Crash shots

WARNING: Some of the photos may be uneasy on the weak-stomached individual!

I post these shots for the education of fellow riders, and the informational value each person takes from it is his or her own. Not looking to be babied or looking for attention; in fact if you know me then you recognize I'm not that kind of person at all, but this is solely for the purpose of sharing my experience in hopes of answering any questions you may have, or helping anyone to better protect themselves by making informed decisions. I wasn't going to share this, but I'm sharing it

List of my injuries:

1. Left knee abrasion, through the dermis layer
2. Left forearm abrasion/road rash, the most superficial of them, stings the most!!!!!!
3. Left ankle abrasion, 4cm is diameter (not pictured)
4. Right knee scrape
5. Right elbow scrape
6. Residual swelling in lower left leg, ankle, from edema accumulating and not elevating like I know I should =)

This is the sign outside of my door. My whereabouts



Aerial view of the left fairing damage



Left fairings damage



Left mirror busted, somewhere in the middle of the street, and turn signal busted wide open



Do-it-yourself fender eliminator!



The bike doesn't look too bad from this view. Considering it slid nearly 100 ft. on its left side, I would say the bike held its own.




A fat chunk taken smooth off of the tail. You should feel this! It's like someone took a machete and chopped it smooth off!



Leather gloves, never ride without them! Trust when I say that. I, for one, am never riding again without gloves. These gloves, both of them, were ripped apart!!! This very well could have been my skin!!! These gloves were $12 at Cycle Gear in Hayward, Calif. I bought these cheap shits just so I would be eligible to take the MSF course, which require you to have gloves and boots, and long sleeves, I believe. These gloves were crucial, and performed outstanding when it came to the test.

Helmet, the very reason I wear a FUL FACE helmet, otherwise that would have been my Kanye West jaw-wired-shut photo. There are scratches to the front and to the visor. THAT'S IT!!! This helmet very well saved my life. I distinctly remember my head smashing into the pavement twice, and each time, I could hear my helmet crack. That could have been my brain. And the wild thing is, I have another expensive KBC red helmet that I rarely wear, and I got this cheap helmet from an eBay auction for $71. It hardly fit as well as the KBC, and the chin strap was kind of uncomfortable, but it looked damned good! So I wore it. I previously dropped it twice just from carrying it, and it had cracks in it from that, so I always worried how it would hold up in an actual meet with the street, and now I know! I'm thankful the helmet won that match!

Torn Gap jeans, damage to the left knee. May need to quit designer jeans, and invest in some Wranglers



Windbreaker jacket held up pretty well, this is the right side. I laid down on my left. The left inside of the jacket is the not torn at all, just bloodied from the roadrash my forearm suffered.




Scuffed up Nike Dunks, burned the shoestring right off! Surprisingly, my right ankle was not seriously hurt, as far as I can tell. Just some scratches. That night, I thought I may have fractured a tarsal bone (smaller ankle bones), because I developed some serious pain along the calcaneocuboid junction. For those non-scientifically versed folks, that is on top of the foot where you finish your shoestring ties.

Good case of road rash, fresh off the asphalt

I am not naked in this picture. This was taken as soon as Ben dropped me off. I actually didn't have a problem walking! I had a slight limp, which I still have today, but looking at this picture, I am thankful I didn't break anything.

After I took a shower and cleaned it up a little bit. Being an Athletic Trainer has its advantages because I had all the supplies I needed to appropriately dress the wound. This was by far the most serious of my injuries. It was numb and I had no sensation at all over this abrasion.

I wonder if I had proper riding gear on, given the fact that I was relatively unharmed, would I have even sustained any damage at all??!