The hospital stuff isn’t much of a story. The ambulance dropped me at a small hospital in town where where I got some x-rays and was attended to by a couple doctors who didn’t seem to have much experience or training. I left with a cast on my left hand and a splint on my right and hobbled out to the street and caught a taxi. He brought me to the nearest hotel where I crashed for the night.
The next morning was fairly rough. I was incredibly sore and swollen all over. My knee, ankle, hands, and in particular my ribs were troublesome. I’ve had bruised/cracked ribs in the past so I’m used to the feeling, but that doesn’t make it any more comfortable!
**As a side note. Always wear your gear! ATGATT. I have holes in the knees and butt of my pants, holes on the elbows, stomach, and shoulders of my jacket, holes in my backpack, and huge scrapes down the side of my helmet. If I wasn’t wearing proper gear things could have been a lot worse. I am so thankful I have hard plastic armor all over. Please wear your gear!!**
When your fingers bend back too far, this is what happens to your leather gloves:
Meh, no biggie:
All my clothing and toiletries were on the bike, so I was still in my riding gear splattered in cow blood. Later that day I decided to go out and find the bike. I was slightly worried I’d never see it again.
I got a taxi to bring me the 25 miles out of town to the toll booth where my bike was resting unmolested. Getting in and out of the car was a chore, so I knew trying to ride the bike was going to be ridiculous.
It looked ok. The first thing I noticed was my handlebars rotated all the way forward in the clamps and pressed up against the headlight. This is no doubt from direct impact with my chest. I’ll always take special care to keep a crossbar pad on my bikes, I am very thankful I had one. Imagine if I took the bar clamps to the chest instead of the styrofoam safety pad.
List of damage:
– Bent exhaust
– Smashed taillight and blinkers
– Bent handlebars
– Bent front axle
– Bent oil return line
– Torn saddlebags
– Minor scuffs and scrapes
Not bad at all. I managed to fire up the bike there and ride it back to the hotel using just a couple fingers. I kept the bike in 3rd gear the entire way. I couldn’t bend my ankle enough to shift gears, hah. Success!
I stayed in town for 5 days or so until I was marginally able to ride the bike. Then I continued south.
