Sometimes while you are flying thru the air the funniest thoughts come to mind, that’s when you know you’ll live... if you’ve been there you know what I mean. Pain is immanent it’s just the severity that is unknown. The view is always interesting, wether it be a straight view of the ground coming in, your bike flailing by disintegrating at each touch of the ground, or the world spinning around as you descend into your fate. The more you crash the better you get... if you’re lucky.
While some would say that your main goal is to never crash, I would say you better know what you are in for otherwise you’re a fly waiting to be swatted. A good magazine for crash avoidance tactics would be Friction Zone many pictures and graphs, however they have a cop to writer ratio that would make our clan of S.F. writers instant outlaws in their books... safety first and all that crap. Though the more you read about crash avoidance tactics and rider form the more information you’ll have to draw upon when times get hairy. Read ALL the publications, it may save your life someday. Talk to your pals at the pub and listen to the stories of close calls and tales of woe. Riding definitely has a dark side.
The variables for a get off are huge. Looking ahead always helps in many ways, a fraction of a second is an eternity when danger looms. Go over evasion tactics in your mind as much as possible eventually it will be automatic/subconscious once on the bike. Sometimes there will be nothing you can do except prepare for the hit. If you played sports or studied martial arts then you should know how to fall, if not you’ll get instant training, don’t forget to tuck. Reaction times change with each survival, good luck.
I generally follow the rule if I’m not spitting up blood and bones aren’t sticking out then I can make it, if I’m moving I’m alive, get it. There will be times when you feel like you’ve been beaten by baseball bats not even able to even get out of bed the next day. Self imposed traction always speeds up the healing time, rest is crucial to a speedy recovery. Roadrash is best left without bandages unless you like pain, air heals it quickly. If a certain part really hurts pour whiskey on it, the excruciating pain will strengthen you after you wake up from passing out, having a greater tolerance from the ordeal. So once standing you’ll end up walking around like some sort of drunk cripple due to the shifting of the body weight per pain scale, stretching helps.
Having a girlfriend and crashing adds a whole different kind of pain factor, in more ways than one. They seem to get a perverse satisfaction as they disinfect your rash and scrub out your gashes. While you gripe and squirm they giggle saying how sorry they are, some will even say I told you so, lovely. If for some reason they have to feed you prepare to have food shoved up your nose, forget about kindness.
Some poor working bloke just got a 12 grand bill in SF cause someone saw him crash his bike and called the ambulance, they insisted he go with them even though he was up and after 10 hours in general with minimal medical help he was told he had bruised ribs. Hope you have insurance.
As a racer crashing is part of the game and happens... usually it’s your fault, however to do so in the off season out of sheer bad luck sucks. Just recently after a couple years of good luck I was taken out by an SUV and two weeks later damn near broke my shoulder when my brakes had a catastrophic failure, ouch. There were no indications of pending mishaps. To survive and beat all the odds is a feeling of great wonder and joy like no other, you earned the best meal you can get. Crashing happens there is no safety net, be prepared and aware.
~Cheers, Alx