~80-90mph, just clipping into 5th gear, fast left hander, ready for the flick
to the right, and ....... shit,that's not my left knee anymore, that's
my left shoulder.
The event:
9am, Sunday morning, race day practise (after 2 days of track
time)
on the new race bike (996SPS, dialed in cams, 14-41 gearing, fresh slicks).
It's damp, turn 8a at Sears point is slippy, make sure to avoid the damp patch on the inside of 8a.
1st lap, hmm, wet and slippy--- OK.
2nd lap, pretty good grip, let's wick it up a little,
3rd lap, passed 5 riders, running well, exit 7, clip it up into 5th, bank into 8a, aim between the damp patches, got that guy up ahead in sights, he's next, push the line a little wide to take him in turn 9, knee should touch about now ... damn !!! that's my left shoulder, that loud grinding noise is my bike, that harsh staccato vibration is me gliding across the pavement, boomph, that's the rumble strip, now I'm sliding head first, on my front, "pull the legs together, arms tight against the chest, just let it glide, shit I'm moving fast, there's a lot of grass flying past me, there's a 400lb bike around here somewhere, there's a tyre wall here somewhere, shit I'm moving fast, when is it going to stop, ...... I've stopped !!! Have I ???? yes I've stopped. I didn't feel any major impact, good. left arm works, right arm works, legs work. Where's the bike, oh, the corner workers have the bike, they are running towards me, thumbs up, I'm OK, what a slide. They are taking care of the machine, yellow flags are out, just climb over the tyre wall, and let them take care of the wreckage.
They've radioed me in to control, 835 has crashed, rider is
OK,
some debris on the track (my windscreen and left rearset).
Worker asks, are you OK, "yeah, I'm OK, it was going to
happen one day".
"This is only the 2nd time I've been a worker, it's exciting, you're the sixth person to crash here today" (8 people crashed on that corner during the day).
Practise finishes, the safety stickers on the bike and my helmet are
stripped off, the bike is safe to ride in, so I ride it in,
and return to the pit.
As I ride through the paddock, I *know* that I look like I've just crashed, but I haven't seen myself or the bike yet.
I get to the pit, I survey the damage, yup I've crashed !!!!
It's a damn good job I was wearing cow hide, because every single limb of this suit made contact with the ground at high speed.
.. nothing hurt at the time, but tomorrow morning, my left shoulder, my left hip and my right elbow, will hurt like buggery.
I low sided in 8a, a fast left hander ~80-90mph, I hit a damp patch because I was lining up to pass someone. I slid on my left side, until I hit the rumble strip on the outside of the track. It flipped me over onto my front, and my right elbow slammed into the ground as I flipped. I pulled my arms in tight to my chest, and my legs closed together. Two years later I stopped sliding, and started the long task of getting the bike ready for race #5.
I took part in the warm up lap for race #5, but decided not to compete in the race ......
I had no problem with race confidence, but as I rolled onto the starting grid for race #5, I realized that I didn't even know what my grid position was !!!
Time to call it a day.
The results of my Luge.
Leather suits are good !!
And with a drill a few zip ties, and some spare parts, we are back on the road
