Getting Back On The Ride, After Injury

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lapper said:
...Crashed on a wet track trying to hang with guys way better than me. Broke collar bone (into fragments), broke 7 ribs (two in two places - so had "floaters"), punctured and collapsed lung (pierced by one of the broken ribs), concussion, vertigo (dizzy spells for three months), herniated disc in neck with permanent nerve damage to left pec, arm, and back (so much weaker, permanently, on that side of body) and ten days in hospital in U.S. and Canada. Was back in gym after 8 weeks (trying to build up lost strength) and on bike in 12 (after vertigo mostly went away). Lost most of the year recovering but sold BMW and bought GSXR 750 when got back on. Hope to race next year (at 54-55).
I'm not giving up until somebody makes me. It's just way too much fun...
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Please listen to your docs and orthopods and give yourself sufficient time to heal. A concussion and nerve damage will take a long time to recover, and you risk reinjury if you rush your recover.
 
Streetbike: Hit by a Cadillac head on. Massive concussion, soft tissue damage in the joints from rolling. Decided to never get another bike and sell the small car for a truck as I was being driven home from emergency that night. The next day I was shopping for a new bike and had one two weeks later.

It took almost two years to ride like I did before the accident even though I was travelling in a straight line going 65kph and it wasn't my fault.

MX: Crashed off a huge jump, massive concussion, seperated shoulder, broken arm. Sold the bike and didn't get another one. Loved it but that crash kept me off my streetbike for the rest of the season. We can't tolerate that!
 
Great thread!

I was recently asked, after breaking my ankle in an incident, if I was going to ride again and my response was YES. I believe that if you're going to get on a motorcycle at some point you're going to fall off, whether it's your fault or someone else's. What's important is that you wear the best gear to protect yourself and you learn the best skills to help prevent injury. Life is for living! Get out there and enjoy it to the fullest. :)
 
Just get back on and do it again.

Same applies to any activity where someone may get hurt.
I've crashed my mountain bike a dozen times and wiped out snowboarding even more often because I was being a goofball and God knows what else. I had a Jacka$$ phase too in school.
I'm at the point now where it doesn't phase me anymore, I just sit for a bit and think about what I did wrong so that I can do my best not to let it happen again.

Two summers ago I went to Kelso with my friend on our mountain bikes.
She bailed hard and hurt her shoulder.
I spent a couple hours fixing her bike and retuning it and etc, and still to this day she has not taken it out of storage.
Fear got the best of her.
 
jeero said:
Just get back on and do it again.
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I've had probably close to 100 brutal crashes on the MX bike and got back on (most of the time). But that's a big difference to crashing on the street or being hit by a car and getting badly injured. Apples and oranges.
 
RedDogDarren said:
I've had probably close to 100 brutal crashes on the MX bike and got back on (most of the time). But that's a big difference to crashing on the street or being hit by a car and getting badly injured. Apples and oranges.
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I don't see the major difference you're reffering to.
I did crash on the street in September and the only 2 factors that prevented me from "getting back on and do it again" is that my bike was not rideable and I had a broken forearm.
However, the day I removed my cast, I messaged my friend who I know would lend me his bike for the day to just cruise around, but unfortunately he already brought his bike to his parents for the winter.
If someone handed me over the key to their bike and said to take it for a spin, I would run to my closet and get my gear instantly.

If you get hit by a car and develop a fear where now you think every car is going to hit you, do the world a favor and don't drive/ride.
In the example of my friend: she hurt herself on a mountain bike and developped a fear. She no longer rides it at all, but yet she still snowboards, goes snowmobiling, etc..

Some people develop a fear (which is 100% in your head), let's call them red apples, and some don't, green apples.
Apples to apples.
 
jeero said:
I don't see the major difference you're reffering to.
I did crash on the street in September and the only 2 factors that prevented me from "getting back on and do it again" is that my bike was not rideable and I had a broken forearm.
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Allow me to explain it as best I can. My accident was not caused by riding over my head. It was unavoidable and came at me out of absolutely nowhere. I basically came out of an impact that should have blown me apart. My gas tank was crushed by my groin, the bike flew over the car and tumbled to a stop about 30 feet past it, the front forks shattered, and my Arai split open as that is what finally stopped my tumbling about one city block past the impact. That makes you think about things a bit differently for a while.
I once hyperextended my knee badly riding MX. I continued riding even though I could no longer stand on the pegs or even walk so I know what you are saying as well.

Believe me the scenario is quite diffent than a simple fall caused by yourself and certainly does play havoc to the psyche.
 
RedDogDarren said:
Believe me the scenario is quite diffent than a simple fall caused by yourself and certainly does play havoc to the psyche.
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I totally agree it sticks in your mind and makes you see things in different angles.
After an accident, whether it came out of nowhere or it was self-inflicted, you realize what you could of lost in the worst case scenario.
Depending on healing time based on injuries, this is how long it will linger in your mind.
Once healthy enough to ride again, or in a general example, drive again, you have a choice.

You can choose to eliminate the risk of not being involved in a similar, out-of-your-control accident (not at fault) by not riding again.
This is done by believing that your life, your family, your friends, your job and everything you have worked for outweighs the thrill of riding a motorcycle.

Or, should you choose to ride again when you're ready, at that point the best thing to do is to get back on it and go for a ride.
Going around the block doesn't count.
Riding as a passenger doesn't count.
Renting the track to yourself for a day doesn't count.

The "just get back on and do it again" I am referring to is, when you're ready, go for a ride just like you would of if you hadn't been involved in an accident, no matter how severe it was.
You need to be able to show yourself that you can do this, just like everyone else.
If not, you'll never get the confidence back and the odds of getting hurt again are higher.


