October 17th, 2015 was a new adventure for me.Ā I crashed and totaled my brand new 2015 BMW 1200GSW.Ā Some were hoping this would be my wake up call hoping I would not want to ever ride again.Ā I wonder if those same people question those who have been in a car crash?Ā I digress.
My life with my bike(s) has been full of LIFE.Ā Exploration, going places I would never dream about going in a car.Ā Meeting so many people who donāt share my passion about bikes but want to know āhow do you do this alone?āĀ What is it like to ride in bad weather?Ā Donāt you get scared?Ā Arenāt you worried you will crash and die?
My life with my bike(s) has been about meeting people who share my passion and want to exchange stories.
Well, the later question is easy, not one I hope many experience but was I worried I would ever crash and die?Ā Yes.Ā Itās the truth.Ā Always in the back of my brain, somewhere was that thought but I was never scared for that day if and when it happened.
What scared the crap out of me on October 17th was the fact I had precious cargo on board.Ā I never envisioned myself jeopardizing another life all the while doing what I LOVE and know can be dangerous.Ā I mean pretty much just living can be dangerous into todayās society but we all know riding on two wheels, exposed to many things makes us more vulnerable toĀ āaccidentsā and injuries.
Reality of my injury, broken tibia and multiple fractures
Riding means so much to me.Ā Maybe too much.Ā I get depressed when I canāt ride, like now.Ā I donāt even have a bike to replace my beauty BLUE yet.
I did the best I could under the circumstances on this day to keep us alive.Ā I did.Ā I have received many messages telling what I must have done wrong and I need to learn from this accident.Ā Wonāt go into details again, did that on a previous post about the specifics of this accident but that is why they call them accidents ā some things are not in our control as riders.
One thing I remember well is everything about the sequence of events.Ā My partner blacked out after I told her to hang on.Ā Making split second decisions when you are faced with imminent danger and threat to your life is what I remember.Ā Where can I go to avoid death and minimize injuries to my partner?Ā I wasnāt worried about me to be honest but her.Ā So, I did what I couldā¦got off the pavement while my bike was in a full fledgeĀ wobble.Ā Jumped the shoulder into a drainage ditch only to be surprised again that the ditch was full of old telephone poles and logs.Ā Now, that I was not expecting.Ā Thought it would be easy to high side the bike into the bank and voila we would be safe, bike would maybe be scratched and we would need help getting the it out of the 3 foot ditch.Ā Instead, we hydroplaned tight roping the debris and that was itā¦head on into a culvert and 20 feet later of flying in the air we landed as well as the bike.
My view after we crashed and all I could do was to make sure my partner was OK, and she was and then I looked over to my left and asked, āis my bike totaled?āĀ Oh and I also warned anyone who tried to touch me that I knew for sure that my right tibia was broken and NOT to touch my boot.Ā š The bike landed about 8 feet from me.Ā Not thinking at the time it could have landed on top of myselfā¦now that would have been something eh?Ā Not in a good way.
So many good Samaritans stopped to assist us and to make sure we were OK.Ā I remember 2 nurses checking me out and one being my advocate to listen when it came to my leg.Ā She even insisted that the ambulance crew not take my boot off because we both knew the pain would increase.Ā OH, that pain, worse than anything I have ever felt even though I have broken many bones.
I have 7.5 more weeks in this full length cast.Ā Iāve been thinking abut so many things.Ā I have been back on Long Island for 6 months and still have not found myself career wise.Ā Thatās stressful.Ā Healthcare here has been stressful trying to navigateā¦compared to BC, Canada.Ā Money? Whatās that?Ā The exchanged rate killed me.Ā I feel as though many of my posts have a negative tone to them.Ā Like I am missing that spark I used to have and I think itās true.Ā So, that is also something I am working on. I feel a bit beaten down, and I know the world and people have such bigger concerns than my little own worries but change can be discouraging and itās subjective as to how one deals with adversity.
I dream about getting a new bike or buying back my āoldā bike.
Itās has everything I want on a bike, new tires, 24,000 mile service done and she used to be mine.Ā I think I would welcome her back into my life and a part of me wants to ride away after this cast comes off.Ā Take another trip, go explore, rejuvenate myself and figure out this new Long Island life.Ā Itās obvious I have not been able to complete my transition moving from Canada to the USA, something is missing and itās not just a job.Ā I need to appreciate everyone in my life here moreā¦.I need to change up my attitude because I am not who I want to me right now.
The LURE of the MOTORCYCLE is what excites me even after this crash.Ā The freedom, the intensity, the speed and excitement a bike gives me is the LURE.Ā I will do my best to become a MSF instructorā¦many hurdles to tackle here in NY even before can take the MSF test.Ā I believe in my riding skills and I suppose once I recover the real test will be revealed after I get back on a bike.
I want those who donāt understand why many of us ride, take chances that many find senseless to relax a little on us.Ā We all do risky behaviors and itās up to the individual to minimize them as much as we can, IF we CAN.
Why the LUREā¦look at these pictures from my past tripsā¦thousands of miles (KMās) of ridingā¦.I mean thousandsā¦the beauty I have had the privileged to seeā¦time spent with myselfā¦many donāt do that enough I think.Ā I ride because I love it and even nowā¦since I crashed, been on the other side I still want to ride.
DUAL
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this should be tattooed on me ;-)
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Ā Ā Ā The Lure of theĀ Motorcycle October 17th, 2015 was a new adventure for me.Ā I crashed and totaled my brand new 2015 BMW 1200GSW.Ā
