mowgli
11th July 2008, 15:20
Some of you will already know that about a month ago I binned. No witch hunt required. Completely my fault. It went down like this.
I was out riding with the Manawatu crowd scouting a route for the Rescue Chopper fundraiser ride. We left Palmy in good weather and headed out towards Fielding and Ashurst. Through the gorge, Balance bridge followed by a few twisties before lunch at Pahiatua. I'd done about 1000km on the VTR by this stage. Things were coming together nicely. Feeling stable through corners. Picking good lines. Even had a comment to that effect by a rider following. Anyway I was concentrating on my own riding and generally drifting back in the group. All good so far.
After a pie and a chinwag we all mounted our steeds and headed off. I didn't notice but there was a not-so-subtle change in my riding from this point. I set off with the leaders and stayed with them. Only a little faster with a little more passing, but most importantly, with the mindset of "keep up or be left behind". After twenty minutes of comfortable riding the following happened.
On a straight uphill that finished with a moderate right hander the rider in front of me overtook an SUV doing 60-70kph (witness statement). I waited, assessed there was space and also overtook. Had I not been "keeping up" I probably wouldn't have overtaken. As I pulled alongside I got the impression that the SUV was accelerating (I now doubt that he was). Anyway this distracted me such that I checked him out through the drivers window and looked for him in the mirror as I pulled in. When I looked back to the road I suddenly realised that I was poorly setup for the ensuing righthander. I was too far right in the lane and way too fast.
Out went the picks. Unfortunately, under heavy braking I wasn't prepared for how much effort would be required to counter-steer into the corner. By this time the bank was looming and I made my final error by looking at it. I estimate I left the road with 30-40kph, bike upright with brakes still applied. The rear kicked out a little as I crossed the damp road edge and gravel before glancing off the bank.
My left foot was twisted off the peg breaking both bones. I also hit the bank hard with my left shoulder causing bruising and cracking a few ribs. Somehow I managed to somersault off the bike to land on my arse on the edge of the road about 5m from where I left it. My bike carried on a short distance before stopping. It hurt - a lot. Spiral fracture to the tibia and a clean break to the fibula bought me a few nights in hospital while they fitted a shiny steel bar inside my leg. Hats off to the surgeon as today the physio said I'm at least a couple of week's recovery ahead of where he'd expect. Basically I can walk without discomfort or crutches! No other injuries. I was very lucky.
The bike damage was largely cosmetic but nevertheless expensive. Insurance has decided it is a total loss.
Gearwise I was pretty happy. Shoei Raid II protected my swede - has been replaced. Revit gloves, jacket and pants left me with zero abrasions. My Oxtar Explorer boots were designed for touring. Noting the twisting injury I will most likely replace these with a much stiffer racing or moto-x boot. Boot and pants had to be cut off so are replaced.
Lessons learnt. Well the first and probably most important is "wind your f$%^en head in". I'm a quick learner and went from noob to confident rider in a relatively short time. Sure my approach to riding was very introspective, almost clinical at times, but I let this go to my head. I was never as safe a rider as I thought I was. Fucking up has been a massive blow to my self esteem. I have learned the hard way of my fallibility. I will become a safer rider as a result now that I have a more realistic understanding of my shortcomings. In some sick, perverted way, it almost seems like binning was the best thing for me.
Second. Ride your own ride. I know this. I practise this. It guts me that I let my guard down.
Third. Scan ahead. Corner coming - better get set up. I completely failed to correctly prioritise between the distraction of the SUV and the upcoming corner. I regularly verbalise hazard detection, escape routes, etc. Why, oh why wasn't I doing it this time?
Fourth. I recently stepped up from a GT250R to the VTR1000. While I can easily imagine making these mistakes on a 250, a bigger bike is definitely less forgiving. Essentially you can get yourself into (some would argue out of) trouble quicker on a bigger bike. My peak speed during overtaking would have been less on the Hyo. I feel that the VTR definitely contributed the outcome but it was my head that was mostly to blame.
Fifth. Look where you want to go. I know this. Perhaps I need to go back to dirt riding for a bit of a refresher. I am convinced that had I not looked at the bank, but instead released the bakes and countersteered, I would not be writing this now. My end game sucked. Advanced riding courses here I come.
Finally, the worst thing by far out of all of this, is knowing how many people I've put out. Worse, the person put out the most is my wife who's had to take on the role of nurse and look after the kids. She's an angel whose piggy bank is overflowing with breakfast in bed credits. I wrote a letter to the SUV driver apologising for the fact that his family had to witness a motorcycle crash. Nothing will change the fact that I screwed up and affected a lot of people in a negative way. This sucks the most and remembering this will change me as a rider forever.
