Thanks guys. I feel like an idiot - but happy that I'm not really hurt. The bike is trashed.
I was not going very fast - I am not familliar with this area and because of the gravel I was riding fairly easy. I entered the corner and I could feel the front washing out, I braked as hard as I could and all I felt was the feeling of flying and grass, then water. Between the road and the river it was I think a 20 ft or so drop (maybe 20-30 feet across) with a lot of rocks/stumps in the middle. So I really did a superman. The bike hit at least one rock on the way down - dont know what happened to me. The dr. couldnt find any broken bones - although someone more experienced is going to look at the xrays today. I did have some blood in my urine - so they want me in later today to check me out a bit more. I feel ok now - just sore - my left shoulder/neck/bicep area is more/less numb. I thought I broke some ribs - but at this point I dont know. Everyone involved said I was extremely lucky that I was not hurt more - imagine if I was knocked out & ended up in the river! Or if my body hit the rocks or was impaled by the sticks/stumps! My jacket (Joe Rocket), gloves and helmet really did their job. The gear is dirty & stinky but it looks like I could just throw it back on. I do not have one visible bruise, I have a couple of scatches on one of my calves but even my left (numb) shoulder looks fine - just a couple of marks. My neck is a bit sore - although I think it's OK.
I am so lucky.
Wear your protective stuff - you never know when you'll need it. I dont know what I did wrong. No idea. I've been on bikes since I was 5 - which is 25 years with MX racing thrown in when I was a teen. Maybe some of it had to do with me knowing how to crash from my MX days - I dont know.
The guy who pulled my bike out told me he pulls bikes and cars out of there all of the time. He said it's not uncommon & feels the road is a menace. I guess he told the friendly officer that they should do something, especially when thousands of drunken folk would be riding the road on their HD's.
Thanks Trent/Sasha for sticking around & helping out. I'm so glad I was not alone. I'd be interested in the photos if possible (
[email protected] is my email addy).
My insurance agent is probably going to kill me - I just got it running again after it was totalled a few short months (and a few thousand miles) ago. Funny - the cops thought I stole the bike because the VIN/License plate info didnt come up with me/my bike! I had to drive home after the hospital then back down (about 1.5 hrs each way) with my documents. In the end it looks like some idiot mis-keyed something.
Thanks all for your kind words.