I am finally feeling a little bit better after my crash, broken collarbone (clavicle) and surgery.
I was at a track day event on Friday, June 17th at the big/main track at Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, CA. I hadn't been out to a track day since November of 2009, having had scheduling conflicts that collaborated against me in 2010.
I had never been out with Motoyard, the track day org that put on the event, and I have to say I won't be going with them again.
The day started off relatively benignly enough - my friend Ray and I arrived early at the track, got our pit area set up, checked in and attended the rider's meeting. I was excited as I had recently had my track bike (a 2003 Ninja ZX-6R, the 636) refreshed, including having the shock rebuilt, and they had recently repaved all of the big track at Willow Springs.
I was in B group and our first session was canceled due to a crash in A group (who went out first) that took over 20 minutes to clean up, thereby eating up B group's first outing. Oh well, that's how it goes.
So an hour later, we finally get to go out on our inaugural run. In my typical fashion, I took it very easy for the first several laps, to allow for the tires and bike to warm up, and more importantly, for my brain and reflexes to come fully online in the track environment.
Going into Willow Spring's infamous Turn 8, a monster loooong right hand banked turn which turns into another, tighter right hander (Turn 9), which puts you on the front straight, past the hot pits and the start/finish line.
Here's a track map for those of you who may live outside of the SoCal area and who are not familiar with Willow Springs:
Several riders passed me on the back straight, leading into Turn 8. I always strive to ride a predictable line, specifically to allow the faster guys to easily predict where they can safely overtake me.
Going into Turn 8, I kept it pretty tight to the inside edge of the track, drifting out to mid-track once the Toyota building came into my field of view, to set up for the entrance to 9. As far as I knew, I was all by myself in the turn; I didn't see nor hear any other bikes around me.
Suddenly, I was impacted from behind on my left (outside) side, and I was crashing. If I were to strictly explain how I experienced it, it would be like this:
1) Hanging off the bike slightly, preparing to enter Turn 9 to the right;
2) Suddenly hearing the "SMACK!" of two vehicles coming together, seeing a boot and the tail section of another bike, crashing hard on my left side, sliding very quickly off track.
I was probably going somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 mph when I went down.
Everything happened at once. The other rider did not go down, incredibly. The only thing I can surmise, is that this other guy went much, much faster through the back straight and into 8, and took a dramatically wider line through 8 and into 9, and he made an attempt to "cut off my nose" in terms of passing me with his chosen line.
The reason I can only guess what happened, is that no one else was in the area where I went down, AND - the very best part - no one came over after the ambulance brought me back to my pit area. *The other rider never even came by to see how I was or to apologize.* What a frigging douche.
The second-best part, and the reason I am never patronizing Motoryard's events again, is because prior to the ambulance coming over to tend to me, the Motoyard main guy (the guy who led the rider meeting, an older guy), came over to talk to my while I was still writing in agony in the dirt. Our exchange went something like this:
"Are you hurt? Do you need the ambulance?"
"Yes please send them over. Somebody hit me from behind!"
"Yeah it looks like you went pretty wide."
WTF? That is not only untrue but apropos of nothing. I could have taken the widest line in the world (which I didn't), and as long as I was on the track, it's up to the faster guy behind me NOT TO CRASH INTO ME because of his poor choices or lack of control over his machine.
I am a skilled rider and while I may not be the fastest guy on the track, or even the fastest to warm up, I was absolutely not at fault on this one. People who know me well know that I am not afraid to take responsibility for any mistakes I make.
Further, and to me this is simple customer service and frankly just being a kind person, no one from Motoyard ever called me or my emergency contact (granted, my friend I came with was still at the track packing up, but still they didn't even come talk to him). The last contact I had with anyone there was the owner implying to me that my line choice was the reason for the crash. A crash, by the way, which is going to end up costing me somewhere in the neighborhood of about $4,000 for medical alone (and possibly more if my insurance doesn't cover the exorbitant $2,300 ambulance ride to the ER), and SIX WEEKS off of work.
I don't have my bike still - it's at my friend's mom's garage - but I am told the damage is fairly extensive. Certainly the plastics are shredded and I have heard different accounts of how much damage it has sustained.
In the ER, I was told that the break was one of the worst the ER docs had seen, and he said it was "probable" that I would need surgery to repair (the vast majority of clavicle fractures do not require surgery; you just gimp around in a sling for 6-8 weeks).
Over the course of the following week I saw two orthopedists, both of whom confirmed the surgery diagnosis. I had surgery the following Wednesday, nearly two weeks ago now. The ortho at first attempted a less invasive procedure which uses a pin that goes through the bone, to hold everything together, but there was an additional bone fragment that needed stabilization, which would not hold together. So, they backed the pin out and instead used the more traditional plate and screws.
I will post an X-ray with the hardware after my next appointment. Here's the fracture (yes it hurt/hurts):
Here's the incision and bruising ... for the first week I couldn't sneeze, blow my nose, sit up or lay down, etc., without excruciating pain:
My gear held up well, all things considered.
Note the shredding of the collar - not exactly sure how that happened.
Closeup of back/shoulders:
Left shoulder took most of the impact:
My helmet took quite a whack - check out the damage on the top and the carbon fiber weaving on the back:
My healing is going slowly. I was able to get off of the prescription pain meds (Vicodin and Norco) within a week of the surgery, which was just as well - it isn't as "fun" to take that stuff as some people had suggested.
I am in a sling for 4 weeks after the surgery. Thankfully I am getting paid while I am recovering, due to my tenure with my company (and our supplemental short term disability insurance).
