Watched my first rider go down

[OddlyOrdinary]

So I'm a bit bummed out, today was off to being such a good day. I finished my work and had been watching motorcycle skill competitions and thought today would be a great day to practice. I live maybe 3 miles from where I took the MSF, a local high school. They're parking lot is permanetly painted with the testing patterns, U-Turn Box(I hate you UTURN), emergency stop etc.

I've only been riding 3 months or so, but I'm improved so much since then. I still do a U-turn somewhere between the outter box and the inner box most the time. But my stopping, 90 degree turns at speed, etc are all greatly improved. I was feeling good and started down our local 'business highway' which has a speed limit of 60, but has stop lights. I really love this, because it's like 80% highway, but if I want to ride slower I can.

Here's where it happened, I drive past a stoplight going 60 and see another guy riding an R6 at the stoplight. He turns right and speeds up and passes me in the left hand lane, going about 70. Now I don't know anyone in my entire circle of friends/family that rides. So I started to speed up to join him, only to realize that I shouldn't ride faster than I feel comfortable with. I slowed back down to ~60 only to see him shoot off at maybe 80-85 and then a cloud of dust.

The car in front of him pumped his breaks hard and the R6 rider did a weird wreck, it looked like he locked his rear tire and it slid sideways only to regain traction and kick forward inducing a stopie-esque highside. It was so fast I'm not really sure what happened. An awesome group of about 6 people from both directions pulled over and started pulling his bike off the road and stopping traffic.

Amazingly he had just a full body side of road rash. Torn holes in his shoes, jeans, T-Shirt and Hoodie. Notice a pattern, no gear except a helmet. His helmet saved his life with 0% doubt, his helmet was nothing other than ****ed. One foot was hurt pretty bad and he had trouble limping on it. His hoodie/shirt were torn through and it looks like he slid on his upperchest/lower helmet area.

I don't mean to be too graphic but it's on my mind. A man my age was riding his bike down the side of the highway, we have like 10ft shoulders on that road, helped us out and I talked with him a while afterwards. He rides an R1 but gave me great advice kin to the conversations here, about avoiding riders that aren't geared or following too closely. Warned me about a few major intersections that he'd seen or had close calls from unobservant drivers etc.

Anyway, not much to say from this but it ruined my day of riding. I didn't feel less confident or lose my desire to ride, but the fun was gone today. Please wear your gear, and a full face helmet saved his life.

[250rr]

Sorry you had to see that. But it sounds like you have a good attitude about ATGATT.

I have yet to ride with anyone, but I have to say I never thought about whether or not I'd ride with someone without gear. Now that you bring it to my attention, I'm thinking I'll not be doing that either. Thanks for the insight!

[Linuss]

How'd it ruin your day? You didn't know him, weren't involved, and it was relegated solely to a squid that was driving unsafely and no other innocent person, on top of the fact that, from what you wrote, was non-life threatening. And you got to ride on a perfect Texas day like today!

Maybe it's just my jaded Paramedic view, but I count that was a win in my book.





I ride with several members from this forum. We refuse to ride with anyone who rides like a squid. You'd be good to continue doing as you're doing, as you're doing it safely. Congrats.

[FrugalNinja250]

Originally Posted by Linuss

How'd it ruin your day? You didn't know him, weren't involved, and it was relegated solely to a squid that was driving unsafely and no other innocent person, on top of the fact that, from what you wrote, was non-life threatening. And you got to ride on a perfect Texas day like today!

Most people I know have empathy for the suffering of others, even those that for some reason or another may have brought that suffering upon themselves.

[Linuss]

And as do I, as evidence by my chosen career path. However, speaking from experience, you can't let a strangers minor issues get to you and ruin your day. It will eat you up if you do, and you'll just turn bitter and depressed.


If what you described it as is true, it was a non-life threatening injury, akin to dropping boiling water on your skin while cooking. Albeit not fun, but would you let it ruin your day if you learned a cook did that while you were driving by a restaurant?



Enjoy the good things in life. Don't fret on the things that don't directly effect you. Trust me on this.

[Dano]

I went down on my SV once on a bend in WV with some driveway gravel in the road, i was going a little too fast to avoid it, lowsided and slid under a metal gaurdrail, back bounced off a post. Bike was smashed a little cost me about $1500 and my time to rebuild it(thanks good sliders). I came out with a little scratch on my knee. Was wearing all gear and jeans as I have a hard time finding pants to fit.

[nickjpass]

Ouch > Hope he learned his lesson.

[Luvninja]

Originally Posted by Linuss

And as do I, as evidence by my chosen career path. However, speaking from experience, you can't let a strangers minor issues get to you and ruin your day. It will eat you up if you do, and you'll just turn bitter and depressed.


If what you described it as is true, it was a non-life threatening injury, akin to dropping boiling water on your skin while cooking. Albeit not fun, but would you let it ruin your day if you learned a cook did that while you were driving by a restaurant?



