OrangevaleFJR
R.I.P. Our FJR Riding Friend
Day 2 with the DRZ:
I rode to Grass Valley to give FJROB's son liners for the riding pants I sold to him.
Riding home, I decided to take a few side roads. There was a lot of debris on the road so I was taking it easy.
On a one lane, tar road I was into the turn at 17-23 mph and thought I was through it when zzzzzzzip! my front tire hit thick sand that was undetected due to it matching the color of the tar. I went forward off the side -low side but with forward motion so my right knee slammed first. I rolled out of a face first slam, tucked and on the first roll my left arm flung around so hard my hand slammed backward onto the road.
My helmet knocked, then I rolled again, then I realized, "whoa, I'm still sliding...this is a long fall" then I rolled again then I slid on my back into the shallow ditch that was, thankfully dry and devoid of sharp things. I was glad the fall was finally over.
I was a bit taken aback to the point that I didn't even cuss. Gas was dripping from the freshly filled tank. The bike was upright before the fourth drip hit the ground.
The right side bar end was on the ground so I picked it up and pocketed it. All else seemed fine though scratched on the right side.
Nothing on me hurt at this point, but I had a buzziness in my head that was reminiscent of times I had been badly injured while playing soccer and skiing. Adrenaline has a way of masking pain, I know that so I decided to call Sherri so that I took time before getting on the bike. I didn't want to ride if I was too badly busted up.
When the fog cleared I decided that my left wrist was SPRAINED , but not too badly, so I rode the 45 miles home. It hurt, but I managed fine. The bike is fine except a two day old SM isn't shiny anymore. I think this is good because now I can ride on the dirt as planned and focus on riding instead of not scratching my pretty bike.
I have no road rash. My padding in my gear was great...no bruises even. My helmet hit softly enough that it has less damage than a helmet I dropped on the ground once. Gear doesn't often save bones (except good boots) and my ankles are fine
Lesson? Lesser travelled roads aren't cleaned by traffic. Riding mellow isn't always enough. This is my first street fall after many tens (hundreds?) of thousands of miles; tar just doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would. Interesting that it follows the stat: most bike wrecks are within 6 months of getting a new bike. hmm...I think this was more bad luck than anything, but I'll take a lot of time to break this down and figure out what I could have done better.
glad to be writing, even though it's just one hand doing this typing.
I'd post a pic of damage but I don't want to.
I rode to Grass Valley to give FJROB's son liners for the riding pants I sold to him.
Riding home, I decided to take a few side roads. There was a lot of debris on the road so I was taking it easy.
On a one lane, tar road I was into the turn at 17-23 mph and thought I was through it when zzzzzzzip! my front tire hit thick sand that was undetected due to it matching the color of the tar. I went forward off the side -low side but with forward motion so my right knee slammed first. I rolled out of a face first slam, tucked and on the first roll my left arm flung around so hard my hand slammed backward onto the road.
My helmet knocked, then I rolled again, then I realized, "whoa, I'm still sliding...this is a long fall" then I rolled again then I slid on my back into the shallow ditch that was, thankfully dry and devoid of sharp things. I was glad the fall was finally over.
I was a bit taken aback to the point that I didn't even cuss. Gas was dripping from the freshly filled tank. The bike was upright before the fourth drip hit the ground.
The right side bar end was on the ground so I picked it up and pocketed it. All else seemed fine though scratched on the right side.
Nothing on me hurt at this point, but I had a buzziness in my head that was reminiscent of times I had been badly injured while playing soccer and skiing. Adrenaline has a way of masking pain, I know that so I decided to call Sherri so that I took time before getting on the bike. I didn't want to ride if I was too badly busted up.
When the fog cleared I decided that my left wrist was SPRAINED , but not too badly, so I rode the 45 miles home. It hurt, but I managed fine. The bike is fine except a two day old SM isn't shiny anymore. I think this is good because now I can ride on the dirt as planned and focus on riding instead of not scratching my pretty bike.
I have no road rash. My padding in my gear was great...no bruises even. My helmet hit softly enough that it has less damage than a helmet I dropped on the ground once. Gear doesn't often save bones (except good boots) and my ankles are fine
Lesson? Lesser travelled roads aren't cleaned by traffic. Riding mellow isn't always enough. This is my first street fall after many tens (hundreds?) of thousands of miles; tar just doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would. Interesting that it follows the stat: most bike wrecks are within 6 months of getting a new bike. hmm...I think this was more bad luck than anything, but I'll take a lot of time to break this down and figure out what I could have done better.
glad to be writing, even though it's just one hand doing this typing.
I'd post a pic of damage but I don't want to.
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