Chicky goes to MotoGP and gets sideswiped

So... I was planning on going to MotoGP at Laguna Seca for months, but money was tight and time off from work would not be paid. After being unemployed and having to take a huge cut in pay once I finally started working again, I decided a few weeks before hand that I would not go to MotoGP... it just wasn't practical. I had an option to share a room and an offer of help to pay expenses, but I didn't want to leach off of people so I stood my ground... not going. So, there I was, Friday night, July 22nd, hearing about people that were either on their way to Monterey, or had already gotten there, and a Facebook message comes across from Tori, who is here on VFRWorld and lives a couple hours from Monterey. He's telling me they will be heading up in the morning and they've already started partying at his house and I should be there. I'm still saying no, but he's very persuasive. I text then call Brian (SLOVFR) to see if he's still going and if a bed is still available in his hotel room. It's 9pm at night, I'm about 9/10 hours away from Monterey so I figure if I leave right then, I will get there about 6am and can crash out in the grass or something. Tori tells me no... ride to his house, crash there, and ride up with them. I would get to Tori's about 3am. I pack a back pack quickly and head out. It's over 100 degrees here in Vegas and I think about packing my heated jacket liner because I know it can be chilly out at/near the coast. I decided against it after checking weather for the coast and seeing it will be 60/65. I leave in jeans and tank top with mesh jacket and I pack the jacket liner to add when the temps drop. I've got my radar detector setup and my phone mounted so I can see text messages, phone calls and emails. Once I'm on the freeway (Rt 15) I'm doing anywhere between 90 and 110. I take the 15 to the 210 to 134 to 101. The closer I get to the coast, the colder it gets. I make a stop and put the jacket liner in my jacket. It helps for a while, but I still get cold and keep getting colder. Finally about 2am I stop in Calabassas, CA because my hands are starting to get numb. I see an inexpensive hotel chain (can't remember the name) and stop in. I can get a room for $60.00. That's when I learn that I left my license at home. I had it in my pocket earlier in the day, but forgot to put it back in my wallet. They guy says he can't give me room without photo ID. But, if I have cash he can let me have the room. Thank goodness I had enough cash on me to cover it. So, I go in the room, take a hot shower, and go to sleep. I set my clock for 6am to make sure I at least get to Monterey some time that day. I text Tori and Brian, letting them know I'm stopping for the night.... er morning. By the time I crawled into bed it was about 3am. So, the next morning, with only about 3 hours of sleep, I head north on the 101 again. Tori let me know they wanted to leave about 8. As I'm doing 90 up the 101, I text Tori around 8, letting him know where I am, and tell him if they wanna go, to go ahead, no hard feelings. and he says I'm still 1.5 hours away so they're gonna take off. A little while later, I get a text from Brian asking where I am. I tell him and he says I'm about 30 minutes from him and he's not gonna make Tori's leave time, so why don't I go to his house? I ask him for his address and copy/paste in into my phone GPS... yes, all of this while doing 90/100MPH. So, I show up at Brian's about 9am, he gets me some hot tea and gathers some shirts and overpants for me to wear the rest of the way because I'm still cold. He packs up his bike and we leave his house around 11am. We decide that, even though it's longer, we take the 1 up the coast. There's some tourist traffic there, as always, so we have to go slower than we'd like, but at least we're moving and it's starting to warm up. We decide to stop for lunch in some small coastal town and on the way back out to the bikes I notice where we parked... Nitt Witt Ridge and I laughed and thought "How appropriate, for both of us!!!"



As we leave the restaurant, we have to make a right on 1 and I pull out and head up the road, look behind and Brian is still back at the corner. I stop, wait, he stays and a car pulls up behind him. I turn around and go back. Turns out, he underestimated the space he needed to get around the car and his side bag hit it. No damage to Brian, his bike, or side bag, but the car, got a nice dent in the bumper. Once they exchange contact and insurance info. we were on our way again. We hit Monterey about 5 and by then it was too late to go to the races. We just headed for the hotel, checked in, unpacked and then relaxed for a bit. We headed over to Cannery Row to get a bite to eat at Bubba Gump's. Brian also kept checking Craigslist to get tickets for us for MotoGP the next day. He found some, made contact with the guy and picked up the tickets while we were at the restaurant. We then walked around Cannery Row checking out the bikes. I didn't really take any pics of bikes... you seen once sportbike you've seen em all right? But, I DID think this was an interesting one....



