Testimonials / Letters - Letter 80GEARED UP A couple of years ago I attended one of Bernie Hatton’s bike courses and he spent a lot of time explaining why it was so important to wear protective gear when you ride. One thing that stuck in my head was his comment that “It’s not a matter of if you come off, it’s a matter of when you will come off”. I remember thinking that won’t happen to me because I don’t push it that hard, but I did listen and went and got myself a reasonable full face helmet, Draggin’ Jeans, a DriRider jacket and boots and gloves. On Christmas Eve I found out just how important that gear is. I came off in an absolute instant with no time to react or even think of what to do. I estimate I was doing about 100km/h at the point of coming off. I only realised I was in trouble as I hit the ground. My left shoulder impacted the road first and the shoulder armor did its job in that it cushioned the blow and prevented any road rash. After three weeks I can’t lift my left arm above my shoulder. At some stage I then slid on my head and right shoulder and right elbow. My helmet has a two-inch deep scrape in it. If I had an open face helmet I would now have no nose, chin and possibly no front teeth. My right shoulder is perfectly OK even though my right elbow has some deep road rash because my elbow hit the road with such force that the armor rolled around my elbow and the jacket was ground through. The hip armor in my jeans prevented any bruising and road rash to my hips and the Kevlar in the jeans didn’t wear through but gave me some superficial burns on my knees. My bike is worse for wear and will now be modified into a VTR1000 streetfighter (Stu from AusFR will make a fortune out of me). My riding gear (apart from my boots) is absolutely stuffed, but my injuries are so minimal I’ll have a normal life without ongoing pain. If you think it’s too hot to wear, or too uncool, or it won’t happen to you – you’re a dead set dropkick. Get your gear on. Mark Drury |
