If It Doesn't Kill You It Makes You......

[jim v]

.........supposedly stronger, but I'm not so sure of that.

First off, some background. I've been riding and doing track days for many years. In that time I've never had any serious crashes or serious injuries other than a broken wrist in 2022 - it started pouring rain at a track day and I just didn't dial it back fast enough. Lesson learned

Anyway, back in Sept I was at a track day at Club Motorsports in NH. Tremendous track, 16 turns and incredible elevation change per lap, good runoff, it makes for a great day on two wheels. Well, something happened. I have no idea what. Because whatever happened knocked out my short term memory until early November. My long term memory was just fine - family/friends would come to visit me in the hospital and I remembered them, knew their names, we'd have a conversation. At least that's what they tell me, I don't remember any of it cause, you know, my short term was not working

There were a number of other injuries - traumatic brain injury, broken wrists, broken jaw, pulmonary embolism. I was airlifted from the track, transferred to larger hospitals in NH until the largest determined I needed more than they could provide and was moved to Mass General in Boston which is fairly close to home. The care I received there was incredible, I cannot say enough about the doctors, nurses, techs, everyone really.

Been back at work for a while now, excited about it and feeling really great about normal everyday things. I'm not riding this year, my neurologist told me that a 2nd traumatic brain injury within a year of the first has a much greater chance of permanent brain damage. I'd like to avoid that

A few things to mention that you already know -

Get the best safety gear. Wear. It. A helmet, leathers, airbag vest, gloves, boots etc. Do not cheap out on these things, it could make the difference between full recovery and less than that
Are you choosing your health insurance based on saving a couple bucks per month? In 2023 for health expenses I paid out $1249.15 and my plan paid out $438,091.53. Maybe get the best insurance you can and don't sweat those couple extra bucks

If anyone was a Fishtail on 9/25/23 shoot me a message, would like to hear if anyone saw or heard what happened

[FirstDuc-1098]

Glad you are doing better. Short term is over rated
Hopefully you can get it together and get out there. It hurts to not do it and miss it.

[Vovchandr]

Glad to hear you're doing well In recovery. Solid advice.

I used to ride A LOT to get the itch scratched over the last 15 years or so. Had many close calls on and off the track. My worst accident I was almost air lifted and missed my leg artery im told by a few millimeters. Don't remember the actual accident or what happened after. Clear memory right up to the turn.

On the track I've been lucky to only have a few low sides and off tracks.

As life goes on I've found a car that can scratch the motorcycle it mostly. And the few times I end up riding I end up enjoying much more then I used to. It became automatic and mundane when it was all I did. Now it's exciting again even if it's just the Grom ride around town.

[dontpanic]

Best wishes for a full, robust recovery. Stay strong!

[loudbeard]

Wow.

I had a big off in 2015 where I whacked my noodle pretty hard. Not as hard as you, but my memory of the incident is a mirror image of the reality. As in the things I thought happened to my left, actually happened on my right.

Definitely sounds like the right call taking the year off to make sure you heal properly and completely. All of us have to get up and go to work the next day, and most of us have people depending on us to do just that. Wish you a full recovery!

[jim v]

Thanks to everyone for the recovery wishes. I am feeling really good mentally and physically. Some health hurdles still to clear but that's to be expected - at my age recovering from a sprained ankle can take weeks, something like this will take some time

....Short term is over rated
.....

Was better that I didn't have short term during my time in the hospital. Would have been weeks in a hospital bed wondering if I would ever get back to pre-injury condition physically? Or mentally? Would I ever be able to go back to my job? Any job?

That would have been depressing as hell, better that there's no memory of it

[backinthesaddle]

1976 - mini bike get off a week before jr high was to start. Concussion and destroyed spleen. No memory of it. 30 days in the hospital. Was only 12 years old. Couldn’t scratch the itch and a year later was on a new bike. High school and cars came. That scratched the itch, until 1982 then a PE175 came calling. Then a few years racing MX. Then marriage and family came. A mountain bike tried to scratch the itch. Took on road riding in 2009 with some track days.

TLDR - glad you are ok and if you need a year off and the itch comes you can always pick it up again. Glad you are recovering and back to work.

[csmutty]

Oof. Head stuff is rough. Glad you're taking the time off and that insurance covered so much with very little out of pocket!

I knocked myself out mountain biking by myself in the woods 5 years ago. Somehow called a friend and he figured out where I was and found me. I had a refresh rate of 2 minutes. Makes you wonder how we got away with all the dumb shit we've done.

[MUZ720]

Glad you're getting better.
The road to full fitness gets longer as you get older. Sadley I can attest to this. You will make it back it just takes time. Other than your noggin how is the other injury's healing? You said your wrists were broken as in both?
My last get off was at Robling at age 62 was a 110 - 120mph frontend wash out didn't end well, badly dislocated my right wrist and broke two fingers on my left hand. Luckly that was all that happened. not having full use of either hand is tough. Physical therapy was the key to my recovery. Best of luck and you will ride again.