I'll ride again - but I won't be the same rider.
I was out riding with the Manawatu crowd scouting a route for the Rescue Chopper fundraiser ride. We left Palmy in good weather and headed out towards Fielding and Ashurst. Through the gorge, Balance bridge followed by a few twisties before lunch at Pahiatua. I'd done about 1000km on the VTR by this stage. Things were coming together nicely. Feeling stable through corners. Picking good lines. Even had a comment to that effect by a rider following. Anyway I was concentrating on my own riding and generally drifting back in the group. All good so far.
After a pie and a chinwag we all mounted our steeds and headed off. I didn't notice but there was a not-so-subtle change in my riding from this point. I set off with the leaders and stayed with them. Only a little faster with a little more passing, but most importantly, with the mindset of "keep up or be left behind". After twenty minutes of comfortable riding the following happened.
On a straight uphill that finished with a moderate right hander the rider in front of me overtook an SUV doing 60-70kph (witness statement). I waited, assessed there was space and also overtook. Had I not been "keeping up" I probably wouldn't have overtaken. As I pulled alongside I got the impression that the SUV was accelerating (I now doubt that he was). Anyway this distracted me such that I checked him out through the drivers window and looked for him in the mirror as I pulled in. When I looked back to the road I suddenly realised that I was poorly setup for the ensuing righthander. I was too far right in the lane and way too fast.
Out went the picks. Unfortunately, under heavy braking I wasn't prepared for how much effort would be required to counter-steer into the corner. By this time the bank was looming and I made my final error by looking at it. I estimate I left the road with 30-40kph, bike upright with brakes still applied. The rear kicked out a little as I crossed the damp road edge and gravel before glancing off the bank.
My left foot was twisted off the peg breaking both bones. I also hit the bank hard with my left shoulder causing bruising and cracking a few ribs. Somehow I managed to somersault off the bike to land on my arse on the edge of the road about 5m from where I left it. My bike carried on a short distance before stopping. It hurt - a lot. Spiral fracture to the tibia and a clean break to the fibula bought me a few nights in hospital while they fitted a shiny steel bar inside my leg. Hats off to the surgeon as today the physio said I'm at least a couple of week's recovery ahead of where he'd expect. Basically I can walk without discomfort or crutches! No other injuries. I was very lucky.
The bike damage was largely cosmetic but nevertheless expensive. Insurance has decided it is a total loss.
Gearwise I was pretty happy. Shoei Raid II protected my swede - has been replaced. Revit gloves, jacket and pants left me with zero abrasions. My Oxtar Explorer boots were designed for touring. Noting the twisting injury I will most likely replace these with a much stiffer racing or moto-x boot. Boot and pants had to be cut off so are replaced.
Lessons learnt. Well the first and probably most important is "wind your f$%^en head in". I'm a quick learner and went from noob to confident rider in a relatively short time. Sure my approach to riding was very introspective, almost clinical at times, but I let this go to my head. I was never as safe a rider as I thought I was. Fucking up has been a massive blow to my self esteem. I have learned the hard way of my fallibility. I will become a safer rider as a result now that I have a more realistic understanding of my shortcomings. In some sick, perverted way, it almost seems like binning was the best thing for me.
Second. Ride your own ride. I know this. I practise this. It guts me that I let my guard down.
Third. Scan ahead. Corner coming - better get set up. I completely failed to correctly prioritise between the distraction of the SUV and the upcoming corner. I regularly verbalise hazard detection, escape routes, etc. Why, oh why wasn't I doing it this time?
Fourth. I recently stepped up from a GT250R to the VTR1000. While I can easily imagine making these mistakes on a 250, a bigger bike is definitely less forgiving. Essentially you can get yourself into (some would argue out of) trouble quicker on a bigger bike. My peak speed during overtaking would have been less on the Hyo. I feel that the VTR definitely contributed the outcome but it was my head that was mostly to blame.
Fifth. Look where you want to go. I know this. Perhaps I need to go back to dirt riding for a bit of a refresher. I am convinced that had I not looked at the bank, but instead released the bakes and countersteered, I would not be writing this now. My end game sucked. Advanced riding courses here I come.
Finally, the worst thing by far out of all of this, is knowing how many people I've put out. Worse, the person put out the most is my wife who's had to take on the role of nurse and look after the kids. She's an angel whose piggy bank is overflowing with breakfast in bed credits. I wrote a letter to the SUV driver apologising for the fact that his family had to witness a motorcycle crash. Nothing will change the fact that I screwed up and affected a lot of people in a negative way. This sucks the most and remembering this will change me as a rider forever.
I'll ride again - but I won't be the same rider.