Lonesome (Crash) Dave injured

[greatbuffalo]

Just got off the phone with Lonesome Dave, seems he and the WR had a little mishap on Sunday. The way he describes it is that he went over a little bump, maybe a foot or so, blipped the throttle and got bucked over the handle bars. He fratured 5 ribs, tweaked his knee and something about a hurt arm I think too. He is in the hospital for pain control.

Guess he won't be riding the Spring Rally again this year.

Send some good energy, prayers, karma... what ever your persuation allows.

Will see him this weekend to pick the KLR. Will assist him in getting his WR from a Good Samaritans place on Bogus Jim Road to his home.

[The Yeti]

GOOD THOUGHTS GOING OUT TO DAVE!  Heal quick brother.

[Sportfaller]

well crap man, that sucks, hope dave heals quick.  Ribs suck.  Dave, if you need a hand with anything, let me know.

[jacin theis]

Yikes, he has to stop getting so beat up on the trails. His wifes gonna cut him off.  Get well Dave!

[Dr Psyko]

Hope you mend quickly Dave! Come to the spring ride anyway!

[Bogus Jim]

Sorry to hear this news, Dave. We could always use a bartender at the spring rally though.

5 fractured ribs, man that hurts just thinking about it.

[Hank]

Get better Dave!  Ouch.

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[plumber mike]

My wife said you called. I JUST SAW YOU! I would have thought you would have been out on the Wee wearing off the new.

Get Well!

[Fletch]

get well soon and don't forget a pillow to hug for coughs/sneezes with those ribs

[JoniJo]

Thinkin' about you. Thoughts and prayers my friend!!!!!!!!!!     JoniJo

[hellneau]

Dave - Heal quick! Thoughts and prayers go out in your direction. I'm telling ya'all, we will need to do a survivors rally in the fall. we'll ride real slow and not too far. (NOT)

[greatbuffalo]

 hellneau,
I'm too stupid to agree to that.

[Lonesome Dave]

Hey all, thanks for the kind words and encouragement.  I must tell you this f$%#^&*$ hurt, I mean really HURT!  I can also say it should not have happened.  At least not where I was at and what I was doing!  I had left the house and went up Bogus Jim Road and turned off on 448 headed west somewhere.  I was feeling good and happy to see the trail in front of me, just got the WR resprung on Friday, and was headed out for a small adventure.  Well it turned out to be an adventure all right, just not what I was expecting!

I was zipping along, standing on the pegs as I approached a tiny little bump.  I thought, "I'll hit that and gas it a little.  Get a cheap thrill; no flying, just a cheap thrill."  Well, you know how when you stand up in a bus or the back of a pickup, and you're expecting it to move one way or the other, but you still lose your balance.  Well there you have it....I simply lost my balance and fell over the front of the bike. 

I remember thinking, "what hell am I doing up here?"  Then realizing I'm still way over the front of the handle bars and saying "I'm going to crash!"  Then the handlebars twisted and I heard/felt the impact.

And that's when the fun started....
It knocked the wind out of me.
I'm on my hands and knees, I can't breath, and I want to panic.
"Don't panic stupid, give it a couple seconds."
Whew, a little better.
Painful groan...oh shit I broke my helmet.  That's probably that load noise I heard!   
Better groan some more...and moan a little too.
The bike is stalled.  I'm so hot. Get the helmet off.  I can't move, the switch is still on and battery is going dead. 
Crawl over to the bike shut it off...Now what am I going to do?

Well, I waited for things to feel better, but they really never did.  Okay, how am I going to get out of here.  I don't think I can walk, not sure if I can even stand up.  Maybe I can ride it out?  I do have my trusty SPOT, but its hanging off the back of my back pack.  To be honest, I wasn't sure if I was ready to push the 911 button.  If they show up, they will want to put me in an ambulance or worse the helicopter, I'm not doing that.  I still have my custom calling button on my SPOT, where you can set it up to say anything you want.  At one time I was prepared, and had set it to tell a few people that I wasn't okay, I needed help at this location, but it wasn't an emergency.  Well frankly, I didn't remember what I had it set to. 

Oh yea, where was I, "what am I going to do?"   

I crawled back to the bike reached over and put the kick stand down.  I eventually stood up and tried lifing the bike.  That didn't work so good!  Now I smell gas.  I laid there some more trying to figure out what to do and still trying to accept this mess I got myself into.

