WEBVTT 00:01.039 --> 00:03.309 So when I kind of think about army 00:03.309 --> 00:05.769 safety and riding , both of those 00:05.769 --> 00:08.029 things are kind of interconnected with 00:08.029 --> 00:10.085 managing risks or mitigating risks . 00:10.085 --> 00:12.196 You can't control every factor on the 00:12.196 --> 00:14.350 road or every hazard that you might 00:14.350 --> 00:16.461 come across while you're riding , but 00:16.461 --> 00:18.406 there are things that we can do as 00:18.406 --> 00:20.628 riders to try to mitigate those risks . 00:20.628 --> 00:22.739 Uh , a lot of that might be as simple 00:22.739 --> 00:24.961 as checking your bike before you go out 00:24.961 --> 00:26.961 on a ride , just making sure that . 00:26.961 --> 00:29.128 Your tires are good , that brake lines 00:29.128 --> 00:31.350 work , that you don't have any wear and 00:31.350 --> 00:33.239 tear that should be taken care of 00:33.239 --> 00:35.406 before you get out on a ride , as well 00:35.406 --> 00:37.461 as while you're riding , looking out 00:37.461 --> 00:39.294 ahead of you , searching ahead , 00:39.294 --> 00:41.628 evaluating those hazard in front of you , 00:41.628 --> 00:41.580 making sure that you always have an 00:41.580 --> 00:44.020 exit , and even at the end of your ride 00:44.020 --> 00:46.242 just kind of assessing and looking back 00:46.242 --> 00:48.464 at , you know , were there any mistakes 00:48.464 --> 00:50.687 that I made that I can fix for the next 00:50.687 --> 00:52.909 time or is there a skill that I need to 00:52.909 --> 00:54.298 work on that I noticed . 00:56.900 --> 00:59.299 Uh , so back in September I was in a 00:59.299 --> 01:02.020 pretty bad accident . I was out with a 01:02.020 --> 01:04.669 big group on a charity ride and was 01:04.669 --> 01:07.620 towards the back of the group and at 01:07.620 --> 01:09.898 some point , kind of like a road march , 01:09.898 --> 01:12.580 it did the accordion effect and as I 01:12.580 --> 01:14.940 came up over a small rise , all of a 01:14.940 --> 01:16.940 sudden all the bikes in front of me 01:16.940 --> 01:20.169 were braking very fast and I realized 01:20.169 --> 01:22.280 that I was not going to . I have time 01:22.280 --> 01:25.324 to fully stop and I kind of did a quick 01:25.324 --> 01:27.046 glance to see if there was any 01:27.046 --> 01:29.046 direction I could go . There was no 01:29.046 --> 01:31.268 space on my left or my right , and so I 01:31.268 --> 01:33.491 had to initiate emergency braking on my 01:33.491 --> 01:36.324 motorcycle . Unfortunately for me , I 01:37.269 --> 01:39.491 Accidentally locked up the back tire on 01:39.491 --> 01:41.158 my motorcycle . It's a little 01:41.158 --> 01:43.102 embarrassing , um , because we all 01:43.102 --> 01:45.158 think we're better riders until that 01:45.158 --> 01:47.410 moment actually happens and I was 01:47.410 --> 01:50.500 violently ejected over my handlebars 01:50.500 --> 01:52.790 and , you know , hit the ground , 01:52.949 --> 01:55.989 flipped over a few times , and my 01:55.989 --> 01:59.230 accident went from bad to worse when . 01:59.639 --> 02:01.750 The motorcycle that was behind me and 02:01.750 --> 02:03.917 to my right , they had no other option 02:03.917 --> 02:06.860 but to run over my legs . And 02:06.860 --> 02:08.990 fortunately , that rider was able to 02:09.960 --> 02:11.904 Missed the upper half of my body , 02:11.904 --> 02:13.904 which could have been horrible . It 02:13.904 --> 02:16.127 could have killed me at that point . It 02:16.127 --> 02:18.349 was a very heavy bike , um , and he had 02:18.349 --> 02:20.571 no option to go to the right because it 02:20.571 --> 02:22.682 would have hit my motorcycle that was 02:22.682 --> 02:24.682 now skidding across the freeway and 02:24.682 --> 02:24.339 probably would have thrown him and his 02:24.339 --> 02:27.490 passenger . And so he ran over my feet 02:27.740 --> 02:31.130 and I ended up breaking my right ankle , 02:31.570 --> 02:33.740 uh , fracturing multiple bones in my 02:33.740 --> 02:37.660 left foot , and , uh , I had a compound 02:37.660 --> 02:40.539 fracture in my right elbow . And that 02:40.539 --> 02:43.500 was a pretty painful experience and 02:43.779 --> 02:46.089 would not recommend that to anybody . 