Its early morning and I found this on a local forum just looking around, man do I feel sorry for this guy...
I know its long, but its worth reading, hes lucky he was wearing all that gear.
"I much prefer crashing at the track...
Especially when street crashing involves hitting a deer at 60-70 mph.
Before I begin, let me apologize in advance for the typos or grammar mistakes I'm going to make- I only have about 3 working fingers that I can type with. I'd make this post longer, and of course wittier, but I don't want to spend the next hour typing. In addition, the breaks to wipe blood off my keyboard are slowing me down... but I digress.
It was a nice morning for a ride. A group of riders from the local sportbike organization headed out to try and "beat the heat" by starting at about 7:30. It wasn't going to be a fast ride by any means, and I had even pondered wearing jeans due to the impending heat. I mean, I'm an experienced track rider and all around fast guy- what could go wrong? I wisely chose full leathers.
I was second in line following the leader up Smithson Valley road in Comal county. As we came through a straight fenced section, I saw a deer up on the right side of the road. I instinctively moved a bit left to try to give him a little space. It wasn't enough.
Spooked by the first rider, he darted into the road right in front of me. His timing was impeccable- I would have liked to brake, swerve, something... but there was no time. My last thought as I hit him was to grab for the front brake, try to brake hard enough to let him get by. It was not to be.
As the front tire plowed into him, it lifted the rear tire off the ground and threw me, superman-style, over the front bars. From the accounts of those behind me, the rear tire continued to travel in this path as the bike did a poetic flip in the air and came down on its tail section. I flew for what seemed like a long time (where's my cape?) and came down on my right knee and right shoulder. From there it was a blur or tumbling and flipping as I scrubbed off speed. The bike fell over on its right side and left a series of chalk-like marks in the pavement as it slid down the road.
My fellow rider Barron was behind me on his VFR. Too close to avoid the deer, he chose the next best option- he ran over its neck. Apparently, it was only a small bump for the VFR to soak up, and likely put the dumb animal out of its misery. Or, as I'm told, two dumb animals. It was pregnant. Darwin says: no breeding for you.
Did I mention I had the camcorder running?
Right Click, Save Target As
Here's the injury report. Pretty badly sprained right knee- I'm sure falling on it after being bucked off the bike wasn't the best. Sprained right wrist and fingers. Chewed up left hand- I had just bought some Joe Rocket phoenix summer gloves made of mesh and leather. They disintegrated on contact with the ground, and I had actual road rash in my left hand. Not fun. Other than that, a bunch of the usual raspberries on my arms and legs.
The gear is what saved me.
Jacket- full perf Vanson. Excellent. Noticeably worn down, it held together and cushioned the blow on my shoulder well. Virtually no upper body damage outside of my hands.
Pants- Teknic Thunder. Decent. They didn't come with knee armor, and I didn't add any. This was a mistake on my part. Knee armor would probably have made my right knee injury much less severe. They wore through in small sections, but my leg was clean.
Helmet- Arai Quantum/f. Excellent. It did its job- took a nasty blow on the ground and left my head none the worse for wear. Worth every penny.
Gloves- Joe Rocket Phoenix. Complete and total crap. They fell apart like a chinese motorcycle. My hands would have thanked me for wearing my real race gloves, and not these mesh and leather POS's. Don't ever buy them. No idea if this trait extends to the phoenix jackets and pants that are so popular right now. For the sake of the people wearing 'em, I sure hope not.
Boots- Sidi Vertebra II. Perfect. My ankles have never been better.
In addition, I was wearing an AlpineStars Tech Series back protector. No idea if it helped protect my back, but I wouldn't doubt it. No spine or back pain whatsover.
I'm spent. Gotta go put the heat pad back on my knee.
Ride safe out there, folks. "
http://www.cousinlarry.com/upload/deerwreck.mpg
I know its long, but its worth reading, hes lucky he was wearing all that gear.
"I much prefer crashing at the track...
Especially when street crashing involves hitting a deer at 60-70 mph.
Before I begin, let me apologize in advance for the typos or grammar mistakes I'm going to make- I only have about 3 working fingers that I can type with. I'd make this post longer, and of course wittier, but I don't want to spend the next hour typing. In addition, the breaks to wipe blood off my keyboard are slowing me down... but I digress.
It was a nice morning for a ride. A group of riders from the local sportbike organization headed out to try and "beat the heat" by starting at about 7:30. It wasn't going to be a fast ride by any means, and I had even pondered wearing jeans due to the impending heat. I mean, I'm an experienced track rider and all around fast guy- what could go wrong? I wisely chose full leathers.
I was second in line following the leader up Smithson Valley road in Comal county. As we came through a straight fenced section, I saw a deer up on the right side of the road. I instinctively moved a bit left to try to give him a little space. It wasn't enough.
Spooked by the first rider, he darted into the road right in front of me. His timing was impeccable- I would have liked to brake, swerve, something... but there was no time. My last thought as I hit him was to grab for the front brake, try to brake hard enough to let him get by. It was not to be.
As the front tire plowed into him, it lifted the rear tire off the ground and threw me, superman-style, over the front bars. From the accounts of those behind me, the rear tire continued to travel in this path as the bike did a poetic flip in the air and came down on its tail section. I flew for what seemed like a long time (where's my cape?) and came down on my right knee and right shoulder. From there it was a blur or tumbling and flipping as I scrubbed off speed. The bike fell over on its right side and left a series of chalk-like marks in the pavement as it slid down the road.
My fellow rider Barron was behind me on his VFR. Too close to avoid the deer, he chose the next best option- he ran over its neck. Apparently, it was only a small bump for the VFR to soak up, and likely put the dumb animal out of its misery. Or, as I'm told, two dumb animals. It was pregnant. Darwin says: no breeding for you.
Did I mention I had the camcorder running?
Right Click, Save Target As
Here's the injury report. Pretty badly sprained right knee- I'm sure falling on it after being bucked off the bike wasn't the best. Sprained right wrist and fingers. Chewed up left hand- I had just bought some Joe Rocket phoenix summer gloves made of mesh and leather. They disintegrated on contact with the ground, and I had actual road rash in my left hand. Not fun. Other than that, a bunch of the usual raspberries on my arms and legs.
The gear is what saved me.
Jacket- full perf Vanson. Excellent. Noticeably worn down, it held together and cushioned the blow on my shoulder well. Virtually no upper body damage outside of my hands.
Pants- Teknic Thunder. Decent. They didn't come with knee armor, and I didn't add any. This was a mistake on my part. Knee armor would probably have made my right knee injury much less severe. They wore through in small sections, but my leg was clean.
Helmet- Arai Quantum/f. Excellent. It did its job- took a nasty blow on the ground and left my head none the worse for wear. Worth every penny.
Gloves- Joe Rocket Phoenix. Complete and total crap. They fell apart like a chinese motorcycle. My hands would have thanked me for wearing my real race gloves, and not these mesh and leather POS's. Don't ever buy them. No idea if this trait extends to the phoenix jackets and pants that are so popular right now. For the sake of the people wearing 'em, I sure hope not.
Boots- Sidi Vertebra II. Perfect. My ankles have never been better.
In addition, I was wearing an AlpineStars Tech Series back protector. No idea if it helped protect my back, but I wouldn't doubt it. No spine or back pain whatsover.
I'm spent. Gotta go put the heat pad back on my knee.
Ride safe out there, folks. "
http://www.cousinlarry.com/upload/deerwreck.mpg
thats fucking crazy.
