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She went down :(

3K views 28 replies 22 participants last post by  brucen2son 
#1 ·
Me and some co-workers all had friday off so we all went for a put. 5 of us (2 girls, 3 guys) on a tight, twistie country road- Beautiful! (River rd. guadalupe river in Gruene texas.)
I was leading and noticed all of a sudden nobody else was behind me. I pulled over for a second to wait for them to catch up - didnt happen; which confirmed my worst fears that something was wrong. I turned around and 2 minutes later i ride up to our group only to discover a horrifying sight, One of the girls laying in the road face down and not moving, her bike in the weeds off to the side.........
I wus freakin and in shock...

She was the last of the 5 trailing in the rear. Turns out she went into a left turn too fast which pushed the bike towards the outside to the loose dirt and rocks on the edge of the road. Once she hit that and started her slide, she just let go and got slammed down hard in the street on her left side going 30 -35mph. She broke her left arm with a coumpound fracture that was poking thru the skin and broke her left leg below the knee in 3 places. Her helmet also had some nice deep scratches on the left too- good thing it was on in this situation, huh? 2 ambulances, 3 cop cars and a DPS state trooper were all on the scene quickly to stabilize her at which point a friggen helicopter came to pick her up for her trip to the hospital.

After 2 days in the hospital following her surgeries, I'm happy to report she is doin fine' and in hi spirits. She said " I was lookin forward to some time off from work, but not like this..LOL


Please watch your cornering and be alert out there folks

bro - bill
 
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#2 ·
I was on that river road this time last sunday with a group returning to Corpus Christi from a hill country weekend. Real sorry to hear about your friend but hope she recovers quickly. I only takes a moment of inattention and bad things can happen.
 
#9 ·
God speed her recovery.
Just a thought from personal experience. Sometimes as a leader of a ride we need to consider the skill of people we have responsibility for as the lead bike.
We need to slow down inspite of our own riding experience. Harleys are a load for the smaller prettier rider.
 
#15 ·
Question?

Any possibility this young lady got caught up in the peer pressure of group riding (even a small group) and road beyond her skills to keep up? Many advocate that the less experienced, instead of bringing up the rear, actually should be situated near the leader of the group for safety purposes.
 
#16 ·
Tell your friend I wish her a speedy recovery.:thumbsup: :thumbsup: And after her recovery and she is back in the saddle try to get her to ride the same rode again. Then she has overcome the demon that is inside her about going down again. She may not admit it but it is there. More power to her.
 
#17 ·
THANG111 said:
God speed her recovery.
Just a thought from personal experience. Sometimes as a leader of a ride we need to consider the skill of people we have responsibility for as the lead bike.
We need to slow down inspite of our own riding experience. Harleys are a load for the smaller prettier rider.
Agreed!! It happened on my watch, i feel bad!

That was going thru my mind as was the fact i picked that road for all to ride on. she and the others stayed in a somewhat tighter group. I was the one breaking away cause i knew the road so well. Because they were all more together than me, it wasnt like she was going too fast by trying to play catch up by being the last bike.

No more leadin for me,

Ironocally, the cop said it was real good that we had riding partners to report accidents and attend to love ones. Ironic because 95% of my saddle time is solo with no other bikes...makes ya think.........
 
#18 ·
dhortho1 said:
Any possibility this young lady got caught up in the peer pressure of group riding (even a small group) and road beyond her skills to keep up? Many advocate that the less experienced, instead of bringing up the rear, actually should be situated near the leader of the group for safety purposes.
Nail on the head if you ask me, i accept responsibility for what went wrong and feel terrible it happened. I'm so glad she is OK & recovering now. It could have been much worse really.

A possible motive for my actions or lack of presence was I switched bikes with another rider riding a honda CBR 600 rr (?) Long ago he rode a harley once and i never rode a cafe racer so we said what the hell and swapped. accelerating with that thing is why i pulled ahead. (Didnt like the bike btw and will never ride another; riding position sucks)
 
#20 ·
Thanks for askin..

She came out of the hospital 3 days after her final surgery to repair her arm which required a steel plate and some screws. Her lower leg was repaired the night of the accident with a steel or titanium rod(s). Oddly, neither are in a cast!! Total stay was almost a week.

At home resting and in pain while recovering and doing therapy. Told she will be out 6 weeks; I think longer. At almost 50, she will heal slower but you never know. It's all in the therapy. Both surgeons said she looked extremely healthy for the procedures & recovery process
 
#21 ·
I hope she recovers well and makes speedy progress.....sometimes takes a long time to heal good after a crash like that. On a side note....lots of respect for you for learning from this.
 
#23 ·
Please pass on best wishes for a speedy recovery to your friend. Glad it was no worse than it was. Thanks for sharing. I think sometimes sharing accidents can, amoung other lessons, remind us to how important it is be be alert out there. Thanks for sharing.
 
#24 ·
dhortho1 said:
Any possibility this young lady got caught up in the peer pressure of group riding (even a small group) and road beyond her skills to keep up? Many advocate that the less experienced, instead of bringing up the rear, actually should be situated near the leader of the group for safety purposes.
I believe the least experienced (if I remember right from the course) should be leading. That way you know they are riding at their own pace. I agree that most people try to keep up when they should be hanging back. To many people try to just keep up and some times that leads to disaster.
 
#25 ·
Fatb0y said:
I believe the least experienced (if I remember right from the course) should be leading. That way you know they are riding at their own pace. I agree that most people try to keep up when they should be hanging back. To many people try to just keep up and some times that leads to disaster.
That's why we run with a lead and a sweep. The sweep has just as much "experience" as the lead, but it allows the slower people to back off, knowing there is someone still behind them and they won't get left. The sweep knows they're there, and to watch out for little mistakes.

The problem I've seen with putting them in font (usually right behind the lead), is if they make a mistake, or hesitate at the wrong moment, they can take down others in the group. Plus, I've ridden with newbies that just insisted on tapping the brake half way through turns, which scared the crap out of me. Worse part was I couldn't pass him, because his bike was faster in the straights. My buddy, who was also behind him, gave him a total reeming when we got to the destination.

When dad and I run the turns, we "lead from behind" in that I run behind him and push just a little. In this case, I know he won't over drive his capabilites, so I don't have to worry about him going down, and it keeps me from running off and leaving him.

But if I don't know the riding capabilites of the people I'm riding with, I prefer to be in front.
 
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