Enjoy the good things in life. Don't fret on the things that don't directly effect you. Trust me on this.

There's a difference between hearing about it and watching it happen. It may not bother you and that is fine but not everyone reacts the same, and no it wouldn't make you "bitter and depressed" if you felt bad seeing someone get hurt. Seeing someone go down on their bike right in front of me, yes that would bother me.

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by Dano

I went down on my SV once on a bend in WV with some driveway gravel in the road, i was going a little too fast to avoid it, lowsided and slid under a metal gaurdrail, back bounced off a post. Bike was smashed a little cost me about $1500 and my time to rebuild it(thanks good sliders). I came out with a little scratch on my knee. Was wearing all gear and jeans as I have a hard time finding pants to fit.

I found that almost every mountain road (pretty much every non-HWY rd) in WV was nothing but gravel from people's driveways washed out into the road and collected around every turn all the way down the mountain. Scary place to ride!

[Linuss]

Originally Posted by Luvninja

There's a difference between hearing about it and watching it happen. It may not bother you and that is fine but not everyone reacts the same, and no it wouldn't make you "bitter and depressed" if you felt bad seeing someone get hurt. Seeing someone go down on their bike right in front of me, yes that would bother me.

Feeling bad for someone is not the same as getting 'bummed out' by it. The two, while not mutually exclusive, are not one and the same. Chalk it up to semantics, but 'bummed out' has the connotation of having actual physiological effect on you. It effected your mood to make you no longer happy, but instead, sad.

Seeing someone I don't know crash at high speed and come out with otherwise minor injuries? Wouldn't have any lasting effect on me. They lucked out all things considered. Seeing something much worse happen, like life altering injuries? Yup. THAT would suck. But would I let it psychologically 'bum' me out? Hope not, as you're letting someone elses issues effect your well-being.




Ask any doctor, nurse, paramedic, firefighter, police officer, etc... you can't let a strangers issues effect your outlook on things. It's not healthy. Honest to goodness life saving advice I'm giving you here, and you're fighting me about it as if I'm some heartless, souless bastard. Silver lining and clouds and all that.

[Luvninja]

Originally Posted by Linuss

Feeling bad for someone is not the same as getting 'bummed out' by it. The two, while not mutually exclusive, are not one and the same.

I don't know to me feeling bad for someone (especially someone that crashed) results in feeling "bummed out." Like I said people feel differently towards things but I don't understand your reason on trying to change the way someone feels. So you don't understand why the OP felt bummed out... Ok, move on then.

[250rr]

I think the fact that Steve is a paramedic also has an impact on his attitude, which is quite understandable. If he reacted emotionally every time he saw someone in distress, he wouldn't be very good at what he does.

It might affect me a bit more if I witnessed someone go down, because I'm not used to it.

And because I would think, "There, but for the grace of God, go I".

[Linuss]

Originally Posted by Luvninja

but I don't understand your reason on trying to change the way someone feels.

Never once tried to do that in the context you make it seem. My initial point, as you so pointed out later, was to figure out why it bummed him, then I offered advice to not let it eat away at him and destroy his fun, as it was not him, not someone he knew, and not really major.


If you drive by a fender bender on the way home from work, do you refuse to drive the rest of the night and contemplate on it, or do you go "That sucks for them, hope they're ok" and move on, enjoying whatever it is you're doing?

[Jono]

Just wait till it is you who goes down. Now that is being bummed out. Ask me how I know.

Just make sure you are wearing all the gear and hopefully you will walk away with just bruises like I did.


Don't be bummed out by what you saw. Just learn from that guys mistakes. His crash was preventable just like many other crashes.

I remember pulling up to an intersection on my bike with cop cars all over and seeing a motorcycle laying in the road and a car that had been t-boned. That got to me a bit because I realized that the person who was riding that bike was most likely seriously injured or dead. The car was dented in so far, the motorcycle must have been speeding when he flew through the intersection. But I cleared my mind within minutes of seeing it.

Just another one of those crashes that could have been avoided or at least less severe.


Ride safe!

[massacremasses]

I pray for the people involved in accidents if I drive by one, or see an ambulance.

dont let it ruin your rides. Just be wary of the dangers of riding and remember to not ride like a tool.

[Luvninja]

Like I said, hearing of someone get hurt and a fender bender is quite different from someone on a bike with no protection going down.

Profession might have something to do with things but I too have ties in the medical field, and I react differently seeing people GET hurt vs seeing people that are already hurt.

I see your point now, I just saw it as you trying to change how the OP felt.

[250rr]

Originally Posted by Luvninja

Like I said, hearing of someone get hurt and a fender bender is quite different from someone on a bike with no protection going down.

Profession might have something to do with things but I too have ties in the medical field, and I react differently seeing people GET hurt vs seeing people that are already hurt.

I see your point now, I just saw it as you trying to change how the OP felt.

To complete the process of me completely hijacking this thread, are we ever going to get any riding weather, Gabriela?

