Rat
Pack Dog
Well as I'm up and about I have some time to put a report together on that day I got my pilots licience without wings, even though I had the Honda Wings.
For all of you whom have lost family to two wheels, my condolences go out to you but I had much time to reflect on this accident and believe this story needs to be told, as I was not lucky, I'm truely blessed to be alive unscathed and there must be a reason. Even when I look at the pictures, I cannot explain why I'm still alive.
This is how May 27th unfolded.
My family from America were on a kak dar day and my wife and I agreed to rather meet them for lunch then tag along in a cage to see the local sites, and we would meet up at Franschoek for lunch scheduled for 14-00. We took the Rooi Els road around, stopped for coffee in Kliemond and then headed out for Botrivier and up passed the dam wall by Teewaterskloof to go up the pass to Franschoek. It was a beautiful day after the rain and snow and I remember pointing up to my wife to get her to look at the snow on top of the mountains, as they say after these cold fronts we have "champaigne weather". There was a fair amount of traffic coming down the pass and we got seperated with me over taking a few vechiles in the lead. Then the SHIT HIT the fan.
I know I was looking up at the snow when I looked back and saw that I had driffed and there was a second bend in the corner. I braked and was skidding for the dirt and I now had a split second to make a descion what to do, knowing put the bike down,which is what I did on the left side as we were going off on the right.
The pic shows the skid marks and how fast I made that discion to drop the bike. This next pic gives you a view of the bend and what to expect. I think at this point I knocked myself out as I do not remember going over the cliff or even taking off my helmet.
Now you know your in SHIT when you see that as there is not much space from the tar to the edge and please note the lack of any barrier etc. even though there have been numerios people thet have gone over this bend. My wife had gone around the corner and the 4X4 club asked to get help as someone had gone over the cliff. She asked the colour of the bike and they told her it was Black which is just as well, as it was silver and I was dressed in Black. Once in Franschoek she realised it could have been me as she could not find me and she knows I normally slow down every so often to get her in sight. They came back in the Combi with the rest of the family from America. My Daughter Monique when looking over the side was convinced I was dead and went into Hysterics and I could hear from the bottom so I shouted to calm her down.
This gives you some idea with a human scale as reference as to the drop over the edge and yes that is me in the bottom being attended to.
These two pics give the view from the side the 4X4 club sat and watched it unfold and Doc Bev's husband was at the edge taking a leak when it all happened. He says I flew about 17m across, and dropped 20m, bounced off the side and fell the other 4m into the bushes at the bottom.
This next photo is in portrait and gives you the true view of my flight.
This pic is shown from the top and I'm on the left at the bottom with the bike on the right.
This another view with the ambulance crew working on me and the cops working on the bike only sadly to say they could not revive the bike. RIP
And here lies one unhappy puppy.
This is now the HERO whom was lowered down by rope to attend to me, Doc Bev French and she was unbelievable to say the least, even though she did admit she thought I was dead, only to see me taking my helmet off before she even got to me and I moved myself into a more comfortable postion as I was prity sore by this stage. Bev had a full medic pack with drips and morphine and I guess witin 10 minutes she had me hooked up. Well done to all of you, Bev, Greg and company from the 4X4 club.
This view is from where I was looking up.
Here is the parcel packaged.
And the great effort to move the load up. ( I'm not the lightest but I have lost 7kg's since the accident)
This was the helicopter that came out to the scene only to find out that they have an 800mm restriction for loading you and my sholders were wider than that. But the whirly bird had to make an emergency landing in Franschoek with technical problems so I guess I was not supposed to be in that thing either.
Now here is a story with this pic as you would normally on see this in the movies, as there were 4 emergency vechiles and a helicopter to attend to me and two police cars, and the bill came to R751-00. Remember this value as I will highlight the recovery of that RIP Varadero at the end.
Then of course you have all those Vultures just seeing if someone died. (SIC) and not the good one. By the way all the photo's are from our American family whom are a great Christian family and they truely believed this to be a miracle. ( We'll excuse them other wise you would not have a grafic report.
I was admitted into Somerset Vegeleghen on Sunday night at 1815 and here is me on Monday morning at 10-00 leaving the hospital. ( Thanks to the crew for not taking me to Paarl)
Here are two photo's of the Bike which was written off.
The next shows the front left shock which clearly took the bulk of the impact.
And here is the rip off artist, as I said earlier that it cost R751-00 for the medical costs and the recovery of the bike came in at R3800-00, what a joke. He just happened to be there and said it would be cheaper as we did not have to call him out. Makes you think don't it.
