My worst fear – a crash!

After a few days of rain, I took the Cali for a local run in dry, windy weather. A few miles from home I crashed and spent 5 days in the Alfred Hospital, the state’s major road trauma centre. I have no recollection of the crash so the following is based upon other reports.

As I approached this bend, a kangaroo sped from the left and hit my bike, probably the front rotor.  There wasn’t any skid mark, which suggests that I was taken unaware.  The Guzzi hit the road and speared off onto the edge straight ahead as the bend turned right.  It seems to have flipped onto its other side at least once.  I seem to have hit the road more on my left side, judging from my injuries, and tumbled.  So the ‘roo was found dead in the foreground of this photo, and another vehicle found me sitting in the middle of the road near my bike, up at the bend, trying to remove my helmet and move off the road.

I was able to give them Jane’s phone number and she arrived before the police but after the ambulance.  A local farmer had seen me pass and said that I was doing about 80km/hr.  I have a vague recollection of the ambulance ride, laying on a hard board and running over every bump to Melbourne.

The next day, everything hurt.  I had a slightly fractured occipital condyle at the back of my head and a cracked scaphoid in my left thumb; kevlar burns to both knees and bruises to both elbows; mesenteric small bowel contusion and sore lower ribs ( I reckon that I hit the screen as I was ejected from the bike).

My Neds kevlar jeans had been cut off me by the ambos but had done their job, my Tiger Angel leather jacket had held up well, with no grazing on my elbows, my Rossi boots showed toe wear, my left-hand elkskin glove had peeled back and allowed some gravel rash on the back of my hand, and my AGV helmet had numerous scrapes across the front and visor where I’d hit the road face-down (a demonstration of why not to wear an open-face helmet which I’d been thinking of doing).

After a couple of days, I was able to get up and walk around.  The Alfred staff had just the right blend of relaxed professionalism and humour – I guess they’ve seen it all before.  The other three jokers in my ward had come off push-bikes (one had hit a ‘roo) and had suffered more severe injuries than I – busted femurs, pelvises, etc and gravel rash.

And my Cali looks like being a right-off due to a suspected twisted frame.  I’ve put a bit of effort into looking after her, so I’m sad to see her go.  Only 84,000km on the clock, I’d intended on always keeping her.