over the bars and straight to the hospital...

GoldenMotor.com

bairdco

a guy who makes cool bikes
Aug 18, 2009
6,537
264
63
living the dream in southern california
early this morning, about 5am, after working all night, i was heading to the derelict donuts shop car show in huntington beach when the clamp holding my front drum brake bracket to the fork snapped.

i was doing about 40mph, hit the front brake coming up to a red light, and the bracket snapped, spinning the drum, and wrapping the brake cable up tight.

so, in that slow-mo time machine effect that all great crashes have, i was launched over the bars and slammed to the pavement.

my bike looped it, smashing up both fenders as it tumbled, but i was much worse.

couldn't breathe, couldn't lift my arm, couldn't get my smokes outta my pocket, much less light one.

i felt myself going into shock, so i layed on the sidewalk and forced myself to relax. then i called my roommate, no answer, my co-worker, no answer, and then i called Dale, aka msrfan.

he answered and rescued me. i can't thank him enough for showing up, loading my broken bike and busted body and taking me to the hospital in huntington beach.

seriously, i owe you man...

spent a few hours getting poked and xrayed, shuffled from room to room and gurney to gurney, then got shipped out to the UCI trauma center in an ambulance with sirens blaring.

in california, any crash over 20mph gets you sent to the trauma ward.

awesome.

so, more of the same, except some really hot nurses. who ate poking things into me, instead of the other way around... :)

i have/had a dislocated shoulder, bruised ribs, heart, lungs, and kidneys, scraped up knees, tweaked left wrist and my right pinkie finger hurts, too.

i'm pissing into a plastic bottle because i can't get up without help and a lot of pain, and they're keeping me overnight (at least) until i can stand up on my own, and to keep an eye on my bruised lungs, etc.

called Dale and the bike's not too bad.

on the up side, i've got great insurance and aflac. i'll be back in the saddle in no time.

happy st. paddy's day... :)
 

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maniac57

Old, Fat, and still faster than you
Oct 8, 2011
4,484
22
0
memphis Tn
I'm nursing a couple cracked ribs myself so I can relate! Just take it easy and try to avoid those one point landings on your face!
 

Toadmund

New Member
Jan 19, 2012
792
6
0
Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
Ya know what my big fear is; my big fear is that a lose cone(s) will thread in tight into the bearings causing sudden Handlebaroverocation.
I fear this because when I was a kid I was spinning a front wheel on my bike and it did that, it stopped, and glad I wasn't on the bike going fast, from that point I think about something like that happening.
But never in a million years have I ever considered front hub brakes.

Will this cause you PTSD?

It would me as I fear catastrophic cone-lock bearing seizure, since I was a kid!
43 years old now!

Anyway, Evel Knievel got back on his bike, and I am sure you will too!

I haven't stopped. I'm a cone head.
 

2door

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 15, 2008
16,302
175
63
Littleton, Colorado
Ever ride a ferris wheel and look at the bearings next to the chair? I've always imagined one of those bearings seizing and dumping the chair upside down when I was in it.
Same thing.

We're all thinking about your tonight, Baird. Rebound quickly.

Oh yeah, was there a helmet involved?
Tom
 
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Dave31

Active Member
Mar 1, 2008
11,199
47
38
Aztlán, Arizona
Oh man Bairdco I'm sorry to hear this. What a bummer! Hope you feel better real soon my friend. I am just so glad it was not worse.

I guess all hospitals in Cali operate the same, i was left in the hall way in a wheel chair holding my arm up in the air for hours.

It wasn't until Alex showed up and made a scene to get me attention. My freaking hand and arm was turning blue and every time someone walked by I asked for help but all i got was "somebody will be with you soon"

Never did get a room but they charged me for it, they also charged me for toothbrush, tooth paste and bunch of other stuff that i never received. My room was the hall way the entire time. Very uncomfortable being in pain half naked in a wheel chair with strangers staring at you.
 

Goat Herder

Gutter Rider
Apr 28, 2008
6,237
20
38
N.M.
Man oh man my own worst fear of a bad crash. Get better buddy! Good to hear you are doing this well. Sounds like your taking it OK?
 

KCvale

Well-Known Member
Feb 28, 2010
3,966
57
48
Phoenix,AZ
Bummer Baird, you are now a formal member of the club nobody wants to be in, that being the Over 35 Abrupt Stop club.

One note about insurance, it doesn't matter how good you think it is you will be looking at $5K if stay there long.
That cheery news news aside you have the best wishes of all of use here in Phoenix for a speedy drug enhanced pain free recovery ;-}

PS, have them check your collar bones (clavicles), it is something you don't really feel right away, hard to detect if you aren't looking, a really likely thing to get broke or cracked from a nose dive, and if not treated right away almost impossible to repair later and no fun to live with.
 
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Mike B

New Member
Mar 23, 2011
2,256
7
0
Central CA
Bummer dude.

Good thing you weren't doing 60 eh?

Live fast, die young, leave a good looking corpse.

Heal up baby and ride again. Maybe not so fast eh? This stuff just ain't designed for it. And the older you get, the slower you heal.

And yeah, make sure you get some scrips for the good stuff too - :)
 

sportscarpat

Bonneville Bomber the Salt Flat record breaker
Jun 25, 2009
1,844
485
83
california
Wow, Baird, this is terrible news. Sounds like your bruised clean through. I took a bad spill two years ago on my pedal bike with similar results. Full sprint chain derail and I went over the bars, too. Take it easy and don't try to rush the healing process.
Take care,
Pat
 

bigbutterbean

Active Member
Jan 31, 2011
2,417
3
38
Lebanon, PA
Dude, feel better soon. You're lucky to get hot nurses and pain meds, but is it worth all that? Lol just kidding. Sorry you got hurt. Feel better soon.
 

Toadmund

New Member
Jan 19, 2012
792
6
0
Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
Living in Canada, at least I don't have to worry about paying for medical care when I get hurt, I can just worry about healing.

All that overtaxed beer and cigars I've had helps pay for that.

Bairdco has been quiet on page 2.