Trepidation

[the Ferret]

Today I had to ride thru this intersection.



Big deal? A little back story:

The road's a bit different than it was 49 years ago. Back then it was a 2 lane road. It was the summer of 1969. I had ridden my 67 Honda CL 77 aka 305 Scrambler, across town to visit my oldest sister. I was wearing a white Buco open face helmet, and Hi Point glasses for eye protection. I can't remember what else I was wearing but no doubt a t-shirt of some kind, blue jeans and work boots, maybe a blue jean jacket, can't be sure. My normal attire in those days. Since it was summer I doubt if I was wearing any gloves. After visiting my sis I headed back towards home and while riding towards this intersection, a green 54 Dodge driven by an older lady was coming the opposite direction. Just as I entered the intersection, she swung left in front of me headed for the side street (visible on the right in the picture). I hit her in the passenger door, went over the top of her car and landed helmet first on the ground on the opposite side. I was knocked unconscious, but the helmet saved my life I suppose. It was cracked (but my skull wasn't). The impact knocked the helmet into the glasses which smashed into my nose breaking it. My right hand was broken, as was my right foot. I also had amassed 7 broken teeth and a bunch of gravel in my lips and gums. BTW my right big toe is still a mess (the toenail used to fall off every year, but that stopped about 10 years ago, and now it's just thick, crooked and ugly lol), and my teeth are still cracked and chipped. My right hand healed but I really only have 1 knuckle you can see on that hand when I make a fist. My Honda was totaled. After the emergency room visit I recuperated at my mom and dad's house in my old room. The insurance company paid me $3400 for my bike and my injuries (not enough IMO considering I still have side effects nearly 1/2 century later). I used part of the money to buy a new green and white 1969 CB 350 Honda for $799 I think. Had to pay an extra $8 for a right hand mirror, as it only came with a left.

Anyhow today I googled how to get to the place where my Granddaughter's graduation will take place the day the Ky Rally ends and thought I'd do a trial run there, so I'm not lost or late that day. Reading the map I saw I had to go across this road. Even though it's been 49 years I suddenly felt some trepidation. I thought that was silly. I suited up and headed out, and the closer I got to that spot, the more uneasiness I felt. Luckily when I got there, nobody was turning left, and I made it thru the intersection unscathed, but wow was that weird! I have no desire to run that road again, and will take another route to my Granddaughter's graduation.

Hard to believe that you can be afraid of a spot where something bad happened to you nearly a half century before, but I'm here to tell you it's true.

[Stichill_imp]

Wow that's a frightful story, ferret. Do you have any actual memory of the crash or do you just know it was a '54 Dodge and that you hit the door, etc. due to reconstruction of events afterward?

I'm amazed you got back on a bike after that. You must have been pretty motivated to ride!

[Nemo_imp]

Glad you were spared.

[the Ferret]

Stichill... No recollection of the event prior to waking up on the pavement with police and medics taking care of me. All info was told to me. I do remember clearly the male nurse assigned to clean the gravel out of my lips and gums. He was so afraid he was going to hurt me lol. I also remember trying to get around with a cast on my right hand and right leg at the same time. Being right handed it was nearly impossible to eat, get dressed, tie my left shoe, buckle my belt, zip my pants, use the bathroom, etc etc lol

Amazingly I told my mom I WAS going to quit riding ( because getting hurt, really HURTS) and she said to me " you know how much riding means to you. If you quit now, you will regret it the rest of your life" . So as soon as I was out of plaster I was buying a new bike. Been riding nearly every day ever since. MOm was right of course.

THanks Nemo.

Here's another fun thing about that... 5 years after the accident I went to work for the Honda dealer that I bought the CB 350 from.

[Stichill_imp]

Wow, your mom was very cool about it. My mom has finally come around to embracing me as a rider even though I was a 50 year old man when I started! My dad though is a big worrier and always fears the worst.

[the Ferret]

My mom and dad were both riders as were my older brother, older sister and you ger brother at the time. Motorcycling is sort of in our blood.

[LongRanger_imp]

Ferret, great story. I am surprised the intersection still gives you the willies but I guess it makes sense. I think you need to start an annual ride (event) where you meet up with your riding buddies and they safely escort you through that intersection. Make it a good route to a cool destination or restaurant, using the "escort" as the main feature. A riding buddy of mine does this in San Diego, across an Indian reservation where he was chased or accosted about 30 years ago. Dozens of riders (upwards of 100) turn out each year to escort him through there. He leads, of course. It's a huge party.

[the Ferret]

Yea I should do that LR. Might eventually lessen the discomfort. Then again in daily life I normally have little reason to head that way. I moved 30 miles east of there in and my parents died years ago, so there is nothing to take me that way normally.

[Nortoon_imp]

In the early 60s I had a motorcycle buddy Mark Lavine. He and two riding buddies had visited a gypsy who told them they were all going to meet early deaths. Probably had something to do with the motorcycle gear they were wearing.

While riding on the Queensway, an expressway here, he and one of the friends Paul stopped to help a lady with a flat tire. Unfortunately for Paul he forgot to kick his side stand back up after changing the wheel. At the next exit the side stand caught and his bike pitched him into a concrete light post killing him instantly. As my father use to say, "No good deed will go unpunished". My mother was upset after hearing about the accident on the radio because she thought it was me.

One year later to the day Mark and the other buddy were driving on the 401 (a busy 4-lane highway) from Toronto. The buddy had moved to T O and built a chopper there. He was riding it back to Ottawa to show everybody, when he got hit from behind by a drunk driver. Mark called the his buddy's mother from the hospital to tell her son had been in an accident but he was OK except for a broken leg. He died later that night of a blood clot.

The following year Mark remained in the house afraid to go out on that day. But a week later he was cave exploring with some friends, and fell down a 90 foot coal shaft. Fortunately he only broke his ankles. But I cannot image the terror he must have felt while falling into the darkness of that shaft for that length of time thinking he was going to die.

[emptysea]

Great post, Ferret. I do not believe that Cheryl has ridden over the little bridge she was crossing about two years ago. I know she has trepidation (good word) about it because she doesn't even like to drive her car over it. I suppose the one good thing is that it's a bit of a long shot that she will still be riding 50 years from now.