A foolish mistake!

**foster** · 07-25-2005, 11:02 AM

I'm always preaching safety.
Yes, I've had a few scary incidents but not in a long time. Heck, when I go for those multi-day rides with the boys we even wear fluorescent safety vests. I don't believe in "accidents," I believe more than 95% of crashes were not true accidents but happened because someone messed up.

On Saturday, I proved my theory correct.

Was peddling the tricyle in 5th gear on a wide, flat dirt logging road with slight curves in it. It was a beautiful day and I had the trails all to myself and was feeling good after a couple of steaks over a campfire.

Going down the road smiling I glanced down at my rear tires to check my inflation. I looked back up to see me heading for a ditch. I had a psychic moment right then, as in: "Holy **** this is going to hurt."

Tried to make the turn but knew I couldn't do it so took the ditch instead and prepared myself for liftoff. (Ain't it amazing how much can go through your mind in about two seconds?) I don't really know what happened when I hit the ditch, all I know is I ended up sprawled in the dirt and the trike was sideways in the ditch.

I didn't feel any pain but laid there for awhile to make sure all my parts were still attached to my body and that my neck, arms and legs still worked. Yup, all intact so I slowly got to my feet.

Grabbed the front rack and yanked on the 185s to get it back upright and there was an immediate sharp pain in my left shoulder. It was all i could to get the thing back upright and no way would I be able to get it out of the ditch with one arm.

Some riders came along and drove me back to my car and then loaded the trike back on the trailer. My shoulder was hurting bad, but it wasn't so bad if I just let my arm hang there. Driving home I almost dropped my cigarette and instinctively my left hand darted out to grab it. OUCH! Now I was in BIG pain. Tried to pretend it wasn't that bad all Saturday night but Sunday morning I knew I was in trouble.

Xrays revealed what I already knew, my collarbone is smashed up real good, cleanly broken in one spot and damaged in others. I'm off three wheels for six weeks, doctor's orders.

The moral of the story is: don't ride like an idiot like I did. God put two eyes in the front of your head for a reason, and it's not for looking backwards when riding down a trail in 5th gear.

Can't believe I did this . . . .

**wheelie king** · 07-25-2005, 11:09 AM

WOW

At least there is not permanant damage to you, and I hope your heeling goes well. Truly a learning experience. I know people that would have blamed it on something else. WHen you mess up, you mess up. period. Glad you are still here to tell about it.

**LonesomeTriZ** · 07-25-2005, 11:12 AM

I agree. I am glad to hear you are taking responsibility for your actions and not blaming the machine.

**Maine_Triker** · 07-25-2005, 11:19 AM

Originally Posted by LonesomeTriZ

I agree. I am glad to hear you are taking responsibility for your actions and not blaming the machine.

I agree!

I hope you heal quick dude... good luck.

**foster** · 07-25-2005, 11:40 AM

Thanks for your kind thoughts.
I thought I'd post what happened and maybe the same thing won't happen to someone else.
It was a stupid thing to do, but I -- and I alone -- did it to myself. There are no excuses. At least I always, always, always wear a lid.
P.S. The triage nurse at the hospital says, "Ah, an ATV eh! We call those things 'donor motors' around here."
Donor motors! (Not so funny, really, but it seemed so at the time.)
P.P.S. Now I know why Oxycontin is so popular....

**phreakboy** · 07-25-2005, 05:26 PM

yea I certainly had my stupidity get ahead of me yesterday, my girlfriend and I were out riding which a bunch of friends when we decided to go play in the mud, well after doing lots and lots of donuts I was turning and sliding and not paying a whole lot of attention to the ground and caught myself on a small ditch in the mud hole and flipped, it was just so much fun flipping into the sloppiest mud ever, I stood up and could barely keep on my feet it was so slick. But it was funny and we all had a laugh as I sat there picking up all of the stuff I had in the utilily box of my 200m.

**monster 84r** · 07-25-2005, 08:59 PM

hope you have a quick recovery foster, what doesnt kill us makes us stronger! i had a bad wreck on my gt 80 when i was 12. i hit a slick patch of snow up on a mountain road, my back tire went out from under me, and i laid her down at 32mph. it doesnt sound like much, but it scared the hell out of me. i only ended up with some bad roadrash on my leg, because i was wearing shorts. but skin grafts took care of it. from then on, ive stayed on 3 wheels

**trikerider2oo7** · 07-25-2005, 09:21 PM

it was that dazrn 3 wheeler you were on. if you were on a four wheeler, it wouldnt have happened...lol...j/m with ya. glad you didnt get killed or permanently paralyzed. get well soon

