My Laptop Saved My Life

Oh, the hate/rage. Thursday night, nastjuid and I poked at the Seca, trying to get it running. He installed a new clutch lever (I busted the last one in a previous crash), but I think we flooded the engine or something, so I didn't get it up and actually running until Friday afternoon. I was working from home on Friday, and my boss sent out an email about meeting up in Mountain View for happy hour. I knew I wasn't going to be able to drink, but I decided to head down there anyways - if nothing else, I really missed my motorcycle and wanted to go on a ride.

It was pretty hot out when standing in the sun, so I *almost* wore my white motorcycle jacket and no gloves. The white jacket is armored, but the material wasn't nearly as durable as my Joe Rocket black jacket. I ended up wearing the black one and wearing gloves, despite the heat.

I got on the motorcycle, hopped on 101-S, which is only a few blocks from my house. Traffic was going pretty fast, and I wasn't doing anything stupid - headphones on under the helmet, just enjoying the ride. I make it past the next exit, and then I look over to my right - just as some bastard moves into my lane, tapping my rear wheel. I had glanced at my speedometer a few moments before - it was just over 90mph. I didn't have much of a chance to do anything except thing "oh shit" and then I was on the ground. I think I landed with my knee first, but then training kicked in and I forced myself out of the slide into a roll. I must have rolled for a few hundred feet.

When I finally came to a stop, I was on my stomache. I stayed down, querying my body parts to make sure all of them were intact. I really didn't want to get up, because I knew the second I did, things were going to start hurting. I gave a big sigh and pushed myself up with my hands, keeping care to stay off my knees. When I looked up, half a dozen people were there - all looking very surprised that I was moving. I started to stand up, despite them telling me to stay down. Nothing was broken as far as I could tell. I started pulling off my gear. My jacket was nearly shredded on my left arm. As soon as I managed to get my helmet and gloves off (also shredded), I asked about my bike.

A friendly bystander brought the bike over to the side for me - I knew I couldn't lift it in my current condition. I only gave it a once-over, but the bike looks to be in good condition. Part of the handebar was worn away by it's slide down the road. Th shift pedal is bent. There's some scraping along the left exhaust and crankshaft cover (i think that's what it is?), and both the front turn signals are gone. One of the turn signals was already kind of messed up, so I had just ordered a completely new set the other day on ebay. Handy. Repairs should run me less than $200, so I am happy. I'm going to have to buy all new gear, so that's probably going to be about $800, including helmet.

The police showed up, but the car that had nudged me was long gone. They asked me if I wanted an ambulance, and I declined. I've cleaned out my own wounds before, I knew I could handle it. I even had the supplies at home. The longer I stood there asking questions though, the more I noticed my neck was starting to really hurt. Neck/spine injuries are a completely different matter, so I called Joe, my roommate, to come and get me. Meanwhile, I had a bottle of water and was pouring it over my knee, which appeared to be the worst of the road rash, trying to get some of the grime out. The cops were standing in a semicircle around me. One of them turned pale and had to look away. His partner said "That's got to hurt," and I replied "Endorphins are a wonderful thing. Might as well take it out now while it only hurts a little," which got a laugh out of him.

By the time Joe got there, I was shaking pretty badly. Endorphins were starting to wear off, and my god, did it burn. After loading the motorcycle up onto a tow truck, Joe took me to the hospital. I limped into the ER at Sequioa, and proceeded to be poked/prodded/drugged.

I'm actually kind of proud. The nurses kept telling me what a trooper I was being. One of them said that they'd had road rash not nearly as bad as mine, and it was enough to make them scream and cry. I got them to let me scrub my own wounds, since it always seems to hurt less when I do it myself. I got a few funny looks for it, but the male nurse understood, so he handed me the supplies as I proceeded to make my body hate me. I ended up getting about 20 xrays, but other than the whiplash, the only non-roadrash type injury is a slightly sprained wrist. It doesn't hurt, but they want me to wear this huge splint thing anyways. Whatever.

Injuries: road rash on lower right leg, right knee, left knee in 5 places (bad), left side/hip, left lower arm, left hand between several knuckles, top of right hand just below the thumb, minor gash on collarbone, whiplash (swelling of neck on left side), bruised collarbone on left side, bruises on the entire upper left arm, right elbow, several knuckles on left hand, and surrounding each area affected by road rash.

Considering how hard and how fast I hit the pavement, it could have been a hell of a lot worse. I was wearing my Y! backpack with my macbook pro inside. My doctor said if not for that, I probably would have had spine damage considering the speed at which I hit. I slid for a while on my back until I managed to get into a roll. So uh, Thanks, Apple for saving my life. My laptop still works and has no dents or anything. There's a testamant to solid construction and design right there.

I am going to miss my Y! backpack though. :( It was given to me as a new hire. It's mostly shredded.