Hell of a day for ridin in Oklahoma City - Sportbike Addicts

Duff750 · 03-04-2007, 10:36 PM

Weather was PERFECT! Not too warm, not too cold. not a whole hell of a lot of wind (which is highly unusual for this time of year in

Oklahoma) The local sportbike club that I'm part of had one of our bi-monthly meetings this morning and the ride afterwards. GREAT turn out,

had about 38 bikes total. Ended up taking a route we call Roller Coaster road. One of the only roads in Oklahoma that has twisties, but it

also has a lot of really steep hills (up and down) After we got out of the city limits, we started openin' up the throttle...hittin those supersonic

speeds, havin a hell of a good time. I was pretty damn sure I shit my pants a few times though when I peaked some of those hills and

realized that at the other side of the hill was right back down...I know for sure my front tire left the ground a few times, but I'm PRETTY sure I

caught complete air a couple of times too WOW lol... All together a hell of a spirited fun ride... then towards the end of the ride we're startin

to head back to Oklahoma City on Highway81. Cruisin at a pretty contstant speed of about 80mph. We start gainin on a mini van that looks

like it's gettin ready to make a right turn (I'm at the front of the pack) so I signal that I'm slowing down and flash my break light a couple of

times. Everything looks good, then all of a sudded one of the n00bs at the back of the pack decides we're going too slow for him. He merges

out into the oncoming lane of traffic (but there's nobody in that lane at the time) and flies by me goin about 110-120mph. Pulls back into our

lane with plenty of time to see the mini van to make a move. Could have slowed it down, could have went back into the other lane to pass.

I'm starting to freak out when I don't see him starting to swerve and when I don't see a break light coming on. Next thing I see is the break

light come on when it's entirely too late...the rear tire starts to get squirrly as if he locked it up, then aparently he let back off of it and went

into a tank slapper. Locks up the rear break again just in time to kick the bike sideways and slam into the rear end of the van at about 80

mph. All I could see then was a powder of glass, and an exploding bike (not as in blowing up, but as in parts going every which way). I about

had a heart attack when I saw it. Luckly this didn't trigger anyone in the pack to freak out and cause another wreck, everyone just went

around the wreck and pulled into a farm driveway about 1/10th of a mile up the road. My buddy and I that were in the front pulled over

behind the van to make sure that hopefully he's ok. He was unconcious and had thrown up in his helmet (usually a sign of internal

damage...oh shit) One of the guys that stopped with me already had 911 on the line. Someone had aparently called us in for

being "hooligans" a couple miles ago so the cops were already on their way and made it there in about a minute and a half. The cop was

also an EMT so he has everything under control pretty quick. Ambulance made it within about 7 minutes and took him to a LZ wehre a

medivac could take him to Oklahoma University Medical Center. We have a tool truck with ramps in the back that follows us on every

organized ride such as this one, so we had his bike all picked up and loaded in the truck within about 10 minutes after the EMT's took off

with him, then we went on to the next town, fueled up and headed home. I got a call about an hour after I got home from his ex sayin that

he was doing ok. He broke his pelvis in two places, and knocked most of his teeth out of his head, but no risk of life or limb loss was an

issue. Really sucks that we had such a hell of a good day and it had to end like that. But it's the beginning of the season and this seems to

happen a lot around this time. So just another warning to everyone. PLEASE be careful out there and if you see the pack startin to slow

down...find out what the hell's goin on before you go tryin to do something idiotic like that.

**John712** · 03-04-2007, 10:46 PM

damn dude, sorry to hear that. atleast he is able to walk away from it. sounds like there needs to be something brought up at those meetings about doing what he did

Duff750 · 03-04-2007, 11:00 PM

What's really ironic...there was something brought up at the meeting about that kinda thing because we were getting really tired of the close calls... We asked that everyone while within city limits ride in the same lane in a staggard formation, unless merging traffic forced otherwise...and that everyone remained at a speed of no more than 10mph over the limit. And anyone who tried to wheelie or do something stupid in the middle of the pack would kindly be asked to leave. But one guy wasn't repsectful to the request and the one guy screws up. Other than that this was probably one of the most organized rides I've been on

EvilSteve · 03-04-2007, 11:17 PM

That sucks dude, I'm glad the guy's going to be ok. This is one of the reasons I tend to avoid group rides with people I don't know. Anyone can mess up but the pressure to impress people on group rides is very strong.

