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7/15/2018
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Deep In The Heart of, TX
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CozMan
3/19/2019 6:29am
3/19/2019 6:29am
Edited Date/Time
7/7/2019 8:59am
Let's hear those thoughts that you remember clearly right before you wadded up in epic fashion.
Here's mine: Riding with my brother...we were just horsing around doing this stupid little tabletop that I swear couldn't have been 10' across. I don't even know how I lost it, but I remember being about 6' above the ground, looking down and the last thing I thought was "WOW - this is probably going to hurt. Haven't crashed in a while."
I woke up in an MRI machine. The whole right side of my head is metal/screws (ala WP, though not nearly as epic as his).
Here's mine: Riding with my brother...we were just horsing around doing this stupid little tabletop that I swear couldn't have been 10' across. I don't even know how I lost it, but I remember being about 6' above the ground, looking down and the last thing I thought was "WOW - this is probably going to hurt. Haven't crashed in a while."
I woke up in an MRI machine. The whole right side of my head is metal/screws (ala WP, though not nearly as epic as his).
The Shop
Edit: My thoughts before hitting the ground (if there's time to think) is how can I make this break me less, and where are the dudes behind me so I can try to avoid getting hit.
Wrong- landed on my left side on hard dirt- broken hip, rib, concussion. Life flighted- carried three screws in my hip for 10 years and finally got a full hip replacement.
Bad choice- stay with the bike!
Final qualifying moto I holeshot before immediately getting my front wheel chopped off at the top of a tall first berm. I remember being bucked up over the bars in slow motion, knowing I had a big, long fall down the berm ahead of me. In that moment as I was going over I was like "can't get hurt, you got a wedding. Can't get hurt, you've got a wedding." Landed and action rolled out of it. Didn't get hurt
In crashes where I know I've done something wrong to cause it, its always a variation of "oh shit" and "for fuck sake" depending on the cause. Its the ones that are sudden and unexpected that or where you don't know why it happened that suck/scare me the most.
Next thing I know I'm wadded up 15 feet past the landing, laying on the ground with my '07 YZ250's throttle pinned wide open 10 feet away. It felt like something was wrong with my leg instantly as I tried to comprehend how all of a sudden I was on the ground (that whole discombobulated feeling you have when you first hit terrafirma and your ears are ringing and body aches) but as I tried to get up to hit the kill switch I instantly collapsed back to the dirt. I look down only to see blood seeping through my pants within seconds. Had CTI knee braces on and knew instantly that blood + burning sensation in my thigh = compound fracture of my femur. Within minutes my left pant leg at the thigh and knee area was soaked with blood.
Long story short, it took over an hour for an ambulance to get to me since we were deep in the hills. Got to the hospital and turned out I had not only compounded my femur, but basically grenaded the bone into 20 different pieces. Scariest part was the doc said that the shard of bone that pierced my quadricep missed my femoral artery by less than 1mm. He said if it had cut it, I would of bled out in less than 3-4 minutes and been dead on the spot.
12 days in the hospital, rod and screws + 8-12 months of intense physical therapy left me with a limp and me quitting riding after 20+ years of racing and living MX. Now I'm back riding again after 10 years off. AND LOVE EVERY MOMENT OF IT.
Pit Row
When my kx 125 cross rutted in 5th tapped..."shit that doesn't feel right why is my wheel there, pin it you'll be fine lean this way wiiiiinnnnngggggggggg. Why are all my friends stopped around me?"
Coming out of a corner in 2nd on my crf 450 ... " hold it straight through these whoops, your rear just kicked. Don't grab the clutch pin it (grabs clutch anyway) this won't hurt too bad. Impacted my rotator cuff.
I have more if anyone has interest.
Next thing I remember I am flat on my back looking skyward. I see someone running over asking if I'm ok and in my mind I am saying yes and nodding but looking back I don't think I said or did anything. I'm sure I was knocked out for a bit but no witnesses to verify.
Got going and rolled slowly the rest of the way to the test finish, and was soooo confused. Couldn't remember coming there, felt like the wrong time of the year for this race, thought I was dreaming. Someone asked if I needed help with my gas and I told them I didn't know what I was doing there. Asked me who the president was, tried so hard to answer but could not come up with anything to say so I just shook my head.
That helmet is hanging up in the garage now.
*THUD.
“....fuck. Sweet nothing broke.”
Or..alternate ending...
“...shit that’s broke.” *gives dad the ole “I’m hurt wave” sags head in defeat.
You’ve guessed it.... the nose dives and panic rev engaged. This felt like the longest time during the panic rev and thinking Ah shit, fuck, am I going to ride this out, while the bike is going stu stu stu stu stu...
when the wheel touched the ground I immediately went over the bars and hit the ground, I remember thinking fuck I’ve hit the ground then I hit ground again thinking what the fuck I’m still going and again. I bounced at least 3 times and witnesses said it was pretty gnarly haha.
The track was very hard pack so all I got was carpet burns all over my body and all the bike done was just a bent up cockpit surprisingly. Bent bars, bar mounts, levers and even the throttle cable housing, never seen that one happen!
1st wreck: Was hauling ass through the woods on my old YZ250F and came up on a corner to fast and blew through it slamming into a big ass tree with the clutch side of the bars. Crushed my handguard (thank god i had them) broke clutch lever, 90 degreed that side of the bars and went for a trip tumbling across the ground.
2nd wreck: Was cruising back to the parking lot down this wide sandy/rocky service road standing up. Turned the bars to sharp and washed out. Ended up slamming down on my shoulder into the rocks.
3rd wreck: Was riding our normal trail riding place and came in to hot in a uphill corner type trail with a 30-40ft drop down a hill. Ended up not paying attention and going off the hill. Scared the shit out of me.
1 Racing directly into sun, jumped 3rd gear nearly pinned on 08crf450 off downhill double landing on edge of track, while in air I had time to think of landing on cut edge of hill side or top of hay bale. Decided I would go top of bale, cased it and was pitched head first over bars summersaulting downhill I landed flat on my back. Compressed one vertebrae 17 degrees and hairline fractured another in neck. This was a rough one, screams of terror mid air, by far worst crash of my life.
2 Jumping 2003 cr85, was 3rd absolutely tapped coming out of a gully I launched uphill double. 60k wind kicked my rear end sideways so I stuck my foot out while landing but dabbed down to soon. Foot and leg hit ground before suspension could soak anything up. Tore my LCL clean off my femur. Never even tore the actual ligament.
3 Racing a KX80, lapping a rider I jumped to right of him on uphill to downhill step table. Kid moved over on face of table, by the time I was mid air my tires landed right on him and I cartwheeled big time going downhill I broke fibreglass mouth piece on helmet, tore chest protector in half. Was in a bad way for weeks. Found out I broke my collarbone, sternum and rubs. All crashes were super painful. When Moto was life.
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