Getting Back On The Ride, After Injury

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Pearlzzzzz!

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Many people who have had a huge scare and/or injury during a ride,
do not ride anymore.

I would like to know from those of you, who have sustained a motorcycle injury, regardless of circumstance.

How did you rise above any anxiety, developing confidence to ride again - even though there may be some physical weakness from broken bones etc, and/or influence by the idea of bad luck?

Please submit your experience.
 
Hurt my wrist at Calabogie in August 2008. I debated for a couple of weeks of stoping. I eventually realized I wanted to get back on the track and I missed that feeling and rode a month later. My wrist hurt for 6 months after the fact. I hurt the same wrist again this past September again at bogie. I was planning on how to repair the bike over the winter during my drive back from the track. Never a doubt. You'll either want to or you won't.
 
i've low sided twice this season, the cabby helped me pull my bike out from under his bumper the second time, very nice chap, told me not to worry about the scratch on his bumber...bike started and off i went...riding in toronto, it will take a lot to scare me off riding...albeit, nothing about my incidents were life threatening...i have yet to be scared off of doing something from being injured...so for those that do, just get back on and keep riding...
 
quitting never really crossed my mind. ppl (family, friends and even neighbours) around me did try to convince me to quit when they saw me on crutches for a full month or so. i guess its just the will to ride. admitedlly, i did ride like a pansy after that accident for a while. just needed to get some seat time to gain the confidence back.
 
it took me 6 years to get back on a bike. was forced to look at certain bikes b/c of physical issues regarding my knee, back, elbow, and wrists. riding anxiety is an issue, but learning to ride with a less reliable left side took an adjustment.also riding with one eye is odd. my helmet gets blown oddly b/c my head is pointed to the left when looking straight (centreing my vision). i also spook more easily, but tjat has to do with the reduced field vision.
 
pearlzzz did you have one of those moments? are you trying to keep up with the younger generation? yes it herts and its always an ankle, hip, elbow, wrist or sholder that takes the hit because you tense up before impact.
 
I crashed at Bogie in '08. Was in the hospital for 2 months, 3 more months in rehab hospital to get things going again.
You either want it or you don't. If you do, you'll work through the fear and anxiety and find the enjoyment out of riding.

I won a championship this summer!

PM me if you want to more detials.
 
Very interesting thread to me personally, as I've been wearing a cast for the last 3 weeks (~3-4 weeks to go). Trying to figure out what to do next is difficult at this time, as I get almost sick when I see that huge scar. The only bright side is that the bike only has a scratched fairing :(
 
I'm still having some huge confidence issues after crashing twice this summer. I didn't end up injured from either crash aside from some bruising, tenderness and stiffness. The usual stuff when someone hits the ground and bounces a few times! I'm not going to stop riding. I did contemplate stopping after a friend's death a couple years ago though. His death does still play with my mind.

I've asked people this same question. It seems to depend on the individual. Some people (like me) have a lot more SRs that shake up their confidence, increase anxiety and make them second guess themselves constantly. Other people aren't fazed by it at all. They just pick themselves up and carry on.
 
Interesting thread....

I had a nasty get off this summer on Cherhola down at the Gap. Came round a corner way to fast, rode the guard rail, got spat off and trashed the bike (both sides), bent the front rim so bad it would not turn, I remeber chucking my helmet off and trying to get my jacket off and walk off the hit, thinking thats it I'm done (down 3 times in 10 years).

After my buddy came back and went for the truck I video tapped myself, to say the least its interesting to watch, pure adreline rush, but after getting back to home base, all I could think of was I must get the bike fixed before the end of the season and get out for a quick blast.

After some work I managed to get out for a quick ride only up and down the street, my confideance was/is shot to hell, but just to get back out has motivated me, I know at the begining of next season I will be out, praying for good weather and a touch of warmth before getting out for a blast.

Begining of every season is the same, take it easy and ride smart. So i'll wait till next year, finish fixing the bike over the winter and start fresh in the spring....

The wife wants me to quit, but I might as well have one foot in the grave if i did so.
 
