Med-Evac out of RA

[Bosworth]

JRA;72303 wrote: Ross, I watched the whole thing from the hillside in turn one. Once you are feeling better I can fill you in if you want to know what happened.

Glad you are doing well!

John, I know he would like to know what happened. As was said by atlr1fan, he is curious as to what happened and what he did wrong. I'm sure he would love to know your input as well. I will shoot you a pm with his cell number if you don't mind giving him a call. He is now out of the hospital and at home. Still has some swelling in his feet so he is not walking around yet, so he will be happy to hear from you during the day.

Jay

 

[JRA]

Ericn got it right. I talked to AtlR1fan on the phone yesterday evening and he said he would pass it along to Ross.

 

[lemondrop]

glad to hear you are recovering!!

 

[buellucifer9s]

heal up ross

 

[Katie Johnson]

Ross, I am so glad to hear that you are doing well. You, your girl, and your family are all in my prayers.

Katie Johnson

 

[raubrey1]

Thanks for all the support, guys and girls. That was my first track day ever. Aside from the crash it was easily the most fun I've ever had (with clothes on.)

At this point I'm in quite a bit of pain (head, arms, heels) when I wake up each morning, but I'm able to walk on the balls of my feet for short periods of time.

I can't wait to get back on the track! Thanks again for the support!

 

[stow]

Glad you are ok and starting to heal up. Hopefully it will not take too long. Where do you live? If you are near by let me know if you need help with getting your bike up and going again.

Shane

 

[noobinacan]

The level of support/assistance, both physical and moral, for both veterans and new comers.
In the NESBA community amazes me. I am sure it goes beyond NESBA into the motorcycle trackday community as well.

I speak from personal experience...

here's to speedy recovery

...

 

[Big_J_29]

Great to see you posting Ross, Heal up quick Brother and I look forward to meeting you at a track somewhere.

 

[JAB3]

Great to have you back man! Awesome attitude man, dust your self off and get back on the track. Think of it this way, you got the big one out of the way

 

[BobbyG]

Ross, glad you are OK, I was two bikes behind you at the time and rode a few laps with you. When you are up to it, shoot me an email and we can talk offline.

 

[bmart]

Ummm, if you talk offline, only one person can benefit. If the rider doesn't mind, posting on this forum might be more helpful to the group.

 

[Fastguy]

bmart;75293 wrote: Ummm, if you talk offline, only one person can benefit. If the rider doesn't mind, posting on this forum might be more helpful to the group.

:agree: I definitely agree! As long as its acceptable to Raubrey1.

 

[davidahope]

Ross, Good to hear from you. I'll tell you that was one hard fall you took; I know I don’t have to tell you that. When that bike came down on you, I thought you were a goner. I had dropped my bike on the grass and gone over to help (Actually, I was in the grass because I had run out of gas. I’m just a stupid beginner) I knew it was bad but when the paramedics got there and the 1st thing the guy said when he saw you, even before he got your helmet off was "Medi-Vac now". Looking at the Forum I see a lot of people have had you in their prayers. I've discovering that this is an amazing group of guys to spend the weekends with.

I do live in Atlanta (Flowery Branch) I would love to come by and check on you some time. I too am new to the sport, wrecked 1st day on a track (Barber); I'm also 6'4". So, we have a lot in common.

I've been posting questions about what size bike to get and so far everybody has said a liter bike is too much, I agree. I do wonder how I'm going to fold up to ride a 600 but there are bigger guys out there telling me they do it. Right now, I'm riding an old track bike I bought off of eBay which is working out fine. It's a ZX9R, 99 model. I figured what the hell, before I make an 8-10K investment I need to make sure this sport is for me. I figure Jan-Mar I'll upgrade to a newer bike that I'll keep.

Feel free to give me a call any time. Like I said: glad you’re OK.
David
770-235-8466

 

[JRA]

David, I was the CR on the scooter on the other side of the track watching. I know you remember we already had this discussion and I'm not trying to call out publicly, but this is a track safety issue and since you brought it up this needs to be said for everybody's benefit.

David was out of gas and sitting on his bike maybe twenty feet or so off the edge of the track, about two thirds of the way up the hill. If Ross's high-side had happened a little sooner or maybe a little differently, Ross could have possibly hit David as he crashed, Ross's bike could have possibly hit David, or both.

David, you should have had your bike against the wall with you on the other side of the wall. Never, never, sit or stand just off the track in a potential impact zone.

The other thing...(don't take this personally because I'm not attacking you this is so other beginners can learn along with you) David was about to run out onto the track to flag oncoming riders away from Ross and his bike, or to try and help. If I hadn't started yelling at him to stay put he would have been onto the track with bikes oncoming through turn one possibly at close to one hundred miles an hour. That is an even more serious safety issue. When a track is hot with bikes still circulating, you would have been putting yourself, Ross, and the other riders at at serious risk by running onto the track. First, this is not your job. The corner workers are trained in how to handle this. They are going to get the flags out, and get help to the downed rider ASAP. Second, instead of having one downed rider requiring an air ambulance we could have easily had two or more if you had been hit. You could have made a bad situation many times worse if you had actually entered a live track to help a downed rider.

