Went Down First Time...

[Dubbedown]

Well I guess the saying is true, it’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when. I went down for the first time this past weekend. I made a very simple noob mistake – object fixation. This is the first time I went down in the 4.5 years I’ve been riding.

The particular route I was on is filled with numerous S-turns and elevation changes. We had a lot of rain during the past week (following Hurricane Irene) so the road conditions themselves were not great. I entered the first turn correctly, making a late apex as to set myself up for the next left sided turn. However as I clipped the Apex I distinctly remember telling myself “oh man wouldn't it suck if I ended up on the edge of the road” (which has gravel, uneven chunks of pavement missing, and steep ditch about 3 feet deep that leads to large rocks). Despite REALIZING that was NOT where I wanted to be, for some reason my eyes were GLUED to that direction of the road. It didn’t take more than 2 seconds of my mind wandering before I was headed towards there.

Before I knew it, I was trailing on the edge of that uneven surface. I tried to lean left but the loose gravel caused my tires to lose traction. At best, I could only keep her straight. And to make matters worse, the edge of the road is uneven and filled with a series of small potholes which caused a nasty tank slapper. At that point I felt like I was riding a wild bull, half off the bike with my hands holding on to the bar. Of course the weight of my grip caused the bike to accelerate and leave my hands. I hit the pavement, and rolled into the ditch. The bike laid on its right side while I fell from the left. Luckily though, the rainfall had also caused that side of the road to be somewhat muddy so both myself and the bike landed on soft wet ground (the bike managed to stay on 2 wheels on pavement and only fell once it hit the ditch, thus no "hard" impact).

The extent of the damage? Bike needs new lever and mirror. Scratched up my clutch cover. Tank and handlebars are fine.

Me? bruise on my shin, scrape on my left forearm.

Gear: Dainese jacket has grass stains, few scrapes, and a tear on the left forearm. I was also wearing my Shift jeans, Icon bootz, Shoei helmet, and A-star gloves. Jeans got muddy, helmet has a scratch but nothing beyond that.

After this all occurred, I literally laid there in the mud laughing to myself, not believing what had just happened, and why. My 2 friends following helped me up and pulled the bike out of the ditch. I was able to finish the rest of my ride. Moral of the story: always gear up fully, look where you want to go, not what’s coming up next. I should’ve known better considering I have some seat time on a road course and auto-crossing, and the same principle applies.

PS: Yes I have a steering damper but I still experienced a slapper. But I honestly think having the damper is what prevented me from fully losing the bike on the right side which would've caused far worse damange to myself and bike.

[Mig]

Glad to know you're ok, man.
If the bike went forward into the ditch, just check that your forks are 100% straight...
Not that a similar situation ever happened to me...