Gravel 1 Me 0

Ok now that everyone in my family *finally* knows about my accident I will post here about it..

..had my first accident on the scooter... On the way down to Rocheport I took a slight spill. On HH near Tom Frost, I hit some gravel at about 30 mph and the front tire came completely out away from the road.

It's funny how things happen so quick and you remember to do the right things..

As soon as the tire slide out, I went to put my left foot down and my mind said uh no.. put it back on the scooter and ride it out..

I tried to counter steer, no can do, to much gravel..

As soon as my head hit the road, I saw the road and my sunglasses then a ton of dust. So I close my eyes and then I felt the bike slide away from me.. so I right away tucked in.

First thankful for no traffic coming.. secondly thankful that I was wearing a jacket jeans and boots, thirdly glad Pete was there..

Once I stopped moving, I got to my feet to find Pete.. seeing he was ok, I moved over towards my scooter with Pete.

Damaged, yeah.. all cosmetic. But still, I wash and wax this scooter every time I take it out.. sigh.. wanted to cry but thought all well..

Pete came over to look at my injuries, my right hand is missing a lot of skin on top at thumb and fore finger, not from the road but from the cowling on my scooter near the grip.. best I can figure it caught there. This was the only injury that was bloody..

If you know Pete, you know he is very very calm and under control.. so I never looked at my injuries, I watched him. He showed no emotion till he saw my left arm.. I was like umm could you not look at my arm that way?? He said that one is gonna hurt...

This was rash through my jacket.. The Corazzo jacket held up perfectly.. bit dusty but all good..

Both my knees were scraped and pretty bruised... as are my shins.. left side the road, right side best we can tell was from hitting the scooter.

Had boots on so nothing scraped up on my foot but it is bruised. Strawberry on my upper left thigh, not a bad one.

Knuckles have some minor scrapping on left hand and my right elbow very little scrapping. Slight bump on my head.

Yesterday I rode with a full face helmet, jeans, boots and a jacket. Thank God.. had I been in shorts and no jacket.. forget it, I would be typing this from a hospital.

Never again will I ride without a jacket.. the Corazzo 5.0 took all the hit and I had minor damage. Pete thinks it will take a long time for my left arm to heal but it could have been much worse...

Once up and some what cleaned off I decided the scooter and I were fine to make the rest of the trip. A large part of me did this cause I thought if we had the scooter trailered back to the house, it might take me a bit to get back on her..

Made a stop at Wal-Mart where Pete got supplies to properly clean and dress the wounds.. then we continued on no problems.. Still they do not hurt (Yes Pete, I know hey will...)

On way back to St. Louis today, I started feeling more sore and I mean everywhere... It was as if someone lifted a switch and said now it is time for you to be sore. Actually my sorest spot is my stomach muscles..

So out goes my newest Fulmer helmet.. but that baby did the job, but I will discard it.. out goes my Revo sunglasses, they are trashed. My new designer jeans that I PAID to have holes in them have some new holes put in for free courtesy of Route HH. My boots are pretty scraped up but they did their job.. Had I not had those on I have no doubt my left foot would have been crushed... my scooter works as I said damage is all cosmetic. Called insurance company and ETS so now it is in their hands.. nothing money won't cure.

Again having Pete there with his medical background made all the difference long term to my healing better. Had I had this accident alone I probably would have dusted myself off came home and cleaned up and not dressed it etc...

For all the teasing I gave Pete about his bed side manner, I could not have asked for a better person to be there when I had the accident.

Thanks Pete...

Rest of the trip was awesome, I glad I got back on and rode.. and wasn't afraid.

Lesson learned, gloves a must.. had I wore them my right hand would not be torn up. Never ever again will I ride without a jacket, that rash on my arm was through the jacket, the road melted the polyester lining into my arm.. so I guess ultimately the best thing to do would be wear long sleeve shirts to prevent that.

However I will accept that over no jacket. Only scrapping on the 5.0 is the pull tab over the velcro at the sleeve. Rest of my black/pink/silver jacket looks dusty but great!

Third day out I am very very sore, especially my stomach muscles. I have zero appetite (not a recommended diet solution :) )Skin is starting to tighten up, yeah!

Follow up, Corazzo reads a forum I post at, they are replacing my jacket for free. They want to see the damages to the inside. Pretty cool of them..