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Most of us like to keep stupid things we do to ourselves, but a this site provides insight and helps everyone learn from one another’s mistakes I will go ahead and take the sling and arrows for the team.

Last Sunday Mark (b717doc) and I hooked up and rode out to Leeds, AL. to the Skip Barber Race Park for the vintage motorcycle races and swap meet.

First of all 47 degrees is 47 degrees no matters where you are and we froze our you know what off at 7:30 moving at 75 mph on RT. 20. All I can ay is thank god for the AL welcoming rest stop over the GA BAMA border.

Well we warm up and set off the sun is up and the temp is rising quickly and after a few more miles the smile came back to my partial frozen face. As we tooled on we picked a rider on a Harley that followed us for about 40 miles.

Mark was leading and I saw him stick his hand out to a road hazard in our lane. Being a good Joe I stuck my foot out to signal the rider behind me. Lo and Behold the ****** thing jumped up and bit me with the impact of a 5lbs. mash hammer with no shoes on. Now remember I ride with hard toe boots if I had not the outcome would have been far worse then what actual happened. You should see the front of my boot where the impact took place.

My foot immediately went numb and all I could do was scream son of a @@@@@ through clinched teeth for the next hundred miles. Remembering Rob from the NE Rally I was not going to take off my boot for the fear of not getting it back on. I toughed it through the day but felt bad for Steve because it was a beautiful day with a ton of stuff to do and to look at and I turned out to be not so good company.

Without dragging this out any further I went to the hospital and had to have the nail on my big toe removed to relieve the pressure my toe was about four times the size of normal when I did take my boot off when I got home and I split the bone right through the middle from the tip to the first joint. So I’m sitting here writing this with a walk cast on my foot and at least three weeks before the Doctor said I could ride again.

Moral of the story point with your hand NOT YOU’RE FOOT I know this and broke that cardinal rule and now I’m paying the price for my stupidity. So all you new riders out there learn from my mistake POINT with your hand and not with your foot.

John

ouch! What the heck was it?

What did you hit?

The suspense is amazing!

John,

Wow! Boards with spikes, spikes in toes? Did the doc ask "Want me to trim this hang nail?". How's your tetanus booster doing? I presume you're on the mends.

BTW: Once while riding a mid 70's Bonneville who's electrics didn't work quite right (ya, go figure?). I obediently stuck my left arm straight out signalling a turn to those around me. I promptly whacked my left hand square on a highway barricade. "Ouch!" I may have used other similar language, but you get the point.

Fractured fairy tale; keep feet and hands inside the vehicle.

jh

We are not quite sure, but think it was piace of a shedded truck tire.

PICS!!!

Wow, splitting it up the middle sounds nasty. You are the first person I've heard of that actually got a cast for a broken toe. About 15 years ago, I was cleaning out my dad's garage, and dropped a roughly 5 pound capacitor on my foot. Was wearing sneakers, and it broke the big toe. I went to the Dr, and he just said, "Yeah, you broke your toe. Its gonna hurt for a few weeks." You have my sympathies.

Well, I for one think this was a very sweet gesture on your part, John.

I mean how you seemingly went out of your way to try to experience a similar painful injury like Lynn is goin' through right now with her broken ankles...JUST so you could empathize a little more with her plight!

What a guy!!!




(BTW...how is Lynn's recovery comin' along anyway?)

John: Knowing that you and Lynn are going to be OK...I really have to think of the comic implications here. Two CT Nutmeggers go to GA where the Southern gods conspire to mess you up. Undaunted by drought and accidents, I see you overcoming and becoming stronger...at least until the locusts and frogs come out of the sky.
Best to you and Brett,
SteveB

Dwight, I can always count on you for your thoughtful insight, in fact your right I was getting jealous of all the attention Lynn was getting and decided I must do something to rectify this situation.

Steve, you are not getting out of this remember if this move goes south I'm blaming you and Carol. This whole thing started over French Toast at your house.

Carl, you are right the Doctor said not much I can do for you, (that's nasty) but we can put a walking cast on so you can keep the pressure of it and the bone will heal on its own.

I talked to Mark last night and we still can not figure out what it was, the closest we can come is a piece of truck tire that had steel belts in it. I swear the thing moved once Mark went by it so it was something that fell off and car or truck, but when I hit it felt like it was a solid object just sticking up from the road something like a lane reflector.

I never understood why some guys point to road hazards with their foot. The first time I saw this was at the NY rally. I thought they were just stretching their leg or something. I have seen it since at all the rallies I've attended and I still sometimes misinterpet it. If you point with your arm extended down at the object the meaning is unmistakable.

Jeez John, so far you luck down there in Georgia hasn't been so good. Hope things improve. By the way, I didn't think it got down to 47 degrees down there this early in the season. Hope you heal up soon.

Hey Brett! Do whatever you want, whenever you want --
nothing the 'rents can do about it but bark
If they sass ya too much, trip over their casts.



Just so you know you're not alone John, some years ago I was headed south on I 95 at the starting line to the CBX, just before the Whitestone exit with 26 tons of powdered limestone in a dry bulk tank. There was a laundry cart a few feet into my lane, and my driving and wheel position chops were pretty good at that time. I had the impulse to just barely nick the cart by 1/8" or so, in order to skip it into the weeds, perhaps preventing a 19 car pile up should someone swerve to miss it. Apparently the metal in the cart struck the tire just so, causing the front tire to blow. Did I mention I was grossing 80,000 lbs? Anywho, there was room on the shoulder for me to wait for the tire guy to come out and mend my radial woes.
I didn't think it prudent to share the story back then.

Glad it wasn't worse friend....