Now to give you a summary on the accident it is as follows:
1 A broken tooth. ( Since capped and repaired)
2 It appears there was a cracked rib. ( They are not sure)
3 Dislocated Cavlior (Sholder Blade)
4 One dead Terminator, ( That was the name given to my Vara as it was different.)
5 A club outing of the 4X4 club whom had a paramedic, doctor and surgeon in their group. They were not even suppossed to have been at that spot but had made a change and were running late. A coincident, I think not.
6 The helicopter could not get me in and had to make an emergency landing. ( Makes you Think)
7 I fell the equivelent of a 6 or 7 story building and bounced into a gap between rocks which Greg said if I had hit I would have been a paraplegic or dead. I have had not one briuse on my entire body, nowhere?
8 I was riding in full gear. My gear was insured but my boots are the only thing that have only a small scuff on them and my ankles, feet etc are perfect. These are Zero Two Boots and are the most comfortable piece of biking gear I have. ( Had to put that in as it is true)
9 I made a spilt second decsion to put the bike down which I believe saved my life. ( Who knows wat would have happened if I had riden of the side, as maybe I could have joined the 4X4 club for lunch. NOT LIKELY)
10 I gained no frequent flier points on this trip.
11 I still have a sense of humour.
12 I will ride again.
13 The bike had TKC's on as we had just got back from Namibia doing 4300km without even one fall. The road surface was also wet in certain places, but I do not blame the tires, as the brief lack of concentration was certainly the reason with no room for error on this corner.
14 After two weeks I was in such pain as I thought things were going south, but I had to have my appendix's removed and it was instant relief.
15 I cannot tell you why I'm still here, but I DO BELIEVE GOD HAS HIS REASONS.
16 For all of you whom ride like there is no tomorrow, and I used to have a superbike, don't think it won't happen to you. We all need to know this.
17 This corner is a killer as John Carr whom I rate extremely highly and taught me I believe the bulk of my skills, even though time in the saddle you cannot replace, and I don't think I ride that badly as I'm sure a lot of you know, also went off this corner, agreeing with me that a brief lack of concentration on this corner will kill you.
18 Cannot understand why nothing has been done to make this bend more safe even after all the work that has gone into this pass.
19 I look forward to riding with you all again soon on my new Vara which I'm working on, as you should know me by now, It will be different.
20 Thanks to all of you for your response and this site is the best.
Now let me tell you that to put all these photo's together is a mission so use it don't abuse it.
For all of you whom have lost family to two wheels, my condolences go out to you but I had much time to reflect on this accident and believe this story needs to be told, as I was not lucky, I'm truely blessed to be alive unscathed and there must be a reason. Even when I look at the pictures, I cannot explain why I'm still alive.
This is how May 27th unfolded.
My family from America were on a kak dar day and my wife and I agreed to rather meet them for lunch then tag along in a cage to see the local sites, and we would meet up at Franschoek for lunch scheduled for 14-00. We took the Rooi Els road around, stopped for coffee in Kliemond and then headed out for Botrivier and up passed the dam wall by Teewaterskloof to go up the pass to Franschoek. It was a beautiful day after the rain and snow and I remember pointing up to my wife to get her to look at the snow on top of the mountains, as they say after these cold fronts we have "champaigne weather". There was a fair amount of traffic coming down the pass and we got seperated with me over taking a few vechiles in the lead. Then the SHIT HIT the fan.
I know I was looking up at the snow when I looked back and saw that I had driffed and there was a second bend in the corner. I braked and was skidding for the dirt and I now had a split second to make a descion what to do, knowing put the bike down,which is what I did on the left side as we were going off on the right.
The pic shows the skid marks and how fast I made that discion to drop the bike. This next pic gives you a view of the bend and what to expect. I think at this point I knocked myself out as I do not remember going over the cliff or even taking off my helmet.
Now you know your in SHIT when you see that as there is not much space from the tar to the edge and please note the lack of any barrier etc. even though there have been numerios people thet have gone over this bend. My wife had gone around the corner and the 4X4 club asked to get help as someone had gone over the cliff. She asked the colour of the bike and they told her it was Black which is just as well, as it was silver and I was dressed in Black. Once in Franschoek she realised it could have been me as she could not find me and she knows I normally slow down every so often to get her in sight. They came back in the Combi with the rest of the family from America. My Daughter Monique when looking over the side was convinced I was dead and went into Hysterics and I could hear from the bottom so I shouted to calm her down.
This gives you some idea with a human scale as reference as to the drop over the edge and yes that is me in the bottom being attended to.
These two pics give the view from the side the 4X4 club sat and watched it unfold and Doc Bev's husband was at the edge taking a leak when it all happened. He says I flew about 17m across, and dropped 20m, bounced off the side and fell the other 4m into the bushes at the bottom.