[xrocket21]

Wow man, that is scary stuff! I'm glad you're okay, but that's crazy you don't have any memory of it. What bike were you on?

[jim v]

Was on an Aprilia RS660, whatever happened the bike suffered very little damage. And now I have an idea why -

Reached out to the track and they were great about passing along info from their incident log. Apparently I was heading towards turn 6, a right hander, and for some reason went sharply to the left and got on the brakes really hard. So hard it threw me off and the bike flipped over the front wheel. There were no other bikes involved, so, given the injuries, the bike must have landed on me.

[xrocket21]

Was on an Aprilia RS660, whatever happened the bike suffered very little damage. And now I have an idea why -

Reached out to the track and they were great about passing along info from their incident log. Apparently I was heading towards turn 6, a right hander, and for some reason went sharply to the left and got on the brakes really hard. So hard it threw me off and the bike flipped over the front wheel. There were no other bikes involved, so, given the injuries, the bike must have landed on me.

That must have been brutal. Sounds like a freak accident though.

[keeena]

I'm glad you're doing OK and in good spirits. Sounds like some scary stuff. Word around the paddock that day was that it was a bad crash but I never heard more than that. Never good to see the air ambulance flying in. It wasn't in my riding group so can't share any first-hand info/video. Best of luck with the recovery.

[tsorfas]

Makes you wonder how we got away with all the dumb shit we've done.

Well…

[loudbeard]

Apparently I was heading towards turn 6, a right hander, and for some reason went sharply to the left and got on the brakes really hard. So hard it threw me off and the bike flipped over the front wheel.

This sounds like a panic/avoidance maneuver, something that happened so fast or unexpectedly it overruled your training instincts. Possible a critter ran across the track, or some type of debris to initiate this type of response?

[jim v]

This sounds like a panic/avoidance maneuver, something that happened so fast or unexpectedly it overruled your training instincts. Possible a critter ran across the track, or some type of debris to initiate this type of response?

Yeah, definitely seems like an avoidance move, but avoiding what?

If it were a large critter others would have seen it and it would be common knowledge. For small critters I usually don't change my path and they figure out away to avoid getting hit. Debris would also have seen by others. Avoiding another bike - maybe someone missed a shift? Might have touched their fairing with my brake lever and locked the front instantly.

The track answered some questions but opened up some others

[jim v]

Makes you wonder how we got away with all the dumb shit we've done.

I stopped wondering about that a long time ago. Folks that didn't get away with shit aren't around to talk about it

[loudbeard]

Yeah, definitely seems like an avoidance move, but avoiding what?

If it were a large critter others would have seen it and it would be common knowledge. For small critters I usually don't change my path and they figure out away to avoid getting hit. Debris would also have seen by others. Avoiding another bike - maybe someone missed a shift? Might have touched their fairing with my brake lever and locked the front instantly.

The track answered some questions but opened up some others

Yeah, tough to know for sure. Big debris blown in, blown out real quick? Could see something like that being totally unexpected and initiating a panic response. If it isn’t that, it’s gotta be a mechanical failure. I’m kind more looking at the “went left when I was supporting to go right” more than anything. The resulting panic braking is just a symptom at that point.

Anyway, hopefully you learn some more from folks who were there. Really sorry you had a hard off, doubly worse with the serious headshot. Glad you’re taking the responsible approach to recovery. Not a single person on this forum whose livelihood depends on getting back on track ASAP.

[MUZ720]

I know it was in September but was it a hot day? Dehydration? or a warm day and you didn't drink enough, is it possible that you blacked out on the bike?

[jim v]

Can't remember the weather. I have some bike/track photos on my phone from that very day - it was sunny but have no idea about the temps.

Once, maybe 25ys ago, I got dehydrated at the track. From then on I make sure to bring/drink plenty of liquids. When I got back into my pickup months later there was an 8pk of 20oz Gatorades, half of which were empty. Gotta assume I was keeping hydrated. Also leads me to think the incident took place about halfway thru the day

[jimmycapp]

High of 68

https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/ta...4322?year=2023

[jim v]

High of 68

Sunny and 68F, perfect track day. Unless something happens.....

[jim v]

Probably time for an update.....

The one year anniversary of my head injuries came in late September and I had an appt with my neurologist.

She commented that I was outside the one year window, so in the case of a brain injury I would have the same odds of permanent damage as anyone else. Also told me "I hope you get a chance to ride your motorcycle again" - we had talked about it in a prior visit - and said the best thing you can hear from a medical specialist "I never want to see you again." And I told her - "And I never want to see you again either." We communicate very well

So two weekends back I took the VFR out. Thought I might feel scared when sitting in the saddle or while moving along the street. But I don't remember the accident or what caused it so there was nothing to be scared of. While riding I was focused on the mechanics of riding and not having ridden for over a year - I need practice. Hard to do everything smoothly and confidently when it has been so long. But there was some sweeping turns that felt incredibly good and some nice accelerations in 2nd and 3rd gear that felt great

It feels like I will continue to be a motorcyclist

[OreoGaborio]

Fantastic news, Jim. Glad to hear it!