Sunday we woke up late, moved very slowly all morning, ate breakfast late, and I think we finally hit Laguna Seca about noon. We met up with Tori, Reggie and their friends of Brian's and hung out at a "tent" they had setup on the hill by turn 2. We also spent time checking out the vendors.





We also got to hang out a little bit with a friend of mine, Feike, who lives just north of Monterey and happened to get a free ticket to MotoGP on Friday. Just before the final race was over, Brian and I took off so we'd have time to get to the bikes, get out, get to his house and relax a little bit. Everyone had been trying to convince me to stay Sunday and head back Monday but Mondays are tabu for taking time off where I work, unless you have a very good excuse. I even sent an email to my boss and she basically told me it wouldn't be good if I took Monday off, so I was toying with the idea of doing it anyway and dealing with the consequences, or heading back to make it home by midnight so I could be in work Monday morning. Well, on the way back to Brian's, I got my answer. We stopped at In N Out Burger to get something to eat, but the line was really long so we decided to head down the road to find someplace less crowded. We were riding in the far left lane heading south on the 101. Brian was leading and he passed a white car that was in the lane right next to us and as I passed, I saw out of the corner of my eye, he was moving into my lane. I swerved to the left and hit the throttle to get out of his way, but his was not a slow move on his part. He was swerving into the lane with full force. By the time I reacted, he had already made contact. I heard the crash, felt the pain in my leg and the bike started doing the tank slap dance. I just kept my hands on the handlebars and kept looking straight ahead, staring at Brian pulling away. The bike finally stopped wobbling and I looked in my rear view. The guy was behind me and his front bumper was hanging off. I pulled over into the shoulder on the left side of the freeway, and all I could do was lean over the tank, and take deep breaths. I had watched my mirrors to make sure the guy also pulled over so I wouldn't have to chase him. He came up behind me and asked if I was okay. It was all I could do in between breaths to say "No man... my leg is killing me." He immediately called the police and requested an ambulance as well. In the meantime, I put some weight on my leg, was able to get off the bike and pull up my pants leg to see how bad it was. It was already swollen really badly. Since I was able to put weight on it and move, I told him to ixnay the ambulance. He was still on the phone with 911 so he did. I walked around the other side of my bike and was dreading the damage. It wasn't too bad. Rear brake lever broken off, some scratches, as well as paint and rubber from the car and car tire, but not as bad as I expected. I was relieved. By this time, Brian had gotten off the freeway, turned around and came up on the other side, hopped over the divider and checked to see that I was okay. A police car also pulled up and suggested we get off the freeway if I thought I could ride the bike. I felt sure I could, so I started it and rode to the exit ramp, got off the freeway, and pulled into a restaurant parking lot. The car, cop and Brian followed. Another cop also pulled up in the parking lot and both were very cool. They both rode motorcycles and they saw the track stickers on my bike, so we talked about track and bikes, etc. They took down my info and they looked up my drivers license in their system. Thank goodness they did not cite me for driving without a license. They let us go, gave me a card with info I would need to obtain the police report, then went to talk to the driver of the car. When I was talking to the driver, he said he had just gotten on the freeway from the on ramp, got boxed in, didn't see me, and so swerved into the lane to avoid a collision with the other car. If he just got on the freeway, I'm not sure what he was doing in the middle lane, but I guess it's not for me to understand. Anyway, I was doing okay, so Brian and I stopped to grab a bite to eat across from where we were parked. Then we rode down the street to the emergency room of a hospital. They took X-rays and informed me nothing was broken. They told me to keep it elevated and keep ice on it. So, Brian and I rode back to his house and I kept ice on my leg until we went to sleep. I also sent an email to my boss letting her know what happened and that I wouldn't be in work Monday after all, and possibly longer.







Monday, I lounged and napped on Brian's couch, keeping my leg iced and elevated, and sleeping on and off. These types of injuries always really wear me out. Brian was amazing all day, making sure I had fresh ice, as well as food, water, whatever I needed. By the end of the day, much of the swelling had gone down, and I could bend my leg much better. I also had regained some energy so I was figuring I'd head home Tuesday. Tuesday morning came and I knew I could definitely make the trip. So, Tuesday morning, I got myself ready, Brian and I went to breakfast and I headed back home.

