MotoAmerica | 2024 | Road Atlanta | April 19-21

Hey Sean, remember at Talladega in 99 when this happened to me?

(Long read but funny ending)
Red flag at the start finish… I stayed WFO in the gas with my hand up for three seconds, something I’ve always done for safety… other rider wasn’t paying attention, said he was tucked and drafting me, and asspacked me as soon as I rolled off… threw me to the right and both my R1 and his GSXR slammed me into the concrete wall at a triple digit speed at a sharp enough angle to break the R1 in half… other rider slid straight down the track unharmed… considering 750 lbs of bikes shoving me into me into the concrete wall I was relatively ok… but severely concussed…

Sean walked up to check on me along with many others as the EMTs were checking me out… I was walking around looking at what was left of my bike… I took my helmet off and it was really smashed up from both the wall and bikes it was ground through and cracked Shoei’s best back then…

The problem was one of the most odd concussion symptoms I’ve ever had… I couldn’t speak… not a word… not a sound… I could hear and understand everyone and answer yes or no with nods but I had lost all ability of vocal response… the EMT talked me into walking to the ambulance and then I sat down and they asked me to just lay back and relax for a few minutes… when I did I realized I was on the spine board and they distracted me and strapped me down… remember… I can’t talk to tell them I don’t want to go to the hospital…

so I’m relaxing and thinking they were taking me to my pit and all is ok… then it’s getting bumpy and we’re going faster… and I realize we’re going down the road… now I’m getting agitated… but again… I can’t talk… not a peep comes out…

then all of a sudden I felt something I’d felt before… something very disturbing… very unnecessary… I had on a brand new top of the line Dainese suit… that horrible feeling was cold steel on my skin… iykyk… they were cutting my suit off!!! That triggered my brain into working again and I could talk… and yell and scream for them not to cut my suit off!! I told them I was fine! And to unstrap me and let me out! I’m thrashing around to no avail as I feel them cut up both legs to which I’m cussing them with every name in the book… they get both arms too and even cut beside the zipper instead of using it… all for absolutely no reason… nothing was wrong with me…

so at the hospital they take X-rays and CT scans and I’m fine… just concussed obviously… my phone was at the track… the ambulance is gone so they call me a cab… in podunk Alabama…

(Now the funny part)
mind you they cut my suit off me and the hospital demands the exam gown back… I’m wearing a bright blue jock like skivvies… nothing else as they cut my shorts off too…

they roll me out to the cab and I stand up out of the wheelchair and the good old boy looks at me like I’m an alien as my gear is in giant clear hazmat bag… and I’m in my chippendales underwear…

The nurses tell him where to take me and we’re off… we get to the track and they won’t let us in… stop us at the gate…I have to pay the guy…all my money is in the trailer… parked by the tower…

so from the front gate I get out of the cab… I’m wearing my A* supertech boots and my weasel squeezers… nothing else…

I walk down the drive into the pits and as I’m getting through the paddock I realize that I’m just in time for the awards ceremony and my trailer is right there on the other side of the entire paddock full of everyone and I’m looking like a thunder from down under reject

I grabbed my wallet and a pair of shorts and walked back to pay the cab driver and get my bag of ruined gear he was “holding” for collateral… cussed my teammate who said he was coming to get me after the day was done… bastard

 

Sylacauga Alabama?
I took that ride before. And a beautiful nurse tried to get my teammate to hold a cup for me to piss in.He informed her we weren't that good of friends and she looked much better. I pissed for her, MRI,wasn't released to race again. Gridded up Sunday in f1 ex holeshot from 3rd row and ran off in the exact same turn going into the bowl.

 

Not nearly as funny but quite a while ago I was test riding my newly rebuilt RZ500. I screwed up the SS brake lines and ended up putting a crimp in the front lines. It worked OK at slow speeds but when I took it up to about 50 and tried an emergency stop I ended up doing a superman over the handlebars...the front brakes just locked and tucked the front. Anyways I went head first into the pavement. I crawled off the road and sat in the ditch when all the sudden I realized the whole world was in black and white. It knocked the color right outta my eyes! About a minute later , just like the wizard of Oz, the color just flowed back. Worst part was I had to make another trip to Toronto to buy more parts.

