Chris Tann (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} ctann) wrote,@ 2009-02-02 13:29:00 |
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Road-rash (but not mine).
It was a beautiful day on Sunday, and so I got the first chance to take my new car for a spin (more on the car itself later). I went for a wander, up Uvas Canyon Road, over Hecker Pass to Watsonville, and then along the backroads towards Corallitos. I was taking it easy, the car only has 100 miles on the clock, and is "running in", so I can't go over 4000rpm. The road was small, twisty, and mostly deserted. As I came around a corner, I saw a guy standing in the road, waving his arms. I immediately slowed down and put my hazard lights on, and took a look what was going on.
Biker down.
The rider was lying in the middle of the road, conscious but in a lot of pain - his Motorcycle was piled upside-down against a tree. I was third on the scene, and the paramesics had just been called. The guy was reasonably coherent, but didn't want to listen when we told him not to move. I tried to keep him from moving around too much - he even wanted to stand up, but it was obvious that wasn't a good idea. He was wearing good motorcycle gear, and already got his helmet off (the current wisdom is that you should never remove an accident victim's helmet - but the information doesn't tell you what to do when the victim insists on taking it off himself), so there wasn't too much I could do except keep him "calm and reassured". We put his bag under his head to support it, and just kept him talking until the paramedics arrived.
First on the scene was the fire brigade, and at that point we left them to it. A chopper arrived just minutes after the fire brigade, and pretty soon there were ambulances and police on the scene. They took quite a while to stabilise the guy, and then loaded him onto a stretcher, and off for a helicopter ride.
Yup, motorcycle riding is a dangerous business, but there was somthing that struck me about this. The guy had apparently been riding with a bunch of people. He was obviously last of the group - and not a single one noticed that he wasn't with them anymore. It is well known that being last, with a bunch of people that ride faster than you, is the most dangerous place to be - it is the place that suckers people into riding beyond their abilities... I'm not saying that is what happened in this case, but anyway - bad karma to his riding buddies for "leaving a man behind".
Last time I went for a group ride, it was with a bunch of people from work. A great day out, but we're all pretty careful riders. After we set off after lunch (at Alice's Restaurant) - we were passed by another bunch of sport-bikers. They zoomed past with little regard for us, and at one point, as one rider was passing the guy infront of me - another rider was passing him! Later on that day, we also went past a "biker down" - probaby not from the same group, but seeing the behaviour of some made it just that little bit harder to feel sympathy with the downed rider. There are lot of good and safe riders out there, but there are also a lot of idiots - on 2 wheels, on 4 wheels, on 18-wheels, they are everywhere. Just make sure that you stay well out of their way, and don't let them put you in a position where you are in the danger zone!
Safe rides, drives, flys, and travels,
Chris.
It was a beautiful day on Sunday, and so I got the first chance to take my new car for a spin (more on the car itself later). I went for a wander, up Uvas Canyon Road, over Hecker Pass to Watsonville, and then along the backroads towards Corallitos. I was taking it easy, the car only has 100 miles on the clock, and is "running in", so I can't go over 4000rpm. The road was small, twisty, and mostly deserted. As I came around a corner, I saw a guy standing in the road, waving his arms. I immediately slowed down and put my hazard lights on, and took a look what was going on.
Biker down.
The rider was lying in the middle of the road, conscious but in a lot of pain - his Motorcycle was piled upside-down against a tree. I was third on the scene, and the paramesics had just been called. The guy was reasonably coherent, but didn't want to listen when we told him not to move. I tried to keep him from moving around too much - he even wanted to stand up, but it was obvious that wasn't a good idea. He was wearing good motorcycle gear, and already got his helmet off (the current wisdom is that you should never remove an accident victim's helmet - but the information doesn't tell you what to do when the victim insists on taking it off himself), so there wasn't too much I could do except keep him "calm and reassured". We put his bag under his head to support it, and just kept him talking until the paramedics arrived.
First on the scene was the fire brigade, and at that point we left them to it. A chopper arrived just minutes after the fire brigade, and pretty soon there were ambulances and police on the scene. They took quite a while to stabilise the guy, and then loaded him onto a stretcher, and off for a helicopter ride.
Yup, motorcycle riding is a dangerous business, but there was somthing that struck me about this. The guy had apparently been riding with a bunch of people. He was obviously last of the group - and not a single one noticed that he wasn't with them anymore. It is well known that being last, with a bunch of people that ride faster than you, is the most dangerous place to be - it is the place that suckers people into riding beyond their abilities... I'm not saying that is what happened in this case, but anyway - bad karma to his riding buddies for "leaving a man behind".
Last time I went for a group ride, it was with a bunch of people from work. A great day out, but we're all pretty careful riders. After we set off after lunch (at Alice's Restaurant) - we were passed by another bunch of sport-bikers. They zoomed past with little regard for us, and at one point, as one rider was passing the guy infront of me - another rider was passing him! Later on that day, we also went past a "biker down" - probaby not from the same group, but seeing the behaviour of some made it just that little bit harder to feel sympathy with the downed rider. There are lot of good and safe riders out there, but there are also a lot of idiots - on 2 wheels, on 4 wheels, on 18-wheels, they are everywhere. Just make sure that you stay well out of their way, and don't let them put you in a position where you are in the danger zone!
Safe rides, drives, flys, and travels,
Chris.
