Kudos to my riding gear when Husky met tree

[lankydoug]

I was just thinking to myself that's it's been a while since I crashed... that's what I get for thinking. This evening while cruising through the woods behind my house and picking out some new lines and new trails something grabbed hold of me, bounced me off a tree and threw me in the creek. I was at part throttle 1/2 submerged in water trapped under my bike with my left hamstring receiving a burnout from my MT43. I hit the kill switch and then spent the next 5 minutes getting out from under my bike. The water I was laying in while trapped was cold which probably was of some benefit to help ice the bruises and scrapes I had just received. (trying to look on the bright side here) Besides smashing my pipe

I also hit my shin hard enough to cut through my riding pants and crease my shin guard and cut the strap off

I have a couple of pretty awesome shin bruises and a burnout mark but I figure my Gearne G10 boots along with my $12 shin guard and Klim Shinook pants saved a broken leg and some blood shed.

Later back at the house while icing my shin and eating carry out pizza I realized I can now try out that Gnarly pipe I've been wondering about. Life is good

 

[WoodsChick]

Life is good

It certainly is

Amazing what a "glass is half full" attitude can do for your outlook, isn't it?

Enjoy your pizza and new pipe

 

[lankydoug]

The trees didn't fair much better than me, this was the last tree I glanced off before landing in the water wedging my front wheel under the roots you see.lol


This is the first tree that sent me toward the one above.

 

[Dirtdame]

It would be so much more dramatic if you had some pictures of the bike while it was stuck in the water.

 

[WHITEROCKET5.9]

ya just never know when all that gear will help save yer rear, glad your ok!

 

[kx3089]

Forgot my knee/shingaurds on sunday.Figured "what the heck".Ended up with 30 stitches in the right knee and my leg in a brace for 2 weeks.

 

[lankydoug]

It would be so much more dramatic if you had some pictures of the bike while it was stuck in the water.

I thought of that later, I even had my Iphone in my left pants pocket which was about the only part of me that was dry.

 

[dartyppyt]

Lankydoug, I mean Lankylog! Glad your okay! Sticks and stones can break your bones, but Husky riders are tough!

 

[lankydoug]

Forgot my knee/shingaurds on sunday.Figured "what the heck".Ended up with 30 stitches in the right knee and my leg in a brace for 2 weeks.

It's amazing how much grief $12 worth of plastic can save you. I'm sure my shin would have looked like someone took a tomahawk to it. I now have a bruise the size and shape of the entire shin guard so no telling how much force it spread out.

 

[dartyppyt]

Forgot my knee/shingaurds on sunday.Figured "what the heck".Ended up with 30 stitches in the right knee and my leg in a brace for 2 weeks.

Glad you are okay as well. I laid in a creek, with broken knee, for an hour, from snapping handlebars off. I would have given anything for a case of morphine. Welcome to the Frankenhusky look.

 

[AndrewS]

Ouch! Those are some serious chunks out of those trees. Glad to hear you're relatively okay!

 

[Bagman]

Those crashes hurt**************************************** We call it Ping Ball when we hit one tree then another then another then another OUT OF CONTROL

 

[lankydoug]

Those crashes hurt We call it Ping Ball when we hit one tree then another then another then another OUT OF CONTROL

I felt like a pinball bouncing off trees and the like. The odd thing is I can't for the life of me figure out what got this pinball going, it may have been that a root or something kicked me sideways, I do remember bouncing my right shoulder off something in the beginning of the sequence. (I have a heavy riding over shirt with torn holes in the right shoulder to prove this) What ever it was it makes me think that I should have bailed a little earlier instead of staying with the bike and trying to save it.

 

[Bagman]

yeah, it's always easy to look back & wish we had done something different. Most of the time laying the bike down would be the best thing but riding it out & trying to SAVE IT is a more natural reaction. Much more macho!

 

[Slowpoke]

My crashes are always already over before I even realize I'm in trouble, so no bailing for me....... I'm just about completely augured in, or have already bounced a couple times before there's even a "What the!?!?!" thru my head. I have reaction times measured in minutes sometimes - that keeps my speed in check, so it's safe to say the pro racers aren't too worried about me showing them how it's done

Those are good sized bark chips! Ouch!

 

[lankydoug]

Yesterday was my first ride since I crashed, mostly because it was the first day I could get my boot on without crying like a school girl. It was really slick, the ground was half frozen and in other places it thawed just enough to make it like riding on grease. Needless to say I vowed to take it easy so I wouldn't have to dab too often or worse yet crash and hit my purple shin again. It felt good to be back in the saddle again and was running at a decent clip in no time. The best part is how much I liked the Gnarly pipe, although it was too slick to really get a hard load in third gear (it would just blow the tire off spinning) the pipe made the power curve more linear and controllable. It felt like when you jet a step rich to tone it down through the transitions and make the hit smooth except it wasn't rich and pulled hard and smooth from the bottom to the top. My son and his friend both commented that my bike sounded more powerful and less pingey, what ever that means. lol I was so pleased with the bike I even washed rinsed it off after the ride and took a picture for the Cafe.


Once I get some real riding time I will post better write up about the pipe.

 

[sam v]

Wow looks like someone took a ax to the tree. Glad you are ok . You got to know when to hold and when to fold em. My helmet and gear has save my butt so many times, I have learned sometimes to abandon ship.Be safe .

 

[lankydoug]

My shin guard looks like someone took an axe to it as well. Since I had recently moved I did not have a family doc to go to so finally after 3 weeks I got an appointment with a doc, he messed around with my foot a while and then said "I'm pretty sure your foot is broken we need to x-ray it. I asked what are you going to tell me to do if it is broken, after all I've been working and walking around on it for 3 weeks. He said he would tell me to take it easy. I replied, "then there is no reason to x-ray it. He agreed lol. Funny thing is my shin hurt so bad for 2 weeks I really didn't pay much mind to my foot, I did notice that if I worked cutting wood and kept it moving all day it wasn't so bad but it was at night when I was sleeping that it would wake me up hurting so bad I would feel nausious.

 

[ray_ray]

Nauseous is definitely not a symptom you want with any injury ... Maybe try elevating it at night next time ...

Good to hear you are healed up to some degree ....

 

[lankydoug]

Nauseous is definitely not a symptom you want with any injury ... Maybe try elevating it at night next time ...

Good to hear you are healed up to some degree ....

It seems pretty good now, I've been on a couple of easy rides with no issues and have been working cutting wood. In another week or two I will be the time I'd be getting a cast off if it was broken so I'll just take it easy until then. If I had not been wearing the gear I had on it would not have been pretty.