my leg during the slide, but that didn't work so well. As the slide slowed, the tires caught and the bike appears to have high-sided to a stop on it's left side, off of my leg. I did a quick assessment and found everything in working order, except for my left eye. Wayne, who is a paramedic, and Robeth, who is a dentist, evaluated me as I watched for their reaction to my eye. I could tell it wasn't good from their looks. Wingit kept me reassured that my eye looked bad, but that it could have been much worse.I was transported to Mission Hospital and was well taken care of there. Wingit, Wayne, and Robeth took care of the accident site and bike removal before coming to check on me at the hospital. I was not cited for any violations by the Trooper investigating the accident. Back at the hospital, a CT of the head showed no fractures to facial bones, and X-rays of leg and ankle were negative. The left eye brow and eyelid were lacerated by my glasses and requires 3 internal stitches and approximately 35 external. Robeth arranged transportation back to the RRI through a friend of his son.
The eye is swollen shut and I have double vision due to the sweeling when I try to open it. The vision should improve as the swelling goes down. The lower right leg has minor scrapes/rash in 3 spots and is swollen from the abuse of the bike bouncing on it. My right foot is bruised and swollen from the impact with the wall. Other than that, I am great.
The bike has a broken front wheel, forks bent back, and oil dumped either from the filter or the block, or both. Should know about the bike later this week.
I was wearing an Arai full-face helmet, but I had the shield open for airflow. If the shield had been down, the eye injuries probably would be much less severe or prevented. My Joe Rocket mesh jacket has scrubs on the right elbow and shoulder pads. Padding on the jacket was right where it needed to be. Pants were First Gear Hypertex mesh and they were scrubbed through in spots from the slide with the bike pressing down on the leg. I had planned on wearing blue jeans under my riding pants, but saw how warm it was going to be and opted for very thin Columbia Fly-Fishing pants that dry quickly in case of rain. The jeans would have made for a great second layer and I doubt I would have any abrasions with the jeans. Foot wear was Wolverine Steel Toed boots that were scraped bad but not through over the right ankle bone. Gloves never touched the ground. I am thankful I had on great riding gear.
Sorry the story is so long. Please ride careful and wear protective clothing. I know I will learn to ride with my faceshield closed from now on. I was fortunate to be riding with some great guys who really took care of me when I needed it. And in a Forrest Gump kinda way, I'm sorry a had a wreck on your ride!
I can't thank Jim, Bob, and Wayne enough for all that they did for me. They are another example of the wonderful people you meet on this board. Thank you for all the calls, e-mails, and PM's. I appreciate all the well wishes and prayers. I am going to be OK, and I hope our other members who have had accidents recently get well soon, also.Here is a link to my photobucket album with pics Jim took with my camera and his. I did not post any of my lacerations, but if you want to see my beautiful mug, let me know! :wink:
http://s21.photobucket.com/albums/b280/dicepilot/wots06/?start=0
