Nixon tries to fly

I know I design airplanes for a living, but I didn't expect Nixon to try and fly too.

I laid my bike down last night on the way back from The Meltdown vintage bike show in Hendersonville NC. I was riding with two guys I had never ridden with before on a road I'd never been on before. I spent most of the time trying to keep up with them (a XS650 and a 400f). I was riding outside my comfort zone. Bad idea.

I came in too fast on a right turn. I tried to brake but I was already in the turn. I leaned it more but my foot was dragging on the ground. I went wide and hit the shoulder on the opposite side. I immediately lowsided and started sliding in the dirt/grass. Just when I thought I was about to stop I started tumbling. What I found out later was that I had just slide off of a cliff. It wasn't a vertical drop but it was very steep.

After tumbling about 30-40 feet down some large rocks I finally stopped when I hit one especially big one. I'm going from memory here because I don't have the pics from the scene yet, but will post them.

The guys I was riding with came down to see how I was. There was also a doctor and his wife bicycling there and he came down too. To my surprise I seemed alright. My right shoulder was sore and my left ankle. After about 10 minutes, the adrenaline started wearing off and I tried to get them to help me crawl back up but they wouldn't let me and made me wait for the paramedics. I wish they had because it was going to be about 3 hours before I got out.

Where I went down was fairly remote so it took about 20-30 minutes for a rescue team to show up. After they checked me out I again asked to help me crawl out but they wouldn't let me. They said that due to the nature of the accident they were going to immobilize me and haul me out.

I'll skip the boring waiting part and just say that they had to wait for a rescue truck to come from 45 minutes away to bring a basket and other climbing gear to haul me out. By this time all the adrenaline was gone and I could tell my right collar bone was broken, every time they moved me.

So after 3 hours down in a ravine, I was finally in an ambulance and had a 45 minute ride to the hospital. Let's just say hospital was pretty bad. When I finally decided it was time to get some pain meds it took them 2 hours to give them to me. Also, when I went to get my X-rays, they shot my neck, back, abdomen and ankle. When they were going to wheel me out, I said, "Hey, aren't you going to X-ray my broken collar bone?" the tech said the doctor hadn't ordered that. Nice. He called and got it straightened out. To be expected it took forever to get out of there.

I am now at home with a broken collar bone, a badly sprained ankle, a sore hip where I landed on it and one scratch one my knuckle. I believe my full face helmet and armored leather jacket save me from much worse damage and was worth every penny I spent on them. Looking at my helmet it looks like I did a face plant into the dirt. I knew there was a reason I would only where a full face.

As for Nixon, I'm not really sure how she is. She slide about 50 feet further than me and missed all the boulder and ended up buried in some kudzu down as far as I was in the ravine. From what I could see before they put me on the back board the tank had a very large dent in it an the headlight bracket was broken. I couldn't see much of it though. I will have to go get it from the towing yard after my insurance co takes a look at it. I didn't have it insured for much ($500?) so I'm sure they are going to total it.

I will post some pics of the rescue as soon as my friend sends them to me.

Jesus christ man, Im glad your "mostly" ok!

Damn Mike, if you need anything let me know brother. Glad you're alright.

Holy shit flug! I'm glad you're alive dude. And glad you were wearing good gear. Sounds like it could have gone much worse. And a broken collarbone is absolutely no fun at all. How long are you down for?

Im starting to re-think the disdain I have for my full face...

Pics. It is hard to see because of all the kudzu, but the path I took down was just a bunch of rocks. the last big one stopped me.




You can see the bike off to the right.



They got the climbing equipment and the basket down



Back up top. Those back boards really hurt after laying on them for 4+ hours.



Bubba dragging Nixon up the cliff. No! Not my pretty CL exhaust!



This looks so sad. Is it bad that I'm already thinking about what she will be next?

Prayers for a speedy recovery

Damn Mike, sorry to hear all that man. Glad you survived with only a few "minor" (re: non-life threatening) injuries. Wishing you a speedy recovery brother.

Oh, and my helmet. Looks like the major impact was frontal lobe area next to the "K". It is hard to but the face shield is scuffed and dirt down to around my nose. I never touched the asphalt so there are no crazy scratches and my jacket just looks dirty.

Damn Mike, glad to here you're ok. Those wounds will heel. So sorry about your bike. When you get to piecing her back together let me know if you need anything.

Holy shit mike! So sorry to hear about this. My dad actually wrecked on Thursday coming home from work. Broke his femur in 2 places and will be off his bike for a long time. He was planning on attending the meltdown too. Man if there's anything I can help you with including bike work let me know, im not to far up the road. I may even have some cb/cl 450/500 parts laying about if you need em.

Wow, sounds like its right out of BC's tails of the day.

Speedy recovery!

Oh no, man!!! That's terrible news! Glad you're going to be ok. That must have been pretty fucking freaky flying down that ravine.

It just occurred to me... you probably wont be patched up in time for the gtg in june... wow that really sucks man.

E, sorry to hear about you dad. Sounds like he got it worse than I did. I wish him a speedy recovery as well.

As for the GTG, right now I plan on still going, but I will be driving. I can still hang at camp and shoot the shit. I can drive the chase truck. LOL.

Yeah, going over the cliff was weird. I remember all of it. I went down and was sliding on my right side. I could feel myself slowing down. I couldn't really see anything, just the ground. Then I started tumbling. I thought at first it was just like a little roll as I was coming to a stop, but it just kept going. It didn't feel like I was falling, just kept tumbling and wasn't slowing down. Then, I suddenly stopped (ie. hit the large boulder).

Really sorry to hear this Flug, but super glad you made out without any major injuries. Looking at the pics of that hill, it could have been much worse. Take it easy and mend up.

Post some damage pics of the bike when you get a chance.

So glad you're alright, Mike. Heal quick, my friend.

Shit bud... Thats a real bummer. If I can do anything to help get the scoot back together, just shout. Hope ya heal up soon!

Crap Flug, that is terrible. Like others have said, glad to hear you're able to tell the tale.

Try and talk to your insurance company - they may total the bike, but let you buy it for parts.

Really glad you're still around, Flug. Sounds painful, but I'm glad it wasn't any worse. Heal up quick man!