Drinks for the bar.

I have been off the pain meds for three days, now. This should give me back the 70 IQ points that I lost while taking the drugs. The collarbone seems to be doing well, as are the ribs, although if I turn just so, I can still see stars that are as yet uncharted.

Today I got a check from Dairyland Insurance, covering the scooter repairs, less my deductible. I am impressed by the rapid response, and the unequivocal resolution of my situation, by Dairyland. They don't mess around. In Texas, Dairyland rules.

Tomorrow I am going to the Waco H-D, and check on the bike. I have four weeks to go, before I will be able to ride.

Now, to the subject. I really hadn't thought much about it, until Wednesday, when I stopped taking the drugs. I tried to identify what I had done wrong, and why I crashed.

Here is what I came up with.

1. I was tired, which slowed my reflexes, and probably impaired my judgement.
2. I made the poor decision to go onto I-35, during rush hour, on a Friday.
   
3. The sun was setting, and directly in my eyes, which took away some of my vision.
4. When I realized that the car in front of me had slammed on its brakes, I reacted in kind, and hit my brakes, and locked up the rear.
5. I didn't use the front brake as I should have.
6. Didn't see the oily road surface until too late.
7. I could have taken an alternate, safer route.

In a nutshell, I cut too many corners, and took too many risks. When I can ride again, I'm going to practice stoppies. It's funny, until a few years ago, I used to practice stuff like that, taking off up hill from a stop, riding over rr tracks, slow tight turns, and panic stops. I used to deliberately ride back and forth over bridge gratings, so that I could get a feel, for my capabilities, and those of the bike, so that I knew what I could and could not do. After 16 years, I got cocky, became lazy, and I got nailed for it.

The hell of it is, I remember getting out of much more dangerous situations, without getting hurt, or wrecking the bike.

Having said that, I'm not going to sit here in my hair shirt, and whine about it. If anyone else can learn from this, and avoid having a similar accident, then that's good. I always try to learn from things that cause others pain. Unfortunately, this time the number was mine.

Crashing hurts. Don't do it.

'nuther round, please.
--
the heekster, the gentleman from Charleston, recuperating in Waco,
BS#4, '55FLE, '91FLSTC...replace "spamless" with heekster to respond