**hotroddal** · 07-25-2005, 09:25 PM

i had a pritty good accident on my 185 a few years ago, i was changing my tires and rims, because i had found a set that wernt all dinged and banged up so i put em' on and i somehow forgot to tighten the big nuts and forgot to put the pins that hold the nut in place in also, so i got em on anyway and was planning on taking a good long ride , anyway i only got about 3 miles out on the trail and only one rim came off the axle, and the other stayed, i flipped it over 6 times before i got flinged off, i had got flung a good 15 feet away and i rememeber the trike going side over side many times when i was flying threw thew the air, after i regained myself, i walked to the bike and the right side axle was bent clear into the frnder and was prottruding out of it, the hanlebars wer mangled and had punctured into the gas tank and gas was leaking,my forks were bent right into the frame and the front ire was popped , i had no more headlight or tailight, also, the rear grab bar had torn clear off the frame and was missing and i couldnt even find it, i was lucky and escapped with only a broken wrist and 3 broken fingers. i had to walk home and get my dad and get the truck and we looded it up and took it home.

**Mike_Ham_250R** · 07-25-2005, 10:13 PM

I had a few close calls like this while riding, my friend was riding the blaster and i was on the 200s and he saw somethin and stopped instantly with all disc brakes and I was like 1cm from hittin that tire and if i would have id been rollin it down the road, and also yesterday i was ridin with my uncle and we went different ways and i was in 3rd on the blaster and he was in 4th on the Bayou and we ended up accidentally playing a game of chicken and i slammed on the brakes and almost rolled the blaster into the thorn bush.

**Mike_Ham_250R** · 07-25-2005, 10:14 PM

Im Glad you are OK

**bigredhead** · 07-25-2005, 10:23 PM

phew.. that sucks man !

Collar bone.. not bad. could have been alot worse !!!!!!!

And who said " Brakes on trikes.. bahhh "... my sx has FRONT and REAR brakes !!!.. not that they would have done you much good in that short a distance tho ! !! ! lol...

Gotta be careful.. i got caught off guard by a cement pipe ( those big one's that let water under the road !! ) it was half out of the ground and everything was bone dry with sun in my eyes and dust in the air.... i hit it HARD.. thank god for rear suspension.. i had just enough time to get up on the pegs and brace for impact... flew a good foot of the ground and kept on truckin... almost pissed myself..

Well... someone's gotta ask.... how's the trike !???

**hrc85250r** · 07-25-2005, 10:43 PM

i basically did the same thing, except doing about 65 in 6th gear on my R in cranberry lake on a logging trail....and their was a unloaded logging semi heading towards me.... i was lucky, no injuries to me or my R....

**foster** · 07-26-2005, 05:55 AM

The trike has survived to ride another day. I guess that's because it's made of steel, while I only THINK I'm made of steel.
I haven't really gone out and done a real good inspection yet, though. I will do that today. Geez, just got the gas tank redone. I just got the brakes done too, but you are right BRH, it was too short of a distance to make any difference.
I too did the "concrete pipe sticking out of the ground" thing once upon a time, luckily I wasn't going too fast. This crash was the exact opposite, a depression in the ground instead of a hump.
I wish I could remember what exactly happened after I hit it. I think I got bumped right over the handlebars but I guess we'll never know. Now I know why racers wear chest protectors -- my entire chest is banged up good.
I now have to put on a "cross-your-heart" kind of strapping every morning and my left arm has a sling -- useless.
On the bright side, all the swelling makes it look like I got a fabulous set of abs and some well-developed biceps (on one arm!)

And no work for me for awhile!
Also, I got a couple dozen Oxycodones from the doc. Now I know why all the drug addicts go ga-ga over that stuff. Powerful stuff . . .
Again, thanks for your best wishes.

**ATCnut** · 07-27-2005, 12:00 AM

Many years ago, I was out on the front beach at Ocean Shores on my 185s. It was well after dark, and I ended up by myself a couple of miles from the cabin. I was blasting down the beach as fast as I could go headed for home, overdriving my headlight in a big way. By the time I saw the 3 ft log right in front of me, I only had time to miss it with the front wheel. I hit it square with one back wheel, then the trike and I were launched high into the air. I ended up with a face full of sand, and it was dark. I found the trike in the dark, it started right up and the light still worked to find my glasses. The front tire was flat, and the forks were bent back into the motor. I was able to ride it slowly back to the cabin. I was lucky, after the bruises faded I was fine

Thread: A foolish mistake!

Thread Tools

A foolish mistake!