In June of 2008 I lowsided my bike on VT 17 (in Vermont). Completely my fault - I was watching the rider in front of me go wide into a curve - into the other lane - instead of watching where I was going. Even though it was only a few seconds of distraction, it was a sharp, decreasing radius right curve in the road and by the time I turned my attention back to where MY bike was going (which is where it should have been in the first place), I had to lean the bike hard and just ran out of road and with really no shoulder on the road slid off into the trees, totalled the bike, broke my right shoulder blade in 3 places.

The paramedic and the nurse in the emergency room I was taken too were both riders and made a big deal of trying to get my gear off without ruining it and I'm thinking - you gotta be nuts if you think I'm ever getting on a motorcycle again. In fact, as I was sliding through the trees I made a vow that if I got out of this in one piece, I'd never get on a motorcycle again. Six weeks later my orthopaedic surgeon cleared me to ride and 2 hours after that I was at Sturgess Cycle and bought another motorcycle. I figured "technically" I didn't get out of it in one piece, since there were actually 2 more pieces of me than before I hit the ground.
Why? Cuz it was killing me not to ride. Everytime I saw someone on a bike, it was "that should be me". Maybe if I had the accident earlier after getting my licence, it would have been different. When I got on the bike I was nervous until the first time I took a corner - but since riding was my tension reliever anyway, my body just naturally relaxed.
So I guess its just which is greater - the desire or the fear. I've also broken a wrist inline skating and a bone in my hand taking a tumble on my bicycle - but to give up any of these activities would be worse for me than getting hurt again doing the things I love.
I don't wanna live my life on the sidelines thinking "that should be me".
 
Rob said:
I crashed at Bogie in '08. Was in the hospital for 2 months, 3 more months in rehab hospital to get things going again.
You either want it or you don't. If you do, you'll work through the fear and anxiety and find the enjoyment out of riding.

I won a championship this summer!
Click to expand...

You're my freakin' hero, totally badass
 
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Pearlzzzzz! said:
Many people who have had a huge scare and/or injury during a ride,
do not ride anymore.

I would like to know from those of you, who have sustained a motorcycle injury, regardless of circumstance.

How did you rise above any anxiety, developing confidence to ride again - even though there may be some physical weakness from broken bones etc, and/or influence by the idea of bad luck?

Please submit your experience.
Click to expand...

Is this a hypothetical question, or did you have a spill? You Ok?

I've only had one minor low side in my 20 years of riding, but I did lose my best friend way back in 79, due to a bike accident. It was a truck pulling a left hander in front of him. I was spooked and quit riding for one year. He was a much better rider than I and I reasoned that if it wasn't safe for him, then it wasn't safe for me. However, he was much faster and took more risks so my original theory was flawed. Riding on two wheels in a world of oblivious four wheelers makes no sense from a logical perspective, but once motorcycling is in your blood it defies logic.
 
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franz131 said:
You're my freakin' hero, totally badass
Click to expand...

Thanks man.... It's guys like YOU that help me get back up and going fast again. I know I rode the bike alone, but all of you were behind me.
 
Separated my shoulder at 'bogie. Got back on a bike the following weekend... arm still in a sling.

I will not live in fear; if I'm quitting, it'll be on my own terms b/c I want to quit.
 
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After my crash, all I could think about was getting another bike eventhough I couldn't ride it yet (physio for my dislocated shoulder). I was only without one for 2 weeks and despite the pain I rode anyway, I missed it too much. Everytime a bike would go by I would choke up a little.
 
i got hit by a car and had a knee the size of a melon ... my bike was a write off ...

2 weeks later I put a deposit on my new bike and 3 weeks after the car hit me I picked up my new bike and rode it home (yes with a melon sized knee)
 
I've met someone who had a lady plough into him on the DVP and still rides. I look at him as some kind of superhero. He had a huge scar on his face too, I didn't ask if its from that incident. For some ppl its part of life, for others its just something for attention
 
> I broke my collar bone at driver training to get my M1 exit. Did it on the Saturday, I had to actually lift my right arm with my left and place it on the throttle.
> Didn't tell any of the instructors because I didn't want them to not let me ride and consider me a liability.
> Got a perfect score on the test the next day.
> I friggin love riding. Not for one second did it even occur to me that stopping riding was even an option.
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