My Black Hills adventure! (Long, lots of pics, some graphic)

Jäger wrote:

First... who the hell told you to put hydrogen peroxide on the road rash? Fire them immediately. It is a marvellous oxidizer, and those bubbles you see is the peroxide eating (i.e. killing) your cells. All of them, not just the dead ones. Which keeps the wound open longer as it inhibits healing. We used to use the full strength stuff at the pulp mill to clean elk and bighorn sheep skulls of any tissue residue prior to taking them to the taxidermist for mounting. Leave it in too long and the skull wouldn't be there anymore either...

Let it scab over so your skin (your body's largest organ, by the way) can do it's thing. A little polysporin, but clean clothes next to skin every day is the way to go. A light gauze dressing over if contact with clothes irritates the injury; no stick Telfa type.

As to clothing... welcome to the been there/done that crowd. Now you know better, and at a cheap price.

I do, very rarely, occasionally ride in jeans. Usually for a short trip to a store a few miles away. I'm probably safer than I am normally, because I'm so conscious I'm a candidate for road rash that I ride like there's a box of loose blasting caps in my back pockets.

In my opinion, the trick to making protective gear easy is to pick gear with built in armour that is comfortable just about in any reasonable riding conditions and goes on and off in a hurry. I can be in my Fieldsheer Mercury riding pants in about one minute - step into them with boots on, do the zippers down to the ankles, done. And my Tourmaster Transitions jacket is warm and waterproof down to freezing, and yet has so many vent zippers that when you open them up you are essentially enclosed in a puffed up bubble of flow through ventilation. Comfortable armoured gear like that greatly reduces the temptation to not gear up when going "just for a short ride".

It is also a fact that built in armour as not as good as next-to-skin armour. How much less, I don't know. But the stuff built into clothing can be pretty good on it's own - the worst thing to check for before buying is armour that is not kept where it should be in a crash either through good design or additional snaps, straps and buckles. I have surface-tested my gear a few times, and the armour didn't shift when I went down, so it does work.

The ideal way to go is to have a good set of throw-on riding gear, and a set of "we're serious today" clothing and body armour for days dedicated to riding.

But jeans... help plastic surgeons fill in the empty spots in their schedules.

I did a little web research after reading your post. As it turns out, the ol' hydrogen peroxide method is an old wives trick from back in the day. It makes sense that the older lady at the hotel recommended this. I kept using it for about three or four days after the spill, but have since stopped. Now I'm just leaving it open to the air. Wearing my uniform is a bit of a nuisance as it rubs right on the affected areas. It's less and less of an issue as it heals more. Today however, I showered when I woke up, as opposed to showering before bed everyday since the wreck. Big mistake. The scabs got all soft and didn't have time to dry out and harden up again before throwing on my uniform. I had to cover the left knee to avoid all the discomfort.

As for the gear, I'm right there with you. Initially I'll be looking for the throw-on stuff. There's some excellent MX style leather pants that I'd like to get, but they're over $300... They would fall under the serious ride day type gear.

zone47 wrote:

HOLY CRAP ! ! !1!

Man, that is scary stuff!!! I'm glad it wasn't worse, that's all I can say.

That's exactly what scares me about this bike. The fact that it can wobble with really no resistance and who is to say which way it goes, either straightens out, or into a full tank slapper. I'm thinking steering damper too!

Thanks for taking the time to post all the great pics! I'm saving those helmet pics just for whenever the debate comes up where someone doesn't see the need to wear one. Your face would have been a mess without it!

Take care!!!

I'm glad it wasn't any worse as well. I think I got off pretty easy. Gear works. That's all I've got to say. If it weren't for my helmet and leather jacket/gloves I'd be in a much bigger world of hurt. The Air Force mandates that we wear pants, long sleeves, and over the ankle footwear, as well as a helmet any time we ride. A regular long sleeve shirt would have been more useless than my jeans, and a skull cap (like some guys wear) would have done nothing for my face. If only I had some proper pants I'd have been set! They're on the short list now though.

X-Racer wrote:

Now where was this older single lady that served cinnamon rolls and pain meds ?

Was she wearing a dress that looked like it hadn't been worn in awhile ? I think I'll stop there just to spend the night.

Oh ! ...and * squirt squirt ! on the road pictures ! !

She's right here! No dress though...