Know your limits, I try to be aware of them every time I ride.

Duff750 · 03-04-2007, 11:47 PM

Very much agreed. Normally after my bad spill in November of '05 I'm not much a fan of large groups either. But it was just too nice today, and we had a badass route planned..so I couldn't resist

**John712** · 03-04-2007, 11:52 PM

i avoid big group rides myself, like mentioned above theres always that 1 person that can make a great day turn shitty. theres just something about group rides that makes 1 person show off for some odd reason. when there really is no need for it.

not only that but i also avoid them to keep a low down. i dont need 5 police cars behind us. especially after my incident 2 years ago. it was my 1st time i got caught running from the police like i did hundreds upon hundreds of times and i finally got caught. so i dont need that extra exposure no more lol

EvilSteve · 03-05-2007, 12:31 AM

I still go on group rides but I just keep them small and either people I know or people that are vouched for by people I know. Knowing your limits also help to see other people's limits. When someone's a danger to you or others they need to go or you do. Sounds like you didn't really have a chance in this situation.

Having said that, I've had a few of people go down on my last couple of rides. Two were on the same road so I no longer take newer riders on that road. It's really tight switchbacks so people tend to run wide. Just about everyone I've taken on the road has had a moment but after the second crash I won't do it anymore. It's a road that I've spent plenty of time practicing on so I'm always very clear before I take anyone that it's a difficult road and they need to chill. I know now that sometimes the temptation overrides people's better judgement so it's prudent to avoid those situations until you know your fellow riders enough to trust them. Sometimes shit happens but a lot of it can be avoided IMO.

Duff750 · 03-05-2007, 03:18 AM

Pic of the parking lot before we took off to ride

Stealth ZX9R · 03-05-2007, 10:42 AM

I go on group rides occasionally but not too often. I went on a rather large one last year in I think July or August, it was all cruisers and choppers excite for me and my buddy who invited me and some chick on a hot pink R6, so we kind of rode close together most of the time. It was fun but I was kind of nervous when we rode sometimes. It was a poker run and each time we got going I felt nervous because I'd have someone beside me in my lane but once we got going then everyone kind of fell into a staggered position and it was okay. I just dont like sharing lanes......unless its a straight stretch of road and I know the person and how they ride, otherwise it just makes me nervous to be beside them. I'll go on some group rides just as long as no one really tries to show off too much and cause a wreck. I've went on a lot of smaller rides with like 3 or 4 other bikes and a wheelie here or there is fine with me as long as there is plenty of distance between ppl and they aren't doing crazy fast speeds compared to their experience level. But usually the rides I've been on are nice and no one has really tried to show off much at all. But its always good to point out things before you ride that you don't wanna see ppl doing. Anyways I hope it warms up here so I can ride soon.

**Rev** · 03-05-2007, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duff750

Very much agreed. Normally after my bad spill in November of '05 I'm not much a fan of large groups either. But it was just too nice today, and we had a badass route planned..so I couldn't resist

I crashed really bad in Nov. 05 too. Since then I'm extremely carefull. I guess it was good that I did or else it could have ended up worse, eventually. That mistake was his fault, I'm glad he is ok but hopefully this is an eye opener for him too as our accidents were for us. Stupid hurts....Glad to see your not a squidly bidly rider... =p

Retom7 · 03-06-2007, 07:14 PM

Luckily in this situation, it was his fault and he was the one who got hurt. Some people don't want to respect others around them or the machine strapped between their legs. Shit happens, machines aren't perfect, and some people don't want to believe that it can happen to them.

I like riding with friends once in a while, but never more than 3 or 4 other bikes, so far anyway, because I don't like trying to keep up. I ride my own pace, and I don't like having people so close to me because I am still not 100%on their own abilities or attention spans. I prefer solo riding. If I do do group rides, I prefer to be in the rear.

High_Revs_17 · 03-06-2007, 07:32 PM

Damn, multiple pelvic fractures are no joke, he has a long road a head of him with recovery, but i'm glad he made it.

SPL170db · 03-06-2007, 09:06 PM

Large group rides can be a recipe for disaster if everyone is not on the same page. Best in those scenarios to break off into groups of similar skillsets.

Cruisers, choppers and sportbikes all attempting to run the same pace is bad news unless everyone has in their heads at the outset that its merely a parade and nothing more.