I bolded the "when you're ready" to show that I didn't mean instantly when I say get back on.
I know it seemed that way in my posts, but my opinion makes a lot more sense when you add "when you're ready" to it.
 
jeero said:
I bolded the "when you're ready" to show that I didn't mean instantly when I say get back on.
I know it seemed that way in my posts, but my opinion makes a lot more sense when you add "when you're ready" to it.
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Thanks for the clarification. Text has a way of skewing the meaning as it is without vocal inflection. Damn internet! :)
 
Got rear ended on the 401 in late Sept '96. Did not break any bones but was hurting bad (sore back never went away). Bought another bike in May of '97 and when I first started riding I would break out in a full body sweat anytime I heard wheels locking up. I still freak out when I hear wheels locking up, but no sweating. Never ocurred to stop riding.
 
back in 1973, the police where chasing a drunk driver up woodbine ave north of kingston rd. i went through the intersection on a green light and out of the corner of my eye, i see headlights coming at me from the side, so i gassed it hard to avoid being t-boned, but my eyes followed his headlights only to my horror,to watch my tail light get blasted off. i keeped the little honda up right, all within my first week of riding.
 
I couldn't wait to get back on the bike when I was hit by a car in 2010.

due to a back injury due to the collision I switched from a standard to a sport touring, the slight change in seating position made it easier on my back to ride though I had to relearn how to turn (i think this was more injury than anything else).
 
I likely beat everyone here in terms of "getting back" to something after an injury; I was in a comatose after a really bad mountain biking accident. I still hear jokes about what people think will happen to me now that I have an actual machine between my legs that goes WAY faster than a bicycle. But yeah, I've also fractured my shoulder and chest from working out in the past. I also failed school in grade 11 years back only to end up graduating with the 3rd highest average in my school (of all time).

It's really simple: go read Nike's slogan. JUST DO IT.
 
This is the first time that i post here. My name is silvio spano, i'm italian and i rode most of my life in Italy, i had many accident, stop counting arround 22/23 learning on those beautiful hills and mountains where every courve you touching your knees, i can still dream at night sometimes.
My biggest accident was at 120 in a curve obviously passing a friend with my cagiva mito, not even a scratch to me, with leather suit and equipped for track racing, that i did too, too bad for the bike that end up on a pine tree.
But nothing compare to the past september, with my klr 650 after work at 2 am. Under casa loma, again in a curve, my engine seized and lost control i touch the curb and flip over.
At 50 km. Per hour i end up at st. Michael ospital with broken pelvis, collarbone, right hand and right foot.
Long story short, during my months in bed, i got out of the ospital at the end of November, i couldn't stop thinking of riding again, my bike is destroyed but i have my wife's yamaha xj 650 that i already start charging the battery because i just finish my physiotherapy program and start walking againg, so i can't wait to start that engine.
Never stop ride a motorcycle, everything else is a waste of time.

silvio
 
Going through a green light at an intersection, when the old man in the green impala thought it would be a good decision to turn left in front of me. Slammed into the side of his car, luckily at the front end, and not the passenger door. If it had been the passenger door, chances are I would of been killed instantly. Instead I catapulted nearly 50 feet away down the road in my sweater and jeans. ( The ONE day I didn't wear my leathers... ). I ended up separating my shoulder, breaking my wrist, fractured my knee, fractured my forearm, and broke 3 ribs ( bit of road rash on the back ). If anyone has the mis-fortune of feeling the lovely wire brush on road rash, I feel for them, I wouldn't wanna ever do that again.

Laying in the hospital a lot goes through your mind. The fact that I obeyed all the laws of the road and rode with care, but was still blind sided by a car that just said " he didn't see me ". You love the sport, but you realize a lot of it is out of your hands, and you are really at a disadvantage riding a bike around 1 tonne giants. I didn't think I was going to bounce back, but found myself buying a new bike the next summer. I haven't rode it as much as I did in the past, it's obvious the past accidents will haunt you, and they should, live is about living, and learning about your mistakes. Take it one step at a time and if you decide it's not for you anymore, that is 100% fine.
 
spanosilvio said:
This is the first time that i post here. My name is silvio spano, i'm italian and i rode most of my life in Italy, i had many accident, stop counting arround 22/23 learning on those beautiful hills and mountains where every courve you touching your knees, i can still dream at night sometimes.
My biggest accident was at 120 in a curve obviously passing a friend with my cagiva mito, not even a scratch to me, with leather suit and equipped for track racing, that i did too, too bad for the bike that end up on a pine tree.
But nothing compare to the past september, with my klr 650 after work at 2 am. Under casa loma, again in a curve, my engine seized and lost control i touch the curb and flip over.
At 50 km. Per hour i end up at st. Michael ospital with broken pelvis, collarbone, right hand and right foot.
Long story short, during my months in bed, i got out of the ospital at the end of November, i couldn't stop thinking of riding again, my bike is destroyed but i have my wife's yamaha xj 650 that i already start charging the battery because i just finish my physiotherapy program and start walking againg, so i can't wait to start that engine.
Never stop ride a motorcycle, everything else is a waste of time.

silvio
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This guy right here ^^^ is a trooper.

Ride on man! :thumbup:
 
Mine weren't that bad. 60 stiches in my leg - made a rule, no more riding into fences,
Excellent looking summersualt over bars- made a rule not to hit things that made the front wheel stop.
Broke my foot/ankle/ripped calf muscles when hit by a van and couldn't drive my car dure to leg imobilization - rode bike.
At my age everything hurts anyway; might as well ride.
 
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