 

Road Atlanta set some weird situations this weekend for sure, They were inconsistent and I felt like the workers weren't happy or really under stood what the point was. I tried to make sure I told everyone that stopped me, I understood they were just doing what they were told. I got scanned multiple times leaving the paddock which doesn't make any sense, I rode my pit bike to will call to get a pit bike sticker and when enter back through the gate the guy could see I had nothing, no back pack, no saddle bag nothing, and asked me if I had a cooler. I chuckled and he was nice and said sorry I m told I have to ask everybody. So it was definitely different this year for some reason.

 

I mostly experienced people just doing their jobs scanning passes. New system seemed to be ok, not sure the people working for Road Atl feel the same

 

It will be interesting to see if the system works at Barber the same way. They are a little more stringent on getting in and out. Same for Road America

 

This is why I love this place.

Ahh, the greatest fear of a road racer- getting your leathers cut off! Never mind the injury.

 

I've had some similar experiences, unfortunately.

Huntsville, AL Hospital (was flat track racing at Beaver Creek in Toney, AL with AHRMA) sent me out in an open back gown and a big trash bag full of all of my gear, including my cut up leathers... I had a broken collarbone, ribs and hand, so I just had to drag the bag behind me. Luckily my friends were nice enough to bring my rig to the hospital, but the walk from the exit to my rig in front of a bunch of homeless people was classic...

At least at St. Elizabeth in Youngstown, OH (crashed at Pitt Race) they were nice enough to find me what I would describe as very oversized prison blue's and some yellow socks to wear. The funny thing about that ambulance trip from the track to the hospital was the toll booth's. Their speed pass or whatever didn't work, so we had to stop at the gate, with lights and sirens going... The EMT in the back of the ambulance with me had to use his personal credit card to pay the toll so that we could go through. I was mostly out of it, but I distinctly remember him cussing out both the driver and the toll booth attendant very loudly...lol

 

Whatever hospital is near Summit Point did it to me too. Dicks. At least I didn't suffer the indignity of walking out 1/2 naked - they shipped me off to DC in a helicopter after a concerning MRI. I honestly can't remember how I eventually got home.

 

I can remember one crash I had with a new helmet... I went down and made a conscience effort to keep my head off the pavement to preserve the helmet. It worked!

 

He said he was fine, duh.

 

I had opposite. Woke up sitting in dirt with medics around me, top of leathers off and one of them telling me I broke tib/fib and they will slowly take leathers off.
I asked him if they have scissors, he said yes but they are trying to save them. I had to tell him to cut them up.

 

While he might have hit his helmet in his initial fall contact, you can clearly see JD Beach doing the same thing as he slid across the wet track Sunday at Road Atlanta.

 

Similar here. I was in a ton of pain and just told them to cut them off. "Are you sure?" they asked. Yes, I was very sure. Some of that may have been the fact that my leathers were about 8 years old, and I knew my "next significant crash" would likely be my track day retirement crash for 2 to 3 years prior to it actually happening. Even if I went back out, I would have purchased a new suit with an integrated airbag instead of repairing those old things for a second time.

 

From experience, I can say that sliding face first down the pavement while watching your face shield grind away will instill a desire to pick your head up. The thought of riding a bike wearing an open face helmet makes my intestines shrivel.

 

for a Tib/Fib?!?!?

sissy

Seriously though… unless I have a compound fracture AND the bone is getting caught on the suit… there is no reason to cut them off…

this set I’m talking about was new and barely even full of blood… my left arm was stuck under me and the bike and it ground through the expansion material and the skin and muscle to the bone on my forearm… but only in three places 25 years later the scars barely show

 

I could smell the melting visor material reading that… being stuck under bikes sucks

 

where are these kick ass tracks with the cool EMTs? Nice that they gave you a choice…

 

I saw my foot flapping left/right without me doing anything or having control over it. That was enough to say fuck leathers even thought they were nice set of custom made.

 

Did they cut your boot off? Getting that off seems like it would have been worse than the suit.