At the time:
Enjoy it! Seriously. Crashing is a Hell of a lot of fun! I remember my first ever crash (highsided my TZR going towards a roundabout), and when I was flying in mid-air I saw the astonished faces of two Policemen in their car coming towards me! :mrgreen:
Or sliding down the road at high speed once you've come off.
Or locking both wheels of my RGV250R for the 4th time, totally sideways, as I tried to avoid the huge spikey truck that had pulled out and stalled in the road ahead, and then getting flipped off and between the wheels of the truck.
Sure, it hurts, but in that moment, and looking back afterwards, it's a unique experience. WHEEEEEEEE!!!
The only worry I've had is to try and keep my helmet from smashing against the road (they're expensive!), and if you know you're going to flip or roll get your limbs in so they don't flail about and come off.
Just after:
Yeah, it's not so brilliant from here on in. My first thought is normally "Nooooo - not my bike!!!" and getting to is ASAP to pick it up and assess the damage.
Next it'll be what's missing from me. If it's a bad one (actually, you should ALWAYS do this first) just stay the fk down. Have a nice lie down for a while and see if you're still breathing. Have a little bit of a gentle wiggle to see if anything hurts. Then have a look and hope your toes aren't in front of your visor, or anything daft.
If you're not hurt, then try and control any rage so you don't rip someone out of their car window and beat them to death with their own gouged-out eyeballs.
A car pulled out on me on an island, and I banked it over and thudded into the side of her, somehow staying upright and still on the bike (which was written off for front suspension damage). I was -ing livid, and have absolutely no doubt I'd have pounded the dumb bints face so badly she'd look like a dropped pasty. Luckily, she only stopped about 50 yards down the road, and I'd have looked pretty damned stupid running all that way just to get to her. I shouted lots, though.
Dealing with the fear, i.e. the nightmares
This can be bad, but remember they ARE just nightmares! Afterwards I'd often jump off the bloody bed thinking I'd crashed again, or locked the front etc.
I do think it's good to get back on a bike ASAP, but when you do you should take it easy, rather than going at it full-on straight away. It'll take a while to build up your confidence again.
Weirdly, BEFORE a few of my crashes I've had dreams for a few weeks before it happened. Like dreams of losing the front on the brakes before someone did a U-turn and I did indeed lock up the front and go down.
In that crash, back in January 2008, that is all I remember. I was filtering, saw a cars wheels turn before he immediatley floored it and pulled out. I hit the brakes HARD, remember losing the front (not that I had a chance of stopping at that distance).... and then I was sliding down the road on my back. I even remember trying to hold my head up (it was a Shoei!) and just giving up, letting my head drop because I figured I was probably an ambulance case.
How did I get through a solid car? Did my body actually hit the car? I have no idea, and to be honest I'm not sure I really want to have that memory come back...
Oh, and remember your adrenaline will be through the roof after a crash, and you may not notice broken ribs and stuff for hours afterwards. Get theeself to hospital if there's any doubt (a chest impact could do heart damage that will kill you hours or days later etc). And remember you WILL be in serious pain the next day, even if you think you feel fine at the time.
And finally the people who are out to get us - the trolls:
They're not! They're all just regular people who have brain-dead moments.
Take a walk around a supermarket and note how people park their trolleys in the most stupid and selfish places, or push them without any kind of awareness of their surroundings. That's pretty much how most people drive.