[Luvninja]

Originally Posted by 250rr

To complete the process of me completely hijacking this thread, are we ever going to get any riding weather, Gabriela?

Umm... You remember those really nice weeks during winter that we had. Well I think we're paying for it now. This weather is ridiculous, I want to ride, I wanna be dry and warm.

Soo... Back on topic lol... Yea definitely sucks to see someone go down

[blink]

Yeah, don't show off and wear gear =]

[ator]

You know, I actually stopped riding a few years ago after seeing another rider lose his life right in front of me. I was riding a GSXR 1000 in the middle lane with an open lane on either side of me. A rider on an R6 had been following me around trying to get me to race but I would have none of it. He was behind me a bit in the lane to my right when he came flying up along side of me, probably doing 75+mph (speed limit 40), when a car pulled out from a side road. He tried to stop but ran square into the back of it and was killed.

I pulled over, gave my account of what happened (everone assumed I knew the other rider) I then drove my bike home, never rode it again, and sold it about a year later and have not ridden a bike till I bought the 250.

What I saw that day was just too horriffic, I cannot desribe it. I just didn't want to ever have a chance of putting my family through an ordel like that.

Eventually I came to grips with it and realized that it was the riders own fault, even with the car cutting in front of him he may have been able to stop had he not been so reckless.

[OddlyOrdinary]

Hey Ator, I can understand where you're coming from thanks for your story. Thanks for the thoughts everyone, I tried to suggest it in the original post but his wreck didn't remove my desire to ride but just altered the quality of the day. Went to lunch on my bike today and all is well.

Still trying to get all my riding time in before the Texas winter months... you know the ones where people stop riding because it's 110F for months at a time. :P

[akima]

@OddlyOrdinary & @ator: I've not experienced anything like you guys have. I imagine it shakes you up a bit. I hope you both get completely over what you've seen and don't hold any fear inside about it. I recommend riding to the people who I feel have enough courage to get on a motorcycle and confidently command it. My friends that are a bit more fearful and underconfident, I don't recommend riding too. I feel like they'd be in more danger. I think one of the reasons Mordeth 13 has so few accidents despite how much he rides, where he rides (Taiwan) and how he rides (aggressively), is because he seems quite fearless. He confidently controls the bike and takes charge of his own destiny.

Originally Posted by OddlyOrdinary

So I started to speed up to join him, only to realize that I shouldn't ride faster than I feel comfortable with. I slowed back down to ~60 only to see him shoot off.

That's why you're here typing about that guy and he's in hospital. Good attitude.

[Dano]

Originally Posted by CZroe

I found that almost every mountain road (pretty much every non-HWY rd) in WV was nothing but gravel from people's driveways washed out into the road and collected around every turn all the way down the mountain. Scary place to ride!

yeah but they have some of the best twisties and their pavement is way better than PA's

[Klondike1020]

I've seen friends crash . Some more serious than others without being wreckless , just not prepared for some bad situations that arise .

I took a good friend to buy a jacket after he bought his first bike. He resisted and only agree d to take the jacket after I insisted and bought it for him.
It was my best friends little brother and we decided to spend the next day crusing the roads . I made him put on the leather armored jacket while he argued with me that "it's too hot" . 7 miles into our ride he hit a slick patch on a curve and high sided hard. His jeans shredded and his the jacket I got him got trashed . He was ok and that was the best couple hundred bucks I ever spent. The road rash on his legs taught him atgatt .

I tell anyone who asks me about starting into motorcycling . If you are going to quit ridding after an accident or a broken collar bone then you shouldn't start cause it's a dangerous sport and if you could give it up once you start it's better not to start in the first place.

Accidents are part of anything . We are just more vulnerable when they happen

My friend got back on his bike a couple hours later after we fixed some of the damage and he stopped shaking. We rode the route we planned on and he took it as a lesson learned . Some people don't have friends beating atgatt into their brains !

I couldn't give up ridding for anything . I think most of you feel the same.

[Milanista]

@OddlyOrdinary

Good thing that he is safe!!!

I had two close calls one was on my first day of riding and the second was last weekend both were similar... I was about to turn then just lost total confidance in turning so luckly in both cases the coming lane was free of trafic and i manged to starting the bike slow down then go back to my track !!!!!!!!!!! I know I should trust the bike and my ability to turn but why do I fail to do so at some points?!!

[Klondike1020]

Originally Posted by Milanista

@OddlyOrdinary

Good thing that he is safe!!!

I had two close calls one was on my first day of riding and the second was last weekend both were similar... I was about to turn then just lost total confidance in turning so luckly in both cases the coming lane was free of trafic and i manged to starting the bike slow down then go back to my track !!!!!!!!!!! I know I should trust the bike and my ability to turn but why do I fail to do so at some points?!!

Just practice practice practice . You want maneuvers to be instinctual you practice so much , that way your attention is on traffic, and scanning for danger.

You will get it .