I binned. Lesson of the Day...

[bomma]

So we were having a blast yesterday going round the coro....macstar, gremlin, zapf and myself managed to chase down the 250s just past coro township and took off toward whitianga....as usual me and macstar kept it tight and were enjoying the mountain.....

THE ACCIDENT!!!
so i came around another left hand corner going up the mountain about 5kms before whitianga and right in my line was a rock aimed at my front tyre.....

THE CHOICES....
so i had a choice to make, either hit the rock and low side or veer right onto the opposite lane to avoid it and hit an oncoming car

The DECISION
so i decided to chance it with the rock and as expected the front wheel slipped to the right and i went sliding forward with the bike sliding up bwhind me.....

The LANDING
thankfully i ended up in a bank coz the bike had slid till it was over my legs and then rolled, with the majority of the bike, led by the hot exhaust pipe, poised to crush my torso....lucky for me i ended up at the bottom of the ditch and the sides of the ditch held the bike up above me and i was able to slide out from under having avoided being crushed by my own bike.

The LESSONS
I know where you are coming from quasi but no i am DEFINATELY NOT taking this lightly!!! I am immeasurably grateful to have gotten away as lightly as i have and thank my lucky stars that i was able to walk away from the bin.

Given the choices that i had i believe i made the right one BUT.......

The mistake i made was narrowing my choices down to those two.....in retrospect i should have included a third choice, "Keep looking around the corner and see if she'll go any lower"......

Its amazing how quickly it happened but its also amazing that it felt like i had a lot of time to decide what to do....felt like my brain was working a mile a minute processing everything that led to the decision.....

I was also wearing the right gear and feel that this has saved my skin....literally.....thanks to Quasi for the jacket and gloves, Revitt for my pants and boots and Nitro for the helmet. I would recommend these bits of gear for any rider!!!!

I definately have not been scared off biking but do have a new found respect for bikes.......however i dont think i will be re-investing in a bike till i finish studying simply because of the costs involved and coz my mum and dad are now even more worried than they were before

[Ragingrob]

Yeah bad luck bro... Lucky there was no car anyway cause you would've slid right into it! Hope you enjoyed the rest of the day scraping out Macsters pegs though haha!

[Jantar]

...

BUT.......

The mistake i made was narrowing my choices down to those two.....in retrospect i should have included a third choice, "Keep looking around the corner and see if she'll go any lower".........

A lesson well learned is one never forgotten.

You also had a fourth choice: Ride at such a speed as you can stop in the clear visible distance ahead.

However, I'm glad you are OK and you WILL be out riding again.

[bikerboy011]

Shit man that really sucks, good to hear that your alright.

[Macstar]

Yep, I was in front of Bomma at the time and caught a glimpse of a dust cloud in my mirror, slowed down and then remember my heart sinking as I waited for him to come around the corner but he didn't...

I was surprised to see him go down as in my opinion Bomma is one of the most skilled riders in the SMC club. Equally surprising was a lack of injuries - I guess a fair amount of speed must have been lost by the time the bike and rider went into the ditch.

Another scary realisation for me is that I only have 3 regular riding buddies now that haven't crashed in the time I have known them. I won't jinx those 3 people by naming them!!

[Macstar]

BTW bomma - you gotta get back on that horse cause you're my main riding buddy! I'll do ya a deal on the KTM, that baby won't do much more than 140kph and sits nicely at 100-120kph. She eats corners and doesn't mind the odd slide down the road. It will turn you into a pretty compentant mechnic too!

[The Stranger:Me]

Sounds suspiciously like very long way of saying target fixation.

[MSTRS:Me]

Sounds suspiciously like very long way of saying target fixation.

Yep - 'had a choice of two options' and went where he looked.

[Mr Skid]

THE CHOICES....
so i had a choice to make, either hit the rock and low side or veer right onto the opposite lane to avoid it and hit an oncoming car

It must have been a terribly big rock, taking up your entire lane, that you would need to veer into opposing traffic to avoid it.

How did the other riders get around it?

[jrandom]

It must have been a terribly big rock, taking up your entire lane, that you would need to veer into opposing traffic to avoid it.

bomma's already admitted that he failed to consider simply steering inside it. One presumes this was because he was riding close enough to his personal performance limit that he simply didn't feel he had the option of tightening his line, and could only hold it or widen it.

I don't think that being sarcastic about it is going to make him a better rider in future. He's not being a twat, he fucked up and admitted it. He doesn't require slapping down.

Let he who is without sin and always rides perfectly cast the first stone. The guy's bruised and has a broken bike; try being nice.

[The Pastor]

I didnt notice any rocks on the road :|

[Mr Skid]

bomma's already admitted that he failed to consider simply steering inside it. One presumes this was because he was riding close enough to his personal performance limit that he simply didn't feel he had the option of tightening his line, and could only hold it or widen it.

I don't think that being sarcastic about it is going to make him a better rider in future. He's not being a twat, he fucked up and admitted it. He doesn't require slapping down.

Let he who is without sin and always rides perfectly cast the first stone. The guy's bruised and has a broken bike; try being nice.

Not at all, I recall running out of talent and on the way to Taupo once and running over a squished possum - a curious experience.

I would imagine that there were other lines through the corner that didn't involve said rock.

[bomma]

It must have been a terribly big rock, taking up your entire lane, that you would need to veer into opposing traffic to avoid it.

How did the other riders get around it?

well from what i know about riding not every person follows the same line....this is dependant on the rider and the bike......and in all honesty there was only one person in front of me and that was isaac on a hornet 900....

bomma's already admitted that he failed to consider simply steering inside it. One presumes this was because he was riding close enough to his personal performance limit that he simply didn't feel he had the option of tightening his line, and could only hold it or widen it.

I don't think that being sarcastic about it is going to make him a better rider in future. He's not being a twat, he fucked up and admitted it. He doesn't require slapping down.

Let he who is without sin and always rides perfectly cast the first stone. The guy's bruised and has a broken bike; try being nice.

thanks man and yes like jr says i do realise ive fuct up but i guess its what i take away from this thats important....and yes i was pushing it quite hard but i still dont think it was far beyond my skill level....just got a bit spooked mayb but will get better with more exp

[duckaddict]

Can't agree more!

bomma's already admitted that he failed to consider simply steering inside it. One presumes this was because he was riding close enough to his personal performance limit that he simply didn't feel he had the option of tightening his line, and could only hold it or widen it.

I don't think that being sarcastic about it is going to make him a better rider in future. He's not being a twat, he fucked up and admitted it. He doesn't require slapping down.

Let he who is without sin and always rides perfectly cast the first stone. The guy's bruised and has a broken bike; try being nice.

[Unit:Me]

Bomma good on you for your honest recall of your incident, and glad to hear your OK, most important.
You will be a better rider for this in the long run (dont get me wrong I dont encourage this sort of learning). We all need to be in touch with our mortality