I'll use this thread to post updates with pics of the bike and my plate/screws, once I get them.
I was at a track day event on Friday, June 17th at the big/main track at Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, CA. I hadn't been out to a track day since November of 2009, having had scheduling conflicts that collaborated against me in 2010.
I had never been out with Motoyard, the track day org that put on the event, and I have to say I won't be going with them again.
The day started off relatively benignly enough - my friend Ray and I arrived early at the track, got our pit area set up, checked in and attended the rider's meeting. I was excited as I had recently had my track bike (a 2003 Ninja ZX-6R, the 636) refreshed, including having the shock rebuilt, and they had recently repaved all of the big track at Willow Springs.
I was in B group and our first session was canceled due to a crash in A group (who went out first) that took over 20 minutes to clean up, thereby eating up B group's first outing. Oh well, that's how it goes.
So an hour later, we finally get to go out on our inaugural run. In my typical fashion, I took it very easy for the first several laps, to allow for the tires and bike to warm up, and more importantly, for my brain and reflexes to come fully online in the track environment.
Going into Willow Spring's infamous Turn 8, a monster loooong right hand banked turn which turns into another, tighter right hander (Turn 9), which puts you on the front straight, past the hot pits and the start/finish line.
Here's a track map for those of you who may live outside of the SoCal area and who are not familiar with Willow Springs:
Several riders passed me on the back straight, leading into Turn 8. I always strive to ride a predictable line, specifically to allow the faster guys to easily predict where they can safely overtake me.
Going into Turn 8, I kept it pretty tight to the inside edge of the track, drifting out to mid-track once the Toyota building came into my field of view, to set up for the entrance to 9. As far as I knew, I was all by myself in the turn; I didn't see nor hear any other bikes around me.
Suddenly, I was impacted from behind on my left (outside) side, and I was crashing. If I were to strictly explain how I experienced it, it would be like this:
1) Hanging off the bike slightly, preparing to enter Turn 9 to the right;
2) Suddenly hearing the "SMACK!" of two vehicles coming together, seeing a boot and the tail section of another bike, crashing hard on my left side, sliding very quickly off track.
I was probably going somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 mph when I went down.
Everything happened at once. The other rider did not go down, incredibly. The only thing I can surmise, is that this other guy went much, much faster through the back straight and into 8, and took a dramatically wider line through 8 and into 9, and he made an attempt to "cut off my nose" in terms of passing me with his chosen line.
The reason I can only guess what happened, is that no one else was in the area where I went down, AND - the very best part - no one came over after the ambulance brought me back to my pit area. *The other rider never even came by to see how I was or to apologize.* What a frigging douche.
The second-best part, and the reason I am never patronizing Motoryard's events again, is because prior to the ambulance coming over to tend to me, the Motoyard main guy (the guy who led the rider meeting, an older guy), came over to talk to my while I was still writing in agony in the dirt. Our exchange went something like this:
"Are you hurt? Do you need the ambulance?"
"Yes please send them over. Somebody hit me from behind!"
"Yeah it looks like you went pretty wide."
WTF? That is not only untrue but apropos of nothing. I could have taken the widest line in the world (which I didn't), and as long as I was on the track, it's up to the faster guy behind me NOT TO CRASH INTO ME because of his poor choices or lack of control over his machine.
I am a skilled rider and while I may not be the fastest guy on the track, or even the fastest to warm up, I was absolutely not at fault on this one. People who know me well know that I am not afraid to take responsibility for any mistakes I make.
Further, and to me this is simple customer service and frankly just being a kind person, no one from Motoyard ever called me or my emergency contact (granted, my friend I came with was still at the track packing up, but still they didn't even come talk to him). The last contact I had with anyone there was the owner implying to me that my line choice was the reason for the crash. A crash, by the way, which is going to end up costing me somewhere in the neighborhood of about $4,000 for medical alone (and possibly more if my insurance doesn't cover the exorbitant $2,300 ambulance ride to the ER), and SIX WEEKS off of work.
I don't have my bike still - it's at my friend's mom's garage - but I am told the damage is fairly extensive. Certainly the plastics are shredded and I have heard different accounts of how much damage it has sustained.
In the ER, I was told that the break was one of the worst the ER docs had seen, and he said it was "probable" that I would need surgery to repair (the vast majority of clavicle fractures do not require surgery; you just gimp around in a sling for 6-8 weeks).
Over the course of the following week I saw two orthopedists, both of whom confirmed the surgery diagnosis. I had surgery the following Wednesday, nearly two weeks ago now. The ortho at first attempted a less invasive procedure which uses a pin that goes through the bone, to hold everything together, but there was an additional bone fragment that needed stabilization, which would not hold together. So, they backed the pin out and instead used the more traditional plate and screws.
I will post an X-ray with the hardware after my next appointment. Here's the fracture (yes it hurt/hurts):
Here's the incision and bruising ... for the first week I couldn't sneeze, blow my nose, sit up or lay down, etc., without excruciating pain:
My gear held up well, all things considered.
Note the shredding of the collar - not exactly sure how that happened.
Closeup of back/shoulders:
Left shoulder took most of the impact:
My helmet took quite a whack - check out the damage on the top and the carbon fiber weaving on the back:
My healing is going slowly. I was able to get off of the prescription pain meds (Vicodin and Norco) within a week of the surgery, which was just as well - it isn't as "fun" to take that stuff as some people had suggested.
I am in a sling for 4 weeks after the surgery. Thankfully I am getting paid while I am recovering, due to my tenure with my company (and our supplemental short term disability insurance).
I'll use this thread to post updates with pics of the bike and my plate/screws, once I get them.