02:46.669 --> 02:48.891 Uh , fortunately for me , I was wearing 02:49.300 --> 02:51.970 all of my protective gear at that time , 02:52.470 --> 02:56.460 and I walked away with pretty , I 02:56.460 --> 02:58.627 wasn't walking . I rolled away . I was 02:58.627 --> 03:00.869 able to roll away , um , because I 03:00.869 --> 03:03.179 didn't break my neck or injure my spine 03:03.179 --> 03:06.860 or my legs , um . And , but yeah , if , 03:06.910 --> 03:09.630 if I wasn't wearing my PPE that time , 03:09.910 --> 03:11.966 uh , I probably would have broken my 03:11.966 --> 03:15.070 jaw , uh , very well could have broken 03:15.070 --> 03:18.710 my neck . I mean , I've taken 03:18.710 --> 03:20.910 the basic writer's course twice now , 03:21.080 --> 03:23.191 and it was a great course . It does a 03:23.191 --> 03:25.524 really good job of teaching foundations . 03:25.524 --> 03:27.747 It's great for brand new writers , it's 03:27.747 --> 03:29.858 great for experienced writers just to 03:29.858 --> 03:31.969 kind of reinforce those basics and to 03:31.969 --> 03:33.913 make sure that writers have like a 03:33.913 --> 03:36.080 minimum set of skills to be able to be 03:36.080 --> 03:38.247 a safe writer . Out on the road and at 03:38.247 --> 03:40.302 least know and understand what their 03:40.302 --> 03:42.524 limitations are . I know that day I was 03:42.524 --> 03:44.636 feeling a little anxious , and one of 03:44.636 --> 03:46.580 the tips they give is , you know , 03:46.580 --> 03:45.779 always make sure that you're in the 03:45.779 --> 03:48.350 right mindset beforehand and I look 03:48.350 --> 03:50.350 back and I should have just kind of 03:50.350 --> 03:52.572 pulled off that day and been like , you 03:52.572 --> 03:52.179 know what , I'll , I'll write a little 03:52.179 --> 03:54.699 bit later . Like I just need to cool 03:54.699 --> 03:56.979 off first . Like this is just too much 03:56.979 --> 03:58.979 for me . Some of the other things I 03:58.979 --> 04:01.090 wish I had been able to practice more 04:01.090 --> 04:03.919 with emergency braking . Like , they 04:03.919 --> 04:05.975 absolutely cover it during the basic 04:05.975 --> 04:08.240 writer's course , and it felt great at 04:08.240 --> 04:10.351 the time doing it , like , hey , this 04:10.351 --> 04:12.518 is easy . I'm not really gonna need it 04:12.518 --> 04:14.573 cause I don't speed , like , I don't 04:14.573 --> 04:16.629 plan on making any mistakes , but it 04:16.629 --> 04:18.851 didn't work out so well for me and so I 04:18.851 --> 04:21.073 wish I had a chance to kind of practice 04:21.073 --> 04:23.073 more of that um to make sure that I 04:23.073 --> 04:25.073 could come to . A full stop and not 04:25.073 --> 04:27.240 lock up my tires or anything . So this 04:27.240 --> 04:29.351 is the helmet I was wearing um in the 04:29.351 --> 04:31.518 accident . DOT approved . I don't have 04:31.518 --> 04:33.573 a great memory of that day , but you 04:33.573 --> 04:36.140 can see where I hit in multiple spots 04:36.140 --> 04:38.619 where there's a a good impact here on 04:38.619 --> 04:41.500 the left side , scraping up rolled over 04:41.500 --> 04:43.820 a few times , so there's the scrapes 04:43.820 --> 04:45.987 along the visor here that kind of show 04:45.987 --> 04:48.579 the different directions as well as a 04:48.579 --> 04:50.801 fun spot right here where my chin would 04:50.801 --> 04:54.559 be . I managed to save , save my face 04:54.559 --> 04:56.448 that way . If I could go back and 04:56.448 --> 04:58.392 change that , I do wish that I was 04:58.392 --> 05:00.559 wearing actual armored top because I , 05:00.559 --> 05:02.670 I had the army required long sleeve , 05:02.670 --> 05:04.892 but I learned that it only takes like a 05:04.892 --> 05:07.115 half second of sliding on the ground to 05:07.115 --> 05:09.392 tear through my long sleeve shirt . So , 05:09.779 --> 05:11.890 um , a little bit of road rash on the 05:11.890 --> 05:14.679 left arm , but otherwise I was . All 05:14.679 --> 05:17.640 right afterwards , so it saved my life 05:17.640 --> 05:18.589 having all my gear on .