This next photo is in portrait and gives you the true view of my flight.
This pic is shown from the top and I'm on the left at the bottom with the bike on the right.
This another view with the ambulance crew working on me and the cops working on the bike only sadly to say they could not revive the bike. RIP
And here lies one unhappy puppy.
This is now the HERO whom was lowered down by rope to attend to me, Doc Bev French and she was unbelievable to say the least, even though she did admit she thought I was dead, only to see me taking my helmet off before she even got to me and I moved myself into a more comfortable postion as I was prity sore by this stage. Bev had a full medic pack with drips and morphine and I guess witin 10 minutes she had me hooked up. Well done to all of you, Bev, Greg and company from the 4X4 club.
This view is from where I was looking up.
Here is the parcel packaged.
And the great effort to move the load up. ( I'm not the lightest but I have lost 7kg's since the accident)
This was the helicopter that came out to the scene only to find out that they have an 800mm restriction for loading you and my sholders were wider than that. But the whirly bird had to make an emergency landing in Franschoek with technical problems so I guess I was not supposed to be in that thing either.
Now here is a story with this pic as you would normally on see this in the movies, as there were 4 emergency vechiles and a helicopter to attend to me and two police cars, and the bill came to R751-00. Remember this value as I will highlight the recovery of that RIP Varadero at the end.
Then of course you have all those Vultures just seeing if someone died. (SIC) and not the good one. By the way all the photo's are from our American family whom are a great Christian family and they truely believed this to be a miracle. ( We'll excuse them other wise you would not have a grafic report.
I was admitted into Somerset Vegeleghen on Sunday night at 1815 and here is me on Monday morning at 10-00 leaving the hospital. ( Thanks to the crew for not taking me to Paarl)
Here are two photo's of the Bike which was written off.
The next shows the front left shock which clearly took the bulk of the impact.
And here is the rip off artist, as I said earlier that it cost R751-00 for the medical costs and the recovery of the bike came in at R3800-00, what a joke. He just happened to be there and said it would be cheaper as we did not have to call him out. Makes you think don't it.
Now to give you a summary on the accident it is as follows:
1 A broken tooth. ( Since capped and repaired)
2 It appears there was a cracked rib. ( They are not sure)
3 Dislocated Cavlior (Sholder Blade)
4 One dead Terminator, ( That was the name given to my Vara as it was different.)
5 A club outing of the 4X4 club whom had a paramedic, doctor and surgeon in their group. They were not even suppossed to have been at that spot but had made a change and were running late. A coincident, I think not.
6 The helicopter could not get me in and had to make an emergency landing. ( Makes you Think)
7 I fell the equivelent of a 6 or 7 story building and bounced into a gap between rocks which Greg said if I had hit I would have been a paraplegic or dead. I have had not one briuse on my entire body, nowhere?
8 I was riding in full gear. My gear was insured but my boots are the only thing that have only a small scuff on them and my ankles, feet etc are perfect. These are Zero Two Boots and are the most comfortable piece of biking gear I have. ( Had to put that in as it is true)
9 I made a spilt second decsion to put the bike down which I believe saved my life. ( Who knows wat would have happened if I had riden of the side, as maybe I could have joined the 4X4 club for lunch. NOT LIKELY)
10 I gained no frequent flier points on this trip.
11 I still have a sense of humour.
12 I will ride again.
13 The bike had TKC's on as we had just got back from Namibia doing 4300km without even one fall. The road surface was also wet in certain places, but I do not blame the tires, as the brief lack of concentration was certainly the reason with no room for error on this corner.
14 After two weeks I was in such pain as I thought things were going south, but I had to have my appendix's removed and it was instant relief.
15 I cannot tell you why I'm still here, but I DO BELIEVE GOD HAS HIS REASONS.
16 For all of you whom ride like there is no tomorrow, and I used to have a superbike, don't think it won't happen to you. We all need to know this.
17 This corner is a killer as John Carr whom I rate extremely highly and taught me I believe the bulk of my skills, even though time in the saddle you cannot replace, and I don't think I ride that badly as I'm sure a lot of you know, also went off this corner, agreeing with me that a brief lack of concentration on this corner will kill you.
18 Cannot understand why nothing has been done to make this bend more safe even after all the work that has gone into this pass.
19 I look forward to riding with you all again soon on my new Vara which I'm working on, as you should know me by now, It will be different.
20 Thanks to all of you for your response and this site is the best.
Now let me tell you that to put all these photo's together is a mission so use it don't abuse it.
