The Day I Fell

Riding a bike is fun. Sometimes a two wheel machine can also be a dangerous thing if you forget that it is a dangerous machine. Even a seasoned biker sometimes forget about it.

That's what happened to me on one fine afternoon. With a set of Zeneos tyres which I used on the Yamaha 135LC, 80/80-17 at the front and 90/80-17 at the rear, which were slightly broader than the stock tyres that came as standard. The broader tyres made leaning on the corners are more fun and gives me more confidence.

Unfortunately, I did not foresee the sand that accumulated on one particular corner that was brought by the rain a few days earlier at my housing area. Yes, the incident happened a few hundred meters from my home. While negotiating the corner and leaning on the right hand side, I lost the front-end. Luckily, I was riding quite slow and did not sustained serious injuries.

During the fall, I let go of the bike, rolled over and landed face down. It's like a natural reflex when I fell off the bike.  My helmet visor prevented any injury on my face.

There's a few Indian men by the roadside that came to my aid. They helped to lift the bike and moved it to the roadside. They asked me if I'm ok. I checked and tried to move and feel my arms, legs and the rest of my body. It seems that everything was ok, only a few bruises. At that time I did not feel any pain yet, due to the adrenaline rush, I guess.

I looked at my bike, no major damage. I started the engine, it runs smoothly as normal. I thanked the men who helped me just now and rode back home.

Upon reaching home then I started to feel the pain. The cuts and bruises I had were on my left shoulder, left hand, both elbows and knees. I was lucky that I was riding at a slow pace during the fall.

I took off my shirt and pants. The shirt was torn at the shoulder and the pants was torn at the buttocks and knees. I was lucky my wallet and my cellphone had saved my buttocks from any injuries. Otherwise I have to strip and reveal my 'gebu' butt to the female doctor like what happened during my crash 12 years ago.

To my surprise my cellphone did not suffer any damage, only cracks on the glass type screen protection film. Phew! Otherwise it might cost me a lot to repair the phone. Maybe the rubber type phone cover had saved the phone.

I changed my clothes and drove my car to the nearby clinic. The doctor cleaned my wound with normal saline and applied the yellow solution (iodine). I was given an injection to prevent any infection. The doctor is cute and I had to control my 'macho' enduring the pain while she was cleaning my wounds. I guess you all would have a good laugh if you saw my face trying to hide the pain. LOL

In the car going to the clinic.

My butt was saved by my wallet and cellphone. LOL

The visor had protected my face and the helmet protected my head.

If you're buying a visor for helmet, make sure the visor is made from polycarbonate. It's tougher than plastic visor.

Shoulder injury.

Shoulder

These injuries could've been prevented with a proper riding gloves.

As for my bike, it suffered only minor scratches at the exhaust pipe and at the side mirror. Phew!

Many riders took lightly the importance of wearing safety gears while riding, including me. Lesson learnt.

The last time I had a minor accident on a bike was in 2005. Sometimes, we were given a 'sign' by God to remind us not to be too complacent and forgetful in life. I take it as a blessing and shall be more careful and grateful in life.

Till then, I shall ride again soon :)