Stole that from a James Taylor song. Seems apropos to this entry. I thought I'd write quickly about what actually happened and how I got in this pickle, and then ramble a bit. Mental rambling is a skill I possess in abundance so here we go.
The "how" I got here is pretty easy. When we start a race we line up on the starting grid in rows, and are in pretty close proximity to each other. It's not uncommon for some of us to make contact when the green flag drops because the bikes are so powerful they are hard to launch in a straight line. At the start of my first race of the day, I was on the grid, the flag dropped and after moving about 30-40 yards another rider came over from the right side and made contact with me. His handlebars locked up with mine and as they were twisted out of my hands my bike went down.
This left me in a very bad spot, bouncing around on the ground in a stampede of race bikes. Another racer from farther back on the grid was unable to avoid hitting me, as is usually the case in this situation, and he hit me doing ~ 60 MPH. This sent me flying about 15 feet in the air, and then I landed on the track surface.
Some folks have asked me if I regret racing and my answer is always an emphatic "No". I raced for 7 years, dodged many a bullet in that time, took a few hits, but the rewards far outweighed the costs to me. I've met a number of fantastic people, I have myself grown and expanded my willingness and ability to interact with people, and also developed a new level of confidence in myself that i think could only have come from mastering something as difficult and dangerous as motorcycle racing.
You always know in the back of your mind that if you play you will at some point need to pay, and every once in a while the costs are more that you thought they would be. That's the case here, but now it's time to play the cards I've been dealt. I won't lie, some days I'd rather fold that stay in the game, but for now I'll keep trying to make the best out of this shitty hand.
The "how" I got here is pretty easy. When we start a race we line up on the starting grid in rows, and are in pretty close proximity to each other. It's not uncommon for some of us to make contact when the green flag drops because the bikes are so powerful they are hard to launch in a straight line. At the start of my first race of the day, I was on the grid, the flag dropped and after moving about 30-40 yards another rider came over from the right side and made contact with me. His handlebars locked up with mine and as they were twisted out of my hands my bike went down.
This left me in a very bad spot, bouncing around on the ground in a stampede of race bikes. Another racer from farther back on the grid was unable to avoid hitting me, as is usually the case in this situation, and he hit me doing ~ 60 MPH. This sent me flying about 15 feet in the air, and then I landed on the track surface.
Some folks have asked me if I regret racing and my answer is always an emphatic "No". I raced for 7 years, dodged many a bullet in that time, took a few hits, but the rewards far outweighed the costs to me. I've met a number of fantastic people, I have myself grown and expanded my willingness and ability to interact with people, and also developed a new level of confidence in myself that i think could only have come from mastering something as difficult and dangerous as motorcycle racing.
You always know in the back of your mind that if you play you will at some point need to pay, and every once in a while the costs are more that you thought they would be. That's the case here, but now it's time to play the cards I've been dealt. I won't lie, some days I'd rather fold that stay in the game, but for now I'll keep trying to make the best out of this shitty hand.
And now the fun begins... ;-)
Dear Eric
ReplyDeleteI just got the news of the sad accident and started to read the blog posts from the beginning. I was taken back for a while as everything went past my mind like a movie or more accurately, like a Discovery Channel documentary of a bold and daring person who had a terrible accident but facing the challenge head on with a determined glow in the eyes.
Mike and I talk about you every time we meet after 6 months or so. I spent 2 years in NetApp IT. And in almost every meeting with Network Admins, I used to project you network diagrams to show them how the real architecture is done. They know who Eric is!
While typing this message, I have a lot of thoughts and feeling rushing through my mind. A strong feeling of hope is certainly the front seat as I know how tough you are. There is a feeling of sadness to see you injured but I know you will recover soon. Take good rest and I will come by to see you soon.
Devinder
It's amazing how much close racing we did and came out unscathed, there is no one out there I trusted more then you. It is true that we can't change the past, but for sure we (all your friends) can be there to help create new memories. Good or Bad, no matter we will be there for you!
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