I'm not making this out to be a bigger deal than it actually was. In fact quite the opposite is true. David, I can't stress enough that what you were about to do was so dangerous. The scary part for me is that you didn't know better. I know you are a beginner, and as a result of this incident I have been talking about this in my beginner riders meetings so other beginners have learned from it. Hopefully many others will read this thread and learn as well.

Again, David this is a chance for everybody to learn, including me, this is the only reason I have posted this whole story.

 

[slowpoke]

glad you posted this John- i think for many of us who werent raised by wolves it's a natural reaction (until we know better which is usually learned in 1st riders meeting) to want to help fellow riders that are down, but 999 times out of 1000 when untrained people get in the way of the professionals nothing good can come of it not to mention creating more victims/patients that require rescue regardless of the sport. we get this with scuba diving quite a bit where there's an emergency and others try to 'help' and end up becoming victims that requires us to make additional rescues. they have good intentions when they offer help but it never ends well.

 

[davidahope]

JRA;75625 wrote: David, I was the CR on the scooter on the other side of the track watching. I know you remember we already had this discussion and I'm not trying to call out publicly, but this is a track safety issue and since you brought it up this needs to be said for everybody's benefit.

David was out of gas and sitting on his bike maybe twenty feet or so off the edge of the track, about two thirds of the way up the hill. If Ross's high-side had happened a little sooner or maybe a little differently, Ross could have possibly hit David as he crashed, Ross's bike could have possibly hit David, or both.

David, you should have had your bike against the wall with you on the other side of the wall. Never, never, sit or stand just off the track in a potential impact zone.

The other thing...(don't take this personally because I'm not attacking you this is so other beginners can learn along with you) David was about to run out onto the track to flag oncoming riders away from Ross and his bike, or to try and help. If I hadn't started yelling at him to stay put he would have been onto the track with bikes oncoming through turn one possibly at close to one hundred miles an hour. That is an even more serious safety issue. When a track is hot with bikes still circulating, you would have been putting yourself, Ross, and the other riders at at serious risk by running onto the track. First, this is not your job. The corner workers are trained in how to handle this. They are going to get the flags out, and get help to the downed rider ASAP. Second, instead of having one downed riding requiring an air ambulance we could have easily had two or more if you had been hit. You could have made a bad situation many times worse if you had actually entered a live track to help a downed rider.

I'm not making this out to be a bigger deal than it actually was. In fact quite the opposite is true. David, I can't stress enough that what you were about to do was so dangerous. The scary part for me is that you didn't know better. I know you are a beginner, and as a result of this incident I have been talking about this in my beginner riders meetings so other beginners have learned from it. Hopefully many others will read this thread and learn as well.

Again, David this is a chance for everybody to learn, including me, this is the only reason I have posted this whole story.

John, you’re absolutely right about how I handled the accident Ross had. I was having the best run on the track I’ve ever had: a CR (dually) in front and a CR in back of me for several laps; they were switching off and watching my riding. I was so damn excited because that opportunity never really comes up, and then I ran out of gas, I couldn’t believe it. I was sitting on the side of the track watching the parade go by. I was so mad at myself; I swear I could have picked my bike up a thrown it over the fence. I wasn’t thinking about the track. Then I saw Ross go down, my 1st response was the help. That was when I heard you yell and realized I needed to get out of the way. I’ve low-sided before and didn’t have a problem with getting my bike against the fence, etc. The only accidents I’ve seen have been low-sides off the track but riders are up and moving. This one scarred me.
I should have been thinking about the track and not myself when I went off the track. I could have gotten someone/myself hurt. Being a “stupid beginner’ isn’t an excuse. I’ve thought about it since the accident and I do apologize to everyone on the track. Thanks for coming over after the accident and talking to me about it. I’ve got nothing but respect for you CR’s. In fact one day I want to grow up and be a CR.

I do apologize to the riders and CR’s for putting them at risk.

Sincerely David Hope

 

[noobinacan]

^ i guess this little post helps reinforce in my mind, the point that 'don't run out on a hot track'
plus a reminder for beginners like me...

+ what happened earlier this year
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/05/cyclist_track_worker_killed_in.html

That RA weekend, I ran wide into the last turn...came back out.
not realizing I'm bringing dirt etc onto the track and going at it again...one of the CR's came up in front of me right then and 'waved down' to turn it down /get off the line etc.

after the session...he told me.
- I was bringing dirt onto the track / racing line..so he took me off the line.
- I need to be taking it easy next few turns...off the line etc. right after a off the track experience.

I have gone off three or four times in total now...but kept it up.

one thing I always do is look back to make sure the track is clear before I go back on....and stay off the line. and off the pace just a bit. hand up- leg out.

 

[JRA]

David, don't worry about it. There is a difference between being stupid (which you aren't), and being ignorant about what you should have done in that situation. Like I said this gives everybody the opportunity to learn from it. From every bad situation some good must come, otherwise everybody loses. Hope to see you out there again soon!

 

[davidahope]

John, I'll be at Roebling the 29th & 30th. Hope to see ya there.
David