I’m ok! Battered, but not broken. I was thoroughly enjoying the Vermont Foliage Dirt Ride with New England Riders. Given my (in)experience, you’d think it was one of the dirt sections that got me, which was 80% of the route. But no, I was slowing for a stop sign on a paved road and misjudged the road surface, which had every biker’s worst enemy: loose sand. I locked up the front wheel and went down hard at about 25mph.
I detailed what happened next at RideApart. My gear saved me from any road rash, and my Oneal Rider motocross boots probably saved me from breaking my right foot. Because of course the bike came crashing down on top of the foot I just had surgery on earlier this year. I did go into shock and pass out briefly. The hit was hard enough to knock my front wheel out of alignment and bend my handlebars, so I experienced more than a few G-forces when I hit the pavement. A lack of scratches on my helmet indicate that I did not hit my head, fortunately.
I still took an ambulance ride, mainly due to my fellow riders being concerned about me losing consciousness. It was the right call. I needed to know if there was any more damage than that. After extensive X-rays, though, there wasn’t any, just a bunch of soft tissue damage that I’ve been recovering from with the help of heavy-duty ibuprofen horse pills. I was on crutches for a couple of days, but I’m now walking with a limp no worse than I had before the crash. After realigning the front wheel, I even went for a short ride yesterday to remind myself that I know how to ride a motorcycle.
I’m quite thankful for the others in the group I was riding with taking such good care of me (and my bike), as well as the ambulance crew and emergency room staff. Not to mention my girlfriend for driving two hours to come get me.
Justin Hughes 