On a mountain recreational road that is about 1 1/3 to 1 1/2 lanes wide TOTAL (vs 2 lanes wide, so this width wasn't enough for 2 cars & a VERY close fit for a bike and a car), no dividing yellow line. I was riding with a group of 6, was number 5 and tailgunning. I had a nice lean going (cruiser lean, not sportbike lean) and was about 2-3 feet max from the side of the mountain (which was on my right), so I'm coming around a curve about 20 mph (as per the rider of the bike behind me said) & Iwas surprised & shocked to see a car coming out from the shoulder on the other side of the road towards the middle of the road. He wasn't in the middle YET, just kinda aiming for it. His wife later explained that they thought all the bikes had gone by (he had pulled over to let the other 4 in front of me go by) so he pulled back out into the road. Shocked me out of my lean, and you KNOW that bikes go where you look!
Yup, I went right into his side. The side of my bike went into the side of HIS car. I guess the engine guard's highway peg bracket (the hwy pegs were folded in) caught the poor guy's car door and did a can-opener type thing to his car and spun my bike around me.
I had on my chaps, jacket with kevlar elbows and shoulders, EMT steel-toed over-the-ankle boots, & full face helmet which fit well (I had on a kerchief wrapped around my forehead like I wrap it for aerobics because I knew I'd be sweating & it made the helmet fit snug-snug If I shook my head, the helmet didn't move).
The bike's engine guard is what really REALLY saved my leg from being crushed and me being airlifted out.
The bike's left hwy peg was ripped off (AGAIN, it was NOT extended, it was folded in, I rarely use 'em), engine guard sides scraped, tank scraped, pipes scraped, L turn signal a little off-kilter', not sure about the right hand one, both mirrors off-kilter, front tire slashed in 2 places, engine guard kinda came in and pushed my floorboard in and up so I couldn't shift with my foot, so the guys took the engine guard off. It seemed fine when I got on it, I checked all the turn signals and brake lights, they were good, so I rode it down about 5-6 miles down to Mt. Baldy village & the lunch site, where AAA took over and took my bike to the local bike hospital. When I rode it down to the lunch site, the bike was kinda aiming for the right, pulling a tad and the handlebars were kind of off-kilter a tad as well, going towards the right.
My injuries were a cut on the gum below my bottom teeth (HOW did that happen? Anyone? Anyone? Something came up between the shell and the padding on the inside and caught my gums. WEIRD.), two lip cuts, and a tiny bruise on the inside of my left calf. Ok, plus some soreness on Sunday, which felt like the muscle soreness you get when you go to the gym and do some serious upper body weight training. Maybe the fact I teach aerobics and DO do weight training had something to do with my body and how it's reacting to the accident.
The bike probably has about a $ grand of work goin' on, after talking to one of the guys here at work.
I SO feel sorry for the guy's car, because even though it was 5 years old, he kept that car PRISTINE. You could TELL.
What else can I say? I'm ONE LUCKY RIDING LADY.
(photos by Sissy Michaud)
No comments:
Post a Comment