Ride Videos

Ride Videos. Enjoy.

Update, 09/22/09:

In April 2005 I was diagnosed with Renal Cell Carcinoma. I was just 34 years old, about 20 years younger than most cases of RCC. In early May 2005 I had a partial nephrectomy (partial removal of my right kidney). The cyst was removed and the cancer scare was mostly over. I had lots of follow up doctor visits, tests, and scans, but no sign that the cancer was still there or had spread. As a "reward", in June 2005 I traded in my 2002 Honda 750 (with about 23,000 miles on it) for a 2005 Ducati Monster S2R. I was enamored with that bike! I was at the dealer when it arrived; I watched them uncrate it. It was an awesome piece of engineering and design:

I rode almost daily, commuting to work and home. In just 4 months I had 2500 miles on the bike. Then, on October 25, 2005, I was involved in a hit and run on the way to work. It was the most common motorcycle accident: A car turning left in front of me. The car ran a red light, and I smashed into the right rear corner of the light blue Oldsmobile 98 (I'll never forget the car; it's seared into my brain). I flew over the trunk, landing in the street about 50 feet from the point of collision. With the exception of my jeans, I was dressed head to toe with protective gear: Helmet, leather gloves and jacket, boots, etc. I don't remember sliding at all, but all my gear showed a lot of road rash, so I slid a while before I came to a stop, on my back, staring up at a beautiful cloudless blue morning sky. I stood up and could tell that my shoulder was hurt, but that I was otherwise OK and in one piece. Witnesses to the accident were running towards me. I could tell by their facial expressions they were shocked when I stood up on my own. I saw my beautiful bike lying shattered in the middle of the road, pieces everywhere. When the first witness got to me, the very first question I asked him was "Where is the car?" and he told me that the car just kept going as if nothing happened. He said at least two cars made an attempt to follow the car to get a plate number or something, but had no luck. What kind of human being watches another human fly over her trunk (witnesses said it was a woman driving), smash into the road, and then just drive off?!

I couldn't use my right arm, but was able to get my helmet and jacket off. Some folks told me to sit on the curb because I seemed to be in shock, and an ambulance was on its way. At that point I called my wife (who also rides a Ducati Monster) to let her know what happened. I recall the first words I said to her: "Hey, babe… I need you to NOT freak out on me but..." and then told her what happened and that I was OK and alive, but had suffered some injuries. Less than 5 minutes later, the EMS arrived with an ambulance. They checked me out there at the scene, and before they strapped me down to the gurney, I took this picture with my phone:

They put a neck brace on, strapped me down and put me in the ambulance. I then hear a familiar voice; one of my co-workers on his way to work saw my bike in the road and stopped to help if he could. I couldn't see him since they had immobilized me, but I asked him to grab my helmet, my tail bag from the bike, to call my dad, tell him what happened, and which ER I was going to. He did so and I'm still grateful for his help.

The ride in the ambulance was pure hell. Every bump in the road felt like a curb and shot pain all through my body. I was cursing up a storm the whole trip, which was thankfully short, only about 5 minutes.

Both my wife and father were there when they rolled me into the ER. The doctors checked me out for head injuries and were quite relieved that I was wearing a helmet. They then sent me for X-rays which showed a nasty break in my right clavicle. It broke at a weird angle and both ends of the bone were quite sharp, which accounted for the amount of pain I was experiencing. In between some tests, I called my salesman at the Ducati dealership, told him what happened, and to order me another S2R. My wife thought I was crazy, but I believe that if you fall off your bike, the best thing to do is immediately get back on. However, I needed another bike to get back on to! After being thoroughly checked out, I was released from the hospital. My wife drove me to work so I could pick up my bag and helmet. When I saw my helmet, I was shocked. It truly saved my life, as I had hit the back of my head very hard on the concrete. I would not have seen that beautiful blue sky if I hadn't been wearing my helmet. I would have been dead.

Later that day, I saw an orthopedic doctor that specializes in neck and shoulder injuries. He checked me out, sent me to a medical supply store with instructions on the brace to get to immobilize my arm (no casts for broken clavicles!) and was told to wear it for a couple weeks. When I returned for a checkup, I found out I was given the wrong kind of brace and that my bones had fused back together at an odd angle. At this point, my options were to live with it (and have my right shoulder be an inch or so shorter than my left) or have the bone re-broken and set again. I went with the doctor's recommendation and just left it alone. It healed up after about 6 weeks but I still have a bump on my shoulder from one of the bones that protruded upwards.

It turned out that my Ducati dealer could not find another yellow S2R. Instead, I ended up buying a 2005 Ducati Multistrada 1000S that had been sitting on the sales floor for about a year. I got a good deal on it, but because of my injuries, I could not ride it home. So in December 2005, my salesman did me a huge favor and delivered it to my house with his truck. Thanks, Brandon!

Although the 'Strada turned out to be the perfect "sports bike" for us older people, I just didn't ride it near as often as my other bikes due to ongoing medical issues. So in the garage it sat. When I finally sold it 3.5 years later, it had fewer miles on it than the S2R did after 4 months. I miss having a motorcycle, I miss the exhilaration of riding and I miss shooting video, but what's meant to be is meant to be. Here's my favorite picture of me on my Multistrada:

If there is one thing I learned from the accident: Live each day as if it were your last... because it just might.

Now all this has been said, enjoy the ride videos I made back in the good ol' days.

	3-7-04 March 7, 2004 Size: 7128kb
	The Chef's New Bike January 31, 2004 Size: 7931kb
	Santa Rides to Work December 31, 2003 Size: 6642kb
	Fast and Blue November 29, 2003 Size: 5728kb
	A Perfect Day for a Ride! November 22, 2003 Size: 9741kb
	Sour Lake 2: The Return of the Breakfast Club November 8, 2003 Size: 13061kb

	Going the Distance: Austin Hill Country October 18-19, 2003 Size: 5908kb

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