After an hour of laying, crawling, moaning.  I got to thinking more about how serious my injuries were, I knew the major problem was breathing and ribs.  I could hear/feel crunching or clicks in my chest from the start and began to worry about internal injuries.  I once more tried to lift the bike, but this time with more commitment.  I got it mostly up but the damn broken mirror caught my coat and I couldn't lift beyond it.  I struggled and fought with it, almost gave up, but couldn't stand the idea of my WR falling again.

I held it there, got it released and able to stand it up.  Okay, now I'm really hurting!  I eventually started trying to turn it around on the trail.  I got it part way, then I would pull it back.  I started it and was using the clutch to move it forward and over the rocks to complete the turn-around.  I killed it a couple of times...still wondering if I can ride it out; either kidding myself or in denial.

Finally the last time I killed it, I just laid there across the seat resting when Troy came along with his ATV.  "Do you need some help!"

Actually some other people came by just after Troy found me.  One of their boys left his bike and rode mine back to their place and I rode on the back of Troy's ATV.  Poor Troy, I told him I was sorry, but I was hugging him the entire way, trying not to move as we hit the different bumps.  I can give a big hug.  There was a lot of love on that ATV.

My wife was called, she came and got me in my truck; it gets part time work as an ambulance...I am its only patient.  Still in a state of denial, and trying to spread that state to my family, we headed off to emergi-care.

Well they took one look at me and gave a firm "Not here, you need to go to the hospital."

"But why? It's just a scratch. Well, maybe some bruising."  Denial can be a strong motivator to do and say things you would make fun of other people for doing or saying.

Some X-rays, a Cat scan, and more fun poking and proding and I figure out I have 5 broken ribs, some are multiple breaks, a bruised lung, thankfully not punctured, and NO surgery (gosh I didn't think of that one while I was laying out there!) and a contusion along the same side.  That was the important stuff, the others were right knee, ankle, hip, elbow and a spot on my head where the helmet hit the rocks, and my head hit the helmet, just like its suppose to (and I had JUST cleaned my helmet).

After a couple of days in the hospital, lots of morphine and other good stuff I finally got to come home with my very own pee bag still attached.

Now why have I chosen to write all this?  Good question!  Well for one, I find myself with an excess of time on my hands!  And, two, I just want people to think about it.  I was only a few miles from home, but it could have been the next state.  I wasn't going to get any help, unless I got lucky.  Earlier this year I made a commitment to start riding with more protective gear.  You might remember it, when I broke my shoulder.  I couldn't afford all of it all at once, but I at least I have a coat, pants, and a helmet, all of which have pads where I was bruised up.  If I hadn't been wearing these items, I might have been really hurt!   

Actually, my pants and coat are scuffed up and battered now, but not torn.  My injures would have been much worse to my knee and elbow. The other thing I'm also going to start wearing is padded underwear.  I know my hip would feel a lot better if I would have been wearing them.  And I am going to move that SPOT thingy so I can always reach it.

Am I going to quit riding..............hell no.  Am I going stop riding by myself, no, but I might ask people to come along more often.  Am I going to buy more protective gear?  Yes.

I'm not sure if the helmet is going to survive; it got a lot of ugly marks, and my head has the bruising to confirm it.  Little WR?  Not really sure yet, it's still at the guy's house; Great Buffalo is going to help me with that this weekend.  But I think its all right.  I broke a mirror and it probably has a few new scratches, but what hell......when I'm ready, she'll be ready.  Oh yea, I don't plan on just bartending at the rally.  I'll probably be with the old man group or something similar, but with the wind in my face and all my buddies around........I'm happy.

-LD 

[greatbuffalo]

Thats one sexy pic Crash. Glad your doing better. Will see you on Saturday.

Retire the helmet and get a new one. Its done its job once, it may not the next time. Put it on a shelf with the date of impact. Take it down from time to time as a reminder and an object lesson for the kids in your life.

I really like the Icon Varient. Thats gonna be my next brain bucket.

[Hank]

Dave thanks for posting.   Glad you are up and around and on the mend.   Thanks for the great write up as well.. wish it was a happier tale.   I wrecked on sunday too but the worst of it was a 3 day limp and bruised forearm.   I'll take that anyday.  Heal quickly!

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