So... I get home and Tuesday night look at my leg and since the swelling is going down, the bruising is coming out...








Wednesday some new bruises show up on the inside/middle and lower part of my leg.



By Friday night, it's getting worse, AND the pain is getting worse and worse as well.





I DID go to my doctor on Friday and she has ordered an MRI and is sending me to physical therapy. Just have to wait for insurance to authorize the MRI and I should be going next week.

Also, I took my bike into my guy today for an estimate... $1500 in parts and labor, so not bad at all.... I'll keep you all posted!!

 

Ouch!
Glad you are able to smile about it.
While the results are not good, it appears the situation had the potential to be really disastrous.

Good gear or good luck?

 

WOW, that is one heck of a story. Glad to hear that this did not turn out worse than it did. As an EMT, I've seen my fair share of motorcycle accidents, some outcomes much better than others. Sounds like you were very level headed during the whole ordeal, which is a very good thing. My $0.02, take it easy for a little while and heal up. The bike will be there when you're ready. Good luck, and keep us posted.

 

Haha!! Reg its in there.... I said we grabbed a bite to eat across from where we parked the bikes then rode down the street to the emergency room. I tried to kinda skate through that one...

 

Txting @ 100 mph on a two-wheeled machine?? Not so sure about that one. Glad to hear that you're okay though!!

 

What a story you have to tell... The point being that you have to tell, since you're still around to do so. Very lucky, great riding skills, and I am very relieved for you. I hope the results of the tests go well, and you recover fine.

 

Texting at the ton? . That ranks right up there at the top of the list of really dumb things to do on a bike. No wonder you got smacked.

 

Well done for staying upright, those big knocks to the legs hurt remember my left one turning into a balloon after the leathers were removed after hard slap of a low side I had in '04 where the bike landed on it with the bar end dinting my shin through the armor padding took ages for its pain to stop. :frown:

By the way whats kind of Cockatoo is that in your photos, funny characters for sure we have hundreds of Sulfur Crested, some Major Mitchel's and Galahs around our place with large Black ones in the nearby National Park but not sure what kind they are ?

 

Ouch! While it's always pleasant to see photos of a pretty young women's legs; most of us would hope for "Tango Dancer" rather than "ER Patient". Glad to see you appear to be on the mend.

Is it just my incompetence, or has your original text disappeared from this thread? It sounds like a whale of a tale and I hate to miss it.

Wasn't it nice of the great state of California to name that ridge after me?

Hope you and your pretty, red 07 get well soon!

 

The text was blank for me as well. Scroll over the blank area with the left mouse button depressed like you were selecting it to copy.
That made it show up for me.

 

Its always a safe bet to eat before ER never know how long you might sit. I learned that as an accident prone kid.

 

Charles: Many thanks! It is indeed a story I didn't want to miss.

Chick: Hope you have a quick and complete recovery and are back out there soon giving the rest of us some more great stories!

 

If you can't read the text, change the style at the bottom of the page to "VFRworld Dark".

 

Damn Karen, that sucks hard. Glad you're still here to tell the tale, and at least the guy had enough brains to ask if you were ok and call the authorities immeadiately (I was not so lucky). Heal quickly. And hey, at least you have proof of a good excuse for your boss!!!!!!!!

 

I heard in chat that you had an incident. Glad you are relatively OK.

 

Why is it every time I check out VFRW your being a troll or just a plain dickhead. Almost every thread I check out that you responded to has pure douchebag tendency's. Your a sad pathetic human being :tsk:

 

I let his posts get to me for some time and finally put him on my "Ignore" list.
You should try it.
In fact, everyone should try it.
It makes VFRW much more enjoyable.

 

Ouch the pictures didn't show up the first time I loaded this Thread. Hope you feel better and everything checks out ok. Thats the type of relationships motorcycles do not enjoy.

 

If I say that texting at the ton is at the top of the list for really smart things to do on a bike can we still play together? I can even offer an alternative.

Bad Billy's ten really dumb thing to do on a bike.

1 Texting at 10 mph.
2 Texting at 20 mph
3 Texting at 30 mph
4 Texting at 40 mph
5 Texting at 50 mph
skipping ahead to number 10
Texting at the ton